This pumpkin spice 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 the best fall breakfast to pair with a homemade pumpkin spice latte!
You might also like these pumpkin spice cinnamon rolls or this pumpkin biscotti!
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Ingredient Notes
You just need a few ingredients to make this pumpkin coffee cake!
Brown Butter - My favorite ingredient of all time is brown butter!! Brown butter is just unsalted butter that has been melted and gently cooked to bring out a toasty, nutty flavor. Best of all, brown butter pairs beautifully with the pumpkin. If you've never made brown butter before, you can check out this post with all my tips for how to make brown butter!
Pumpkin Puree - I almost exclusively use Libby's Pumpkin because it really is the best of the best! A ton of people have run blind taste tests comparing different brands of pumpkin puree, and Libby's is always the winner!
Pumpkin Pie Spice - You can buy pumpkin pie spice at most grocery stores, or just make your own!
Pecans - Roughly chopped, unsalted pecans are best for this recipe. But you could also substitute walnuts, almonds, or just leave out the nuts if you prefer!
Yogurt - The yogurt keeps this cake super moist while also adding a bit of tang! You always want to use full fat yogurt in baking for the best results! You could also use full fat sour cream or whole milk!
How to Make Coffee Cake
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
In a large bowl, whisk together the browned butter, brown sugar and sugar until combined.
Then add in the eggs, vanilla, and pumpkin until fully combined and smooth.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, pumpkin spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Alternate folding in half of the dry ingredients and yogurt, then mix until just combined. The batter should be smooth but very 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.
Cut a parchment paper sling slightly smaller than the width of the cake pan and make sure it fits flatly in the bottom. Then lightly spray the bottom and sides of the pan with a vegetable oil based spray (I love Bakers Joy or Everbake). Place you parchment paper sling in the bottom of the pan and smooth it out so that it sticks to the pan spray (you can use metal binder clips to secure it to the pan). After baking you’ll be able to just slide the pumpkin blondies right out of the pan!
I love all of my USA Pan cake pans because they are extremely sturdy and truly nonstick. However, I still like to prepare my pans to ensure the blondies come out easily.
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.
Bake at 350°F 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, melted butter, and vanilla. Add milk 1 teaspoon at a time until desired consistency is reached.
Drizzle the glaze over the top of the pumpkin spice coffee cake and enjoy!
Tips for the Best Baked Goods
Use room temperature ingredients! Always make sure ingredients like butter, eggs, milk, yogurt, etc. are at room temperature before baking (unless the recipe indicates otherwise)! This ensures they'll incorporate into the batter more easily and leads to overall better texture. Remove all ingredients from the fridge 30 minutes to an hour before baking for best results.
Measure your flour correctly! It's most accurate to use a kitchen scale, but if you're measuring by volume you want to spoon and level! Fluff up the flour a bit with a spoon, and then spoon flour into the measuring cup. Once it's overflowing, use the back of a knife to level it off. Don't ever pack flour into the measuring cup or you'll end up with way too much! Improperly measured flour can lead to dry, dense baked goods. [Measure cocoa powder the same way!]
Use an oven thermometer! Just because your oven says it's 350, doesn't mean it is! If you oven hasn't been calibrated recently, it can be as much as 30 degrees off, which will negatively affect all baked goods from cakes to macarons! An oven thermometer is the easiest/cheapest way to ensure your oven is always at the proper temperature.
Make sure you baking powder is fresh! Baking powder is important for helping baked goods rise properly, but it has a relatively short shelf life once opened, so it's one of the few items I never buy in bulk! To test if your baking powder is still fresh, add a small amount to boiling water. If it bubbles it's still good to use, but if not it's time to toss it!
Recipe FAQ's
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
No, you can use regular unsalted butter if you prefer!
Tips for Success!
For best results I always recommend using weight measurements (especially when baking) because it's the most accurate. Kitchen scales are super affordable and also reduce the number of dishes you have to do! However, all my recipes also include US customary measurements for convince. Use this chart to convert measurements for common ingredients!
Substitutions: In all my recipes, I've included substitutions that I know will work, but I cannot guarantee results if you substitute ingredients that I have not recommended. [For example, granulated sugar and honey are indeed both sweeteners but they have very different properties so they can not always be swapped 1:1. Using honey in a cookie recipe that calls for granulated sugar will yield a giant mess.] In the recipe card you'll find links to the specific ingredients/brands that I use.
A note on salt: I almost exclusively use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt because it's the best all-purpose salt for cooking and baking. If you're not using kosher salt, consult this handy guide for a conversion chart! When in doubt, if you're using table salt just reduce the amount by half for baked goods. When cooking, I prefer to under-salt because you can always add more! If you've over-salted, adding a little bit of acid (like lemon juice) can help.
More Pumpkin Recipes!
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Recipe Card
Pumpkin Spice Coffee Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
Coffee Cake
- ¾ cup brown butter, melted
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- ½ cup pumpkin puree
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ cup plain full-fat yogurt, substitute sour cream or milk
Streusel
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- ½ cup toasted pecans, roughly chopped
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
Glaze
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2-4 tablespoons milk, as needed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Cut a parchment paper sling slightly smaller than the width of the cake pan and make sure it fits flatly in the bottom. Then lightly spray the bottom and sides of the pan with a vegetable oil based spray. Place you parchment paper sling in the bottom of the pan and smooth it out so that it sticks to the pan spray (you can use metal binder clips to secure it to the pan).
- In a large bowl, whisk together the browned butter, brown sugar and sugar until combined.
- Then add in the eggs, vanilla, and pumpkin until fully combined and smooth.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, pumpkin spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Alternate folding in half of the dry ingredients and yogurt, then mix until just combined. The batter should be smooth but very 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.
- 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.
- Bake at 350°F 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, melted butter, and vanilla. Add milk 1 teaspoon at a time until desired consistency is reached.
- Drizzle the glaze over the top of the pumpkin spice coffee cake and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Mariah says
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!
Kyleigh Sage says
Thank you so much for pointing that out! Proofreading is not my strong suit (my bad). I just updated the post!