The temperature is finally starting to drop in DC, which means it's time for pumpkin flavored everything!! I've never been a fan of pumpkin spice lattes (too sweet) but I do love a big slice of this brown butter pumpkin spice coffee cake with my boring plain latte!
You might also like my classic bourbon pumpkin pie!
This coffee cake has a layer of crunchy pecan streusel between two layers of spiced pumpkin cake. Then it's topped with more pecan streusel and a buttery glaze. It's seriously to-die-for.
I use bourbon vanilla extract in this pumpkin coffee cake because I love the added bourbon flavor, but regular vanilla works great too!
How to make brown butter
Browning the butter is optional but I highly recommend it! It adds that extra toasty, nutty flavor that just feels like fall! But if you don’t want to bother with brown butter, just use room temperature!
- In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.
- Once melted, stir frequently and watch closely for the formation of brown specs on the bottom of the pan and a nutty aroma.
- Once you see brown specs, stir for just a few more seconds (it browns super quickly).
- Remove from the heat and immediately pour into a different bowl to prevent it from burning.
- Let the butter cool for about 10 minutes before using.
If you make this brown butter pumpkin spice coffee cake, please leave us a star rating at the bottom of the page! This provides helpful feedback to both me and other readers. Happy baking!
Ingredients
Coffee Cake
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, browned
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- ½ cup pumpkin puree
- 2 teaspoons bourbon vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- pinch ground allspice
- pinch ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ cup plain full-fat yogurt
- 1 tablespoon bourbon
Streusel
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ cup chopped pecans, optional
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
GlazeÂ
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon butter, melted
- 1-2 teaspoons milk
- ¼ teaspoon bourbon vanilla
Instructions
- Make brown butter: In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Once melted, stir frequently and watch closely for the formation of brown specs on the bottom of the pan and a nutty aroma. Once you see brown specs, stir for just a few more seconds as the butter will brown very quickly. Remove from the heat and immediately pour into a separate bowl to prevent burning. Let cool for about 10 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a lightly greased 9x13 cake pan with parchment paper (for thicker pieces of coffee cake use a 9x9 pan).
- In a large bowl, whisk together the browned butter, sugars, eggs, vanilla, bourbon and pumpkin until fully combined and smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, spices, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.Â
- Alternate folding in half of the dry ingredients and yogurt, then mix until just combined. The batter should be smooth and thick.
- In a medium bowl, mix together all of the streusel ingredients until it comes together and forms clumps. Use your hands to form larger clumps if desired.Â
- Spoon half of the coffee cake batter into the bottom of your pan and spread into a smooth layer. Sprinkle half of the streusel in an even layer over the batter. Top with the remaining batter and then sprinkle with the rest of the streusel.Â
- Bake at 350 for 45-55 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. If the streusel begins to brown too quickly, cover with foil for the remainder of the baking time.
- Remove from the oven and let cool completely in the pan before removing.
- To make the glaze, whisk together the powdered sugar and melted butter. Add milk 1 teaspoon at a time until desired consistency is reached.Â
- Drizzle the glaze over the top of the coffee cake and enjoy!
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.Â
More pumpkin recipes
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This turned out so good!! I made it in a 9x9 pan and baked for about 50 minutes and it turned out perfectly moist, sweet, and delicious!
When you say the batter is thick, it is THICK!! I ended up added a couple extra spoonfuls of pumpkin to give it more liquid, and I used a tablespoon of milk instead of bourbon (didn’t have any) which helped thin it enough to spread it out.
The recipe only notes where to add the cinnamon, should probably say spices at that point. Also I couldn’t find where it said to add the pumpkin so I just added it with the yogurt. Really good!
Thank you so much for pointing that out! Proofreading is not my strong suit (my bad). I just updated the post!