Pumpkin Coffee Cake

This pumpkin coffee cake has a crunchy streusel topping. The combination of pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, and pecans is so delicious and perfect for fall.

Pumpkin, streusel, cake. So good. Everyone in my family loved this pumpkin coffee cake. When I made this cake, it was gone in two days which is always a good sign everyone loved it. In fact, my family has already requested I make it again.

It’s like a traditional coffee cake with a streusel topping and a layer of streusel inside, but the cake is flavored with pumpkin making it a wonderful cake for the fall season. The combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, nuts and pumpkin is so delicious.

How to Make Streusel Topping

Before I make the cake batter, I like to make the topping so it’s ready to go. Streusel is a buttery topping that’s made with brown sugar, flour and nuts. Here are the ingredients you’ll need:

• All-purpose flour
• Firmly packed brown sugar
• Ground cinnamon
• Kosher salt
• Cold unsalted butter
• Chopped pecans

When mixing the ingredients you want to distribute the cold butter evenly until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. There are a few ways to do this:

• If you have a pastry cutter you can use it to cut the butter into the mixture.
• You can also use dinner knives to cut it in.
• Or, your food processor. Place all of the ingredients in it and pulse a few times. This is the easiest way, I think.

Pumpkin Coffee Cake Batter

For a coffee cake with a light and tender crumb, I like to sift the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and then add them to the wet ingredients. Here’s what you need:

• Dry ingredients: all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt.
• Wet ingredients: softened unsalted butter, brown sugar, eggs, pumpkin puree, sour cream.

Cream the butter and sugar together and then add the rest of the wet ingredients. Add the dry ingredients and mix. The batter will be pretty thick.

Spread half of the batter into your prepared pan. Sprinkle half of the streusel over the top and then add the rest of the batter. Smooth it into an even layer and sprinkle the rest of the streusel over the top.

Recipe Tips

• It’s best to bake this cake in a springform pan. It makes it much easier to remove the cake and slice it.
• When I made this, I didn’t put as much streusel in the middle and ended up with quite a bit on top. You can divide it however you like, but I think putting half of the streusel in the middle would be better.
• My coffee cake ended up with quite a few holes after it was baked. I think I should have rapped the baking dish on the counter a few times to eliminate the air bubbles in the batter, so you may want to do that before you put the cake in the oven.

More Recipes to Try

• Apple Cake
• Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Pumpkin Coffee Cake

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 5 minutes minutes

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

This pumpkin coffee cake is topped with a sweet streusel topping.

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Ingredients

For the Streusel

• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 Pinch kosher salt
• 6 tbsp 3/4 stick cold unsalted butter cut into small chunks
• 1 cup chopped pecans

For the Batter

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 8 tbsp 1 stick unsalted butter
• 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup sour cream

Instructions

• Preheat an oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a 9-inch springform pan or a 9-inch cake pan with 3-inch sides.
• To make the streusel, in a bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Toss in the butter and, using 2 table knives or a pastry cutter, cut it into the dry ingredients until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Alternatively, whir the ingredients in a food processor. Stir in the pecans. Set aside.
• To make the batter, in a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat together the butter and brown sugar on medium-high speed until well combined. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the pumpkin puree and sour cream and mix with the spatula. Stir in the flour mixture. The batter will be quite thick.
• Spread half of the batter in the prepared pan. Sprinkle half of the streusel over the batter. Dollop the remaining batter over the streusel and spread the thick batter as best you can. Top with the remaining streusel. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for about 15 minutes. Remove the sides from the pan and slide the cake onto the rack.

Notes

Recipe from William Sonoma

The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.

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