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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.
Tips & Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Jenni Gayden says
Everyone at work loved it! I brought it to them after my husband and I had a few pieces. 9×13 was a lot for the two of us – but my coworkers reaped the benefits! Thanks!
Karly says
Glad it was a hit!
Kelly says
This recipe was divine… I only used one stick of butter in the cake, and it worked great …. very moist and yummy.
Elizabeth H says
I’m thinking of trying to make this…but maybe without so much better? Any suggestions for substitutions, just in the cake mixture? I understand the need for it in the topping but if I could eliminate the need for it in the cake, that would be fantastic. Any help is greatly appreciated!!!
Karly says
You could try coconut oil, though I haven’t tried it myself and am not sure it will work.
sfwmson says
Making this for the third time. It’s that good.
I have seven large bananas ready for muffins or……yup. I am going to tinker. As long as I have about 30 ounces, i’m guessing I can switch in bananas gut canned pumpkin. I will also forego pumpkin pie spice for cinnamon, maybe a bit of nutmeg.
NOT TOYING WITH THAT STREUSEL, THO.
I will come back with results.
Karly says
Ooh, let me know how it turns out! I just grabbed a bunch of bananas at the store – I may have to play too! 🙂
But I agree. Leave the streusel alone!! Haha!
steven Williamson says
Honestly, it wasn’t as dense or moist as the pumpkin, but it was years ahead of what I consider “banana bread.” The ripe bananas I used came to about 4 cups, a little under (aiming for the 30 ounces of two cans of pumpkin.) I used cinnamon and a bit of nutmeg. If I try it again, I think a bit of applesauce would help. This is one of those recipe’s that get handed down, I think. Thank you!
Karly says
Oh, good to know! Thanks for the update!
Cristy says
Baked this and my daughter and I LOVED it! Had to stop myself from picking all that yummy streusel off the top. ? I didn’t do the glaze, just stuck with the streusel, and it was delish.
Karly says
Yes, it’s hard not to sneak bits of streusel every time you walk through the kitchen! 😉
Valerie says
I’ve made this a couple of times and it’s outstanding!! Thanks for a great recipe!
Karly says
Glad to hear that, Valerie!
Gabrielle says
I made this today for thanksgiving. I came across it after it was shared a bunch of times on facebook. It was disappointing :(. The cake part lacked flavor/ sugar and was far too dense to be a mix between a cake and a pie. It almost tasted like a dense sponge with a hint of pumpkin flavor. The strusel was great but the cake could have really used more flavor.
Karly says
I’m sorry this one didn’t work out for you.
Amber says
Do you think this would still turn out okay if I only used one can of pumpkin?
Karly says
Yep, it will come out more like a cake than a custard. You may need to adjust bake time as well.
Taylor says
So mine is in the oven right now. I dont think i made the strusel right. It came out really tacky and sticky. I put it on the cake anyways. Did i do something wrong? Should it be more crumbly?
Karly says
It’s definitely a different type of streusel. It should stick together in large clumps. I think it will turn out fine, provided you followed the recipe. 🙂
Kaylee says
Hi! I made The coffee cake and everything and was wondering if I should wait to make it tomorrow right before I serve it or if I should just make it today and let it sit over night
Karly says
Cakes that have leavening agents, such as baking powder or baking soda, need to be baked immediately upon mixing or they won’t rise. After baking, store in the fridge and it’ll keep for a few days. 🙂
Sally says
Going to make this today to share with family and friends tomorrow (Thanksgiving). Gonna only use 1 egg and hope it turns out alright. Have a son with egg allergy so need to be aware of foods and recipes with too much egg. Anyone else reduce recipes that contain 2 or more eggs?
RayAnne says
Sally,
You can use a substitute like flax seed meal or even applesauce.
Gina says
Is this just plain pumpkin not the pumpkin pie mix?
Gina says
The two cans in the recipe…
Karly says
Just plain pumpkin!
Roxanne says
How do you store the leftovers? How long will it keep?
Karly says
I store in the fridge for a few days.
Alyssa says
If you have a crowd that do we want like pumpkin…could you substitute something that may be more of a crowd pleaser? Why could you recommend?
Karly says
You could likely substitute a couple of bananas, but it will not be the same texture and I can’t guarantee it will work.
Elisa Echevarria says
Karly, I just read what you described and yes it’s exactly that. I never read it just clicked for the recipe and you are right it’s more of a custard. Also I forgot to mention I added another 1/2 cup of brown sugar to the crumbs and decided to forgo the drizzle and sprinkle with powdered sugar like your typical coffee cake.