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Our Pumpkin Coffee Cake is made with the biggest, fattest streusel you’ll ever see. Plus, we packed in as much pumpkin as possible, giving this cake a texture that’s a cross between pie and cake – so rich and dense, perfect for fall, and totally irresistible!
I feel like this pumpkin coffee cake recipe needs a disclaimer. Let’s just get that over with right off the bat –
Warning: What you are about to see is disturbing in the best way possible. This pumpkin coffee cake is so moist and dense, much like a pumpkin pie, that you’ll wonder how life can be so magical. Your eyes will struggle to take in the gloriousness that is the humongous gobs of streusel topping. Ordinary coffee cake will never taste as good to you after eating this one.
There. Now that all the legal disclaimers are out of the way, let’s talk about this recipe.
It is, in a word, phenomenal. In fact, it’s one of my favorite recipes that I’ve developed over the years and let’s be real…I’ve created a lot of dang recipes.
I took my very favorite cinnamon swirl pumpkin coffee cake that I make year after year and I doctored it up into this glorious piece of heaven topped with magical streusel. The streusel. I can’t stop talking about it.
I used the streusel recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks – (affiliate link) Baked Explorations. The streusel comes out in thick chunks and the recipe makes a lot.
The cake itself is not like your normal cake. It’s a cross between a pumpkin pie filling and a cake, which sounds weird but is actually quite delightful. The cake, thanks to the two full cans of pumpkin, is super moist and dense, like a custard, but not quite so heavy. It’s just really, really good.
Let’s do this!
Ingredient Notes:
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Pumpkin – Be sure to use 100% pure canned pumpkin. You won’t want the can of pumpkin pie filling that has the spices and extra liquids added to it.
Cinnamon – Did you know that pumpkin itself doesn’t have a whole lot of flavor? That familiar flavor we all know and love is from the spices added. We call for plain cinnamon in this recipe, but you could also use our homemade pumpkin pie spice for even more warm, fall flavor.
Butter – We love the rich flavor of real butter in this pumpkin coffee cake and between the streusel and the cake itself, you’ll use a full pound of it. We only live once, so let’s do it right.
Streusel – The streusel ingredients are brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, flour, and cinnamon. Easy peasy.
Glaze – We’ll whisk together powdered sugar and milk to make a simple glaze that you’ll spoon over the top of the cake.
What We Love About This Recipe:
- Streusel: I can not stress enough how good this streusel is. The pieces are huge and the layer of streusel is thick. We don’t skimp here.
- Moist & Dense: This is NOT your traditional cake! We were going for a cross between a pumpkin pie and a coffee cake and that’s what we achieved. If you’re looking for a light and airy crumb, you’ll want to find another recipe.
- Fall Favorite: This is one of those recipes that you’ll make year after year. Everyone raves about it and looks forward to enjoying it every year.
- Simple: While the ingredient list does look a bit long, the recipe comes together quite easily. There is nothing fussy about this recipe, so long as you have a bit of time to put it all together.
Tips & Tricks:
Streusel – Unlike most streusel recipes, this starts with melted butter! Makes it so easy. Because we’re using melted butter though, you’ll want to make the streusel first and then let it sit to dry a bit as you work on the cake batter.
Cake Batter – You’ll want an electric mixer for this one as we’re creaming together butter and sugar to start the cake batter. We’ll stir in the pumpkin, eggs, and flour until just combined to help keep the cake from becoming tough.
Bake – This recipe is meant to be super moist and dense, which makes the toothpick test a little tricky. A toothpick should come out mostly clean, but not fully dry. If it’s fully dry with no crumbs on it, you’ve probably overbaked your cake.
Glaze – This is totally optional, but we love a simple powdered sugar glaze. Feel free to doctor it up by adding a dash of vanilla extract or maple extract. You can’t go wrong with either.
What Readers are Saying!
“I’ve made this recipe over ten times and have it bookmarked because it is SO good. Crowd pleaser for sure. Everywhere I bring it, the people RAVE. It is moist and delicious. If you don’t like this, go get yourself checked…” – Rachel
FAQ:
Coffee cake is traditionally served with a cup of coffee, as a sweet afternoon or evening treat. We consider this pumpkin coffee cake to be dessert, thanks to the copious amounts of cinnamon streusel and the sweet vanilla glaze.
No, there is no actual coffee in most coffee cakes. These cakes are named coffee cake because they’re meant to be served with a cup of coffee.
While some coffee cakes will do fine on the counter for a few days, our pumpkin coffee cake packs in so much pumpkin that you’ll really want to store it in the fridge for maximum freshness.
More Fall Favorites!
- Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread
- Maple Glazed Donuts
- Crockpot Apple Butter
- Apple Cobbler
- Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
Pumpkin Coffee Cake with Streusel
Ingredients
For the streusel
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter melted
- 2 1/2 cups flour
For the cake
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup brown cup sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup butter, room temperature
- 2 large eggs
- 2 15 ounce cans pumpkin puree
For the icing
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk
Instructions
To make the streusel:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with non-stick spray.
- Stir together the sugars, cinnamon, salt, and melted butter in a medium mixing bowl until well combined.
- Stir in the flour. Set aside while you prepare the cake batter.
To make cake:
- Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt to a large mixing bowl and whisk to combine.
- Add the sugars and butter to a medium mixing bowl and beat with a mixer until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the eggs and pumpkin until just combined.
- Add the pumpkin mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just combined.
- Spread cake batter into prepared pan.
- Take the streusel topping in your hands and press together to form large crumbs. Top the cake with the streusel. It will seem like too much, but use it all for the best streusel experience.
- Bake for 50 minutes or until a tester inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean.
- Cool completely.
To make the glaze:
- Whisk together the powdered sugar and milk to make the glaze. Drizzle over the top before serving.
Erica says
5 out of 5 stars for sure. So good. It was a hit at the office.
Karly Campbell says
I’m so glad to hear that! Thanks, Erica!
Angela says
Way too much strudel for one cake. The cake itself is delicious. I would just just cut the topping in half next time
Angela says
I just made this again, using our own home grown pumpkin – best recipe ever, so delicious that we all overate! That good!
Karly says
I’m so glad it turned out for you! I bet it was delicious with fresh pumpkin!
Merlina says
Hi ? can I switch butter for margarine?
Karly Campbell says
I would not recommend that, though I haven’t tried it myself.
Linda says
This is incredible – super moist and delicious! Would it be okay to freeze?
Karly says
Hi Linda! I think it will freeze well, though I haven’t tried it.
Brittany says
Followed recipe exactly and turned out perfect. Delicious and not too sweet- would be great for breakfast or dessert!
Brittany says
Delicious and not too sweet! Would be great for breakfast or dessert!
Simone says
hi! do you think i can sub canola oil for the butter?
Karly says
I’m not sure – the butter and sugars are creamed together so it may result in a different texture for the cake if you use oil.
Stacie Anderson says
I wouldn’t do this. It’s going to change the texture quite a bit as well as the taste. I don’t get why everyone’s so afraid of real butter. Big picture…it’s better for you than margarine or any oil. It’s real food.
Elise Leddy says
I made this year after year since I first saw it!! Itโs like pumpkin pie in cake form, only with that gorgeous crumb topping!! I have a question though: Iโve been asked to make an apple crumb pie, and all the research Iโve done have the most wimpy crumb toppings!! Can I use these crumbs for the topping of an apple crumb pie?
Karly says
Hi Elise! I haven’t tried it myself, but I think it would work out great! They both bake for a similar time, so should be fine. Just tent with foil if the topping starts to get too browned. ๐
Natalie T says
The cake is quite dense as mentioned. It isnโt like a moist cake at all. The flavor is bland and I added more spice than required. It isnโt sweet at all and needs a lot more sugar. The streusal topping wasnโt what was expected. Iโll try making this cake again but will include many changes.
Karly says
I’m sorry this wasn’t to your tastes.
Lexi says
Can you sub with almond flour? Any changes if so?
Karly says
Almond flour doesn’t usually sub 1:1 for wheat flour as it doesn’t contain gluten and is more dense. You can try it, but you’ll have a much more dense cake (and it’s already meant to be very dense so might not be great).
Renee says
I have made this several times and it’s my favorite pumpkin cake! The strusel topping is my favorite part too!
Karly says
So glad you enjoy the cake, Renee! That streusel is hard to resist! ๐
Hannah says
Do I need to store this in the fridge???
Karly says
Yes, if you’re keeping it for more than a day I would store in the fridge since it’s so moist. ๐
Alyssa Williams says
I find this takes hours to completely cool. Can you put it in the fridge to speed up the cooling process?
Thanks!
Karly says
I would let it cool on the counter for an hour first, but it should be fine in the fridge after that. ๐
Alyssa Williams says
Thanks!
Terri says
2 questions: can I add chocolate chips to this and I make my own pumpkin puree. Is 30 ounces what I need for this cake? I love all of your recipes so even though I haven’t made this yet, I know it’s going to be a favorite for the holidays for my family and friends!
Karly says
Hi Terri! If you make your own pumpkin puree, just be sure to drain it really well so that there isn’t a lot of liquid in it. You’ll want it to be a similar texture to canned pumpkin. And yes, you’d use 30 ounces if you want the same texture we have here, but you can cut it down to 15 ounces for more of a traditional cake texture. ๐
Chocolate chips would be a great addition!
Michele says
I love this recipe, I make it for breakfast on Thanksgiving every year! I’m thinking of using the streusel topping for an Apple crumble.
Karly says
Oh, I bet it’ll be tasty on apples! ๐