This easy pumpkin coffee cake is a cozy, autumnal treat perfect for breakfast or brunch. With a rich pumpkin spice filling in the center and a quick crumble on top!
It isn't really fall until there's pumpkin in everything - including breakfast. This coffee cake is packed with pumpkin spice and ready in just over an hour!
There are three main components here: The batter itself, a pumpkin spice filling, and our favorite crumb topping. You'll need a few different bowls in order to prep each component, but once everything is mixed, the assembly is pretty quick.
Ingredients Overview
Scroll to the recipe card below for a full ingredients list with exact quantities.
This is a fairly straightforward recipe, but we want to highlight a few things before you get started:
- If you can, let the egg and milk sit on the counter for 30-60 minutes before you mix the batter. Room temperature ingredients mix more smoothly, which yields a slightly taller coffee cake and a more even crumb (see this in action in our cupcake tips post!) This step isn't a dealbreaker, but it's an easy trick to improve baked goods!
- Pumpkin spice (also called pumpkin pie spice) is a handy shortcut that lets us incorporate several spices without too much extra measuring. We like this Simply Organic version - available at most grocery stores - and the ultra-flavorful Diaspora Co. Pumpkin spice. Pumpkin spice varies quite a bit by recipe or brand: you may need to adjust the amount of pumpkin spice in this recipe to suit your tastes.
- You'll need two forms of butter here: Melted butter goes in the batter itself, while room temperature butter forms the backbone of our streusel topping.
Please use a kitchen scale!
Measuring dry ingredients by volume is notoriously unreliable: Because each person measures a cup of flour a little bit differently, it's easy to accidentally use too much flour in a recipe and end up with dry, dense coffee cake.
But when you measure ingredients by weight with a kitchen scale, you get a perfect measurement every time — so if you have a scale, please use it! (No scale? Measure with the scoop and level method for best results!)
Canned Pumpkin 101
Pumpkin purée is the star of the show here. You can roast your own pumpkin if you like, but we usually just grab a can at the store to keep things easy.
Look for canned pumpkin that says pure pumpkin, along with words like "solid pack" or "100% pumpkin" (as opposed to pumpkin pie filling, which won't give you the same result). We've tested this recipe with Wegmans regular pumpkin and organic canned pumpkin, as well as Libby's 100% pure pumpkin.
You won't need an entire 15-ounce can of pumpkin for this recipe: Use leftover pumpkin in pumpkin biscuits, a quick pumpkin pasta, or add it to a squash risotto!
Variations and Substitutions
- Add extra toppings. Dust cooled coffee cake with powdered sugar, or add a drizzle of cinnamon glaze or cream cheese icing (à la our small batch cinnamon rolls!)
- No pumpkin spice? Make your own spice blend with cinnamon, cloves, and a few other pantry staples. (You can also substitute plain ground cinnamon for the pumpkin spice in a pinch, although the final flavor won't be quite as complex.)
- Add a handful of toasted, chopped walnuts (you could also use pecans) to the coffee cake batter at the end of mixing if you'd like some extra texture.
Step by Step Instructions
Prep the filling
Mix brown sugar, flour, and pumpkin spice together in a small bowl with a pinch of kosher salt (Images 1-2, above). Set aside while you prep the rest of the components.
Make the crumble topping
In a separate bowl, use a fork to combine room temperature butter, more brown sugar, pumpkin spice, and flour with a pinch of kosher salt (3). Take your time mixing this crumble: The goal is to fully incorporate the dry ingredients into the butter.
The crumble will start off looking sandy and light, but will darken in color as you continue to mix it. You'll know it's ready when it clumps together easily (4). It should hold its shape when you pinch a bit of it together between your fingers. Set the crumble aside while you prepare the batter.
Find more tips to make a perfect crumble in our cinnamon streusel topping post, which has additional step-by-step photos and a ton of helpful notes!
Make the batter
Add dry ingredients to a medium mixing bowl (Image 5, above). Use a fork to whisk everything together (6). Set the dry ingredients aside while you prep the wet ingredients.
Pro Tip: Make sure the dry ingredients are well combined! This helps the spices and sugar mix more evenly into the batter for a more uniform coffee cake.
Add the wet ingredients (including pumpkin purée) to a separate large bowl (7) and whisk them together (8).
Pro Tip: This pumpkin mixture will be fairly thick, and it may not be perfectly smooth - that's ok!
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients a little at a time (9), and stir everything together until no dry flour remains. You should end up with a fairly thick, somewhat airy batter (10).
Assemble
Once everything is prepped, it's time to assemble! Line a baking pan (we use an 8x8 metal pan) with parchment paper.
Learn more: How to line a baking pan with parchment.
Scoop half of your pumpkin batter into the pan (Image 11, above), and spread it into an even layer. You can eyeball this - it doesn't have to be perfect!
We recommend using a small offset spatula to make this easier (Images 12-13). Be sure to spread the batter into each corner, and try to smooth out the top as best you can (14).
Grab the filling mixture you made earlier, and sprinkle it across the surface of the batter (15). Try to spread the filling in an even layer, being sure to reach all the way to the edges and into each corner (16).
Scoop the remaining pumpkin batter over the surface of the coffee cake. We recommend adding the batter in a few large dollops across the surface of the filling (17). This helps it feel like you're connecting the dots as you spread the batter around (as opposed to putting one big glob in the very center and then having to stretch it out into each corner, which can be difficult with the filling layer underneath).
Use your offset spatula to spread the batter into an even layer, again reaching to each edge and into the corners (18).
Finally, sprinkle the pumpkin spice crumble across the surface of the coffee cake. Break up any extra-large clumps up as you go, so that you have a relatively even layer with similarly-sized clumps of streusel topping.
Bake
Bake the coffee cake in a preheated 325° Fahrenheit oven, until the top is lightly browned and a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
Pro Tip: A toothpick may still pick up some the cinnamon filling when the coffee cake is done - that's ok! You're primarily looking for the tester to be clean of any large, raw clumps of the pumpkin batter.
Storing Leftovers
Let coffee cake cool completely, then store extra slices in an airtight container on the counter for up to 4 days. The crumb will stay fairly moist thanks to the pumpkin in this recipe, although the streusel topping will soften a bit as the coffee cake sits.
You can also freeze sliced coffee cake in an airtight container for 3-4 months. Defrost frozen coffee cake on the counter for a few hours when you're ready for it.
To help leftover coffee cake feel "fresh" again, heat it in a hot oven (we recommend 325° Fahrenheit) until it's warmed through and the crumb topping is slightly crispy.
We don't recommend storing pumpkin coffee cake in the fridge, as the refrigerator air can dry it out more quickly.
Tips from our recipe testers
- Double the amount of crumble if you like a thicker layer of topping! As written, this recipe makes enough crumble for a thin layer that covers most of the coffee cake's surface - just enough to add some texture.
- Top with a sprinkle of powdered sugar or a drizzle of cinnamon glaze just before serving for an Instagram-worthy finish.
- Use a kitchen scale! Properly measuring ingredients yields a more consistent final result.
A Few FAQs
We don't recommend just adding additional canned pumpkin purée to this recipe (or most other pumpkin recipes!) Extra pumpkin can add too much moisture and weight to the batter, which means the cake isn't strong enough to hold its own weight in the oven and is prone to collapsing in on itself and making a dense, gummy mess. We've tested dozens of variations of pumpkin bread, pumpkin biscuits, and this coffee cake recipe to get our pumpkin ratios just right, and we promise we packed as much pure pumpkin into this as we possibly could without compromising the texture!
That said, when we follow up with people who ask us to add more pumpkin flavor to a recipe, it often turns out that what they are actually looking for is more cinnamon. And when it comes to spices, you can absolutely make adjustments here!
We settled on a fairly mellow spice level in this recipe: There's just enough pumpkin spice to make it taste like FALL, which helps this coffee cake feel cozy without overwhelming the delicate pumpkin flavor.
If you want more fall flavor, feel free to add extra pumpkin spice. (Pumpkin spice varies in flavor and intensity by brand and recipe - depending on the brand or blend of pumpkin spice you use, you may well find you want to adjust the total amount to suit your tastes!)
You can also supplement your pumpkin spice in this recipe with additional individual spices (like ground cloves, ground nutmeg, cinnamon, ground ginger, or allspice).
We recommend making this recipe once as written to give yourself a baseline, then experimenting with the spice blend from there until you find your perfect spice level. Don't forget: The best pumpkin spice coffee cake recipe is the one that you like the best!
Yes! This batter works great in muffin form. If you make this recipe as muffins, you'll need to reduce the bake time (we recommend 23-25 minutes for coffee cake muffins in the oven, similar to our banana chocolate chip muffins!)
You can use a stand mixer or electric mixer if you like, but you really don't need to! If you do use a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment and be sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl very well. Because we're working with such a small amount of batter in this pumpkin coffee cake, pockets of dry ingredients can easily get trapped at the bottom of a stand mixer. It may take a little finessing to make sure everything is well incorporated.
Baking soda and baking powder are an important duo: Baking soda reacts with a bit of acid (in this case, apple cider vinegar and a touch of baking powder) to make the bread rise. The soda + powder combo also helps baked goods brown, which gives our finished coffee cake a richer, deeper color. (See this technique in action in our Banana Muffins, Apple Butter Coffee Cake, and Pumpkin Bread!)
Yes! This pumpkin coffee cake recipe is easy to make a day in advance: Bake it as directed, then leave it on the counter overnight, covered with a clean tea towel to preserve the texture. The pumpkin in this batter will keep it nice and moist, making it a perfect make-ahead brunch idea! We don't recommend covering it with an airtight seal (like a piece of plastic wrap or a tight fitting lid) if the coffee cake is just sitting overnight: A clean tea towel protects it from any dust while still allowing just enough airflow to keep the topping nice and crispy.
More fall brunch recipes
Did you make this recipe? Leave a comment and star rating below to let us know how it turned out!
📖 Recipe
Pumpkin Coffee Cake
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 9 slices 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
This cozy pumpkin coffee cake features a thread of pumpkin spice filling and a delicious streusel topping!
Ingredients
For the Filling:
- 40 grams brown sugar (3 Tablespoons)
- 2 grams pumpkin spice (1 teaspoon)
- 10 grams all purpose flour (1 Tablespoon)
- Pinch of kosher salt
For the Crumble:
- 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 60 grams brown sugar (¼ cup)
- 2 grams pumpkin spice (1 teaspoon)
- 40 grams flour (¼ cup)
- Pinch of kosher salt
For the Batter:
- 280 grams all purpose flour (about 2 ¼ cups when measured by scooping and leveling)
- 120 grams brown sugar (½ packed cup)
- 4 grams kosher salt (1 teaspoon)
- 5 grams baking soda (1 teaspoon)
- 7 grams baking powder (1 ½ teaspoons)
- 10 grams pumpkin spice (1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon)
- 325 grams pumpkin purée (about 1 ¼ cup)
- 1 egg
- 53 grams melted butter (½ stick, or ¼ cup)
- 60 grams milk (¼ cup)
- 4 grams vanilla extract (1 teaspoon)
- 14 grams apple cider vinegar (1 Tablespoon)
Instructions
Prep the components:
- Line a metal 8x8 pan with parchment paper. Heat the oven to 325° Fahrenheit.
- Make the filling. Whisk brown sugar, pumpkin spice, flour, and a pinch of salt together in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Make the crumble. Add softened butter, brown sugar, pumpkin spice, flour, and a pinch of kosher salt to a small mixing bowl. Use a fork to slowly mash the dry ingredients into the butter, until you have a crumbly mixture that holds together when pressed. Keep mashing until no sandy bits remain: Everything should be worked into the butter, kind of like a very thick compound butter. Set aside while you make the batter.
Make the coffee cake:
- Whisk flour, brown sugar, kosher salt, baking soda, baking powder, and pumpkin spice together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk together pumpkin purée, egg, melted butter, milk, vanilla, and apple cider vinegar. This will be a thick mixture, and may not be perfectly smooth - that's ok!
- Add the dry ingredient mixture to the wet ingredients a little at a time. Stir until everything is just combined and no dry flour remains. The batter will be thick and somewhat airy.
- Pour half of the batter into the prepared metal pan. Use an offset spatula to spread the batter into an even layer that reaches all corners of the pan.
- Spread filling evenly over the batter. Top with remaining batter, and once again use an offset spatula to spread it out into an even layer (Tip: It helps to place the remaining batter over the surface of the filling in multiple small scoops, rather than spreading out from one large blob in the center, so that it feels like you're connecting the dots as you spread it into an even layer).
- Top with the prepared crumble. Break the crumble up as you go if needed, so that the pieces are fairly uniform in size.
- Bake 40-45 minutes at 325° F, until the top is lightly browned and a cake tester inserted into the center of the coffee cake comes out clean. Let cool completely, then slice and serve.
Notes
Please use a kitchen scale! While we do our best to provide approximate volume measurements, measuring by volume (with cups, teaspoons, etc.) is notoriously unreliable. For best results, use a kitchen scale and follow the weight measurements (given in grams, above!)
Additions and substitutions. Add chopped, toasted nuts (walnuts, pecans) to the coffee cake batter if you like. Omit the filling if you'd like to reduce the sugar in this recipe. Top with powdered sugar or a quick cinnamon glaze if you like. If you don't have pre-mixed pumpkin spice (also called pumpkin pie spice), you can make homemade pumpkin spice blend with a mix of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice.
The exact flavor will vary based on the brand or blend of pumpkin spice you use. You may need to adjust the amount of pumpkin spice in each component of this recipe to suit your personal tastes. Especially high-quality or aromatic pumpkin spice blends (like this one from Diaspora Co) can have a much stronger flavor, while an old jar of pumpkin spice that's been in the cabinet for a few years may lose some of its potency.
For more help with the crumble (streusel) topping, including additional step-by-step photos and expert tips, read through our full cinnamon crumble topping tutorial.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: One 2.5-inch square slice
- Calories: 332
- Sugar: 25.5 g
- Sodium: 364.3 mg
- Fat: 9.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 56.7 g
- Protein: 5.3 g
- Cholesterol: 43.6 mg
Jessie @ Life As A Strawberry
I love this coffee cake SO much. The pumpkin keeps it almost impossibly moist: It makes this a perfect make-ahead recipe that still feels fresh even when I bake it a day in advance! Definitely one of my new go-to Thanksgiving breakfasts.