This Pumpkin Coffee Cake is the kind of bake that makes your kitchen smell like fall. It's soft, buttery, and full of pumpkin spice, with a tender crumb that stays moist for days. Whether you enjoy it warm from the oven with coffee or as an afternoon treat, this cake brings that just-baked-cozy feeling every single time.
Earlier this year I created a recipe for Sour Cream Coffee Cake and my family fell in love. My nephew referred to the cake as "fire" and my sister's beg me to make the coffee cake all the time. I knew as soon as the weather changed I would be craving a pumpkin version. I took my original recipe and tweaked it a bit to get this Pumpkin Coffee Cake recipe.
This is the perfect fall breakfast treat, it's easy but full of flavor.
Make sure to check out my recipe for sour cream coffee cake muffins and banana coffee cake.
Fall Flavors in Every Slice
- Pumpkin Purée & Warm Spices: Give the cake its signature flavor and moist texture.
- Sugar + Eggs: Provide sweet balance and lift together in the batter.
- Flour + Leaveners + Salt: Create structure and ensure the cake rises while remaining tender.
- Oil/Butter + Vanilla: Richness and flavour depth without weighing it down.
- Streusel topping: Adds texture and visual appeal to make it feel extra-special.
Featured Review
"This was the perfect fall recipe! I love coffee cake and the pumpkin addition made it even better! Thanks!"
Lindsay
Make the Batter, Bake, Serve Warm
★★★★★ Please let me know if you make this recipe by leaving a star rating and comment below!
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Spiced Pumpkin Coffee Cake with Streusel
This Pumpkin Coffee Cake is the kind of bake that makes your kitchen smell like fall. It's soft, buttery, and full of pumpkin spice, with a tender crumb that stays moist for days. Whether you enjoy it warm from the oven with coffee or as an afternoon treat, this cake brings that just-baked-cozy feeling every single time.
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 9 Slices 1x
Ingredients
Streusel Topping
- 125 grams (1 Cup) All-Purpose Flour
- 200 grams (1 Cup) Light Brown Sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
- 1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
- 5 Tablespoons Salted Butter, melted
Cake
- 4oz (½ Cup) Salted Butter, at room temperature
- 200 grams (1 Cup) Granulated/ Caster Sugar
- 1 Large Egg, at room temperature
- 1 Tablespoon Pure Vanilla Extract
- 8oz (1 Cup) Pure Pumpkin Puree, at room temperature
- 2oz (¼ Cup) Sour Cream, at room temperature
- 250 grams (2 Cups) All-Purpose/ Plain Flour
- ½ Teaspoon Baking Soda
- 2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
- ½ Teaspoons Salt
- 1 Tablespoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
Instructions
Streusel Topping
- Preheat the oven to 350F/180C and line a 9-inch square baking pan with parchment so that the parchment paper overhangs on the sides, this will help you pull the baked cake out of the pan later. Grease the parchment with non-stick baking spray and set aside.
- In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Pour in melted butter and use a spatula to mix it all together to moisten everything, this will take a couple of minutes, you want a wet sand texture, thick clumps are good. Set aside while you prepare the cake.
Cake
- In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or a large bowl with a handheld electric whisk beat the sugar and butter together for 2-3 minutes, scrape down the bowl after the first minute then continue mixing. You want a light fluffy mixture.
- Mix in the egg and vanilla scraping down the bowl and making sure the egg is fully combined, there should be no trace of egg yolk.
- Mix in the pumpkin and sour cream until fully combined, the batter will look curdled that is fine.
- Place a sieve over the bowl and sift in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice.
- Gently fold in the dry ingredients until just almost combined. Do not over mix.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan, it will be thick so use a spoon or angled spatula to spread it into an even layer. Sprinkle all of the crumble on top into an even layer. Bake for 40-50 minutes, since the cake is covered in a crumble it is best to check by using a toothpick test, insert a toothpick into the center of the cake, moist crumbs are okay but if there is any wet batter the cake will need to cook longer.
- Let the cake cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Best served the day it is made but leftovers will last in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Notes
Freezing: Let the cake cool completely, I prefer to slice the cake into squares or pieces and wrap individually. I like to tightly wrap each piece in plastic wrap, twice, then store the wrapped pieces in a freezer-safe bag or air-tight container. Just to ensure no freezer bite happens. When you want to enjoy a slice of the coffee cake just take it out of the freezer and let it sit at room temperature for about an hour or so, more time if the pieces are larger. I also find when freezing most things that I like to keep them frozen for only about a month or so, after that the freezer taste comes through.
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 50
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
joan says
can this be made in 6" cake pans??
Elizabeth Waterson says
Hi Joan, you could definitely divide the batter between two 6" cake pans but the cake will not be as thick and it will bake quicker, so just keep those two things in mind if you try it in smaller pans! Please let me know if you have any further questions or if you try the recipe, would love to know what you think! XX Liz
Lindsay says
This was the perfect fall recipe! I love coffee cake and the pumpkin addition made it even better! Thanks!
Elizabeth Waterson says
Thanks so much for coming back to review the recipe Lindsay, I totally agree it's the perfect fall recipe!! Take care. XX Liz