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Pumpkin Spice Coffee Cake

Light, moist and packed with fall flavor, this Pumpkin Spice Coffee Cake is a heavenly make-ahead breakfast recipe! It features a crunchy pecan streusel topping made with brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon.

Want more Coffee Cake Recipes? Be sure to try my Apple Cinnamon Coffee Cake!

Pumpkin Spice Coffee Cake with Cinnamon Streusel

If my husband and I are going to enjoy something sweet, there’s a good chance it’ll be coffee cake. And during the fall, it’s definitely going to be a pumpkin one! In addition to providing festive flavor, pumpkin puree gives this coffee cake an ultra moist and light crumb.

The sweet and crunchy pecan topping adds another dimension of yumminess to this dish. Every coffee cake needs a crumbly streusel! A plate of this breakfast cake beside a cup of coffee is the breakfast of my dreams. Especially when I make it the night before to free up my morning!

ingredients for pumpkin spice coffee cake

What You’ll Need

We’re going to break this recipe down between the pumpkin coffee cake and the pumpkin spice topping. Below you’ll find the ingredients required for each.

For the Pumpkin Spice Pecan Streusel

  • All-Purpose Flour: Don’t scoop your measuring cup directly into the flour. Instead, spoon it in and level it out with a butter knife. This ensures accurate measurements. You could also just measure it with a food scale.
  • Brown Sugar: For sweetness and texture.
  • Granulated Sugar: You’ll need 3/4 cup.
  • Canola Oil: Or vegetable oil.
  • Pumpkin Spice Seasoning: To compliment the pumpkin flavor in the cake.
  • Salt: To balance all the flavors.
  • Cinnamon: A staple for any streusel topping, this goes great with the pumpkin theme.
  • Chopped Pecans: For an irresistible crunch. I pulse mine in a small food processor.

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plates with pumpkin spice coffee cake on it

For the Pumpkin Coffee Cake

  • Milk: For a soft and light coffee cake.
  • Egg: To bind all the ingredients together.
  • Pumpkin Puree: This helps keep the cake extra moist and tender.
  • Baking Soda & Baking Powder: One teaspoon of each.

How to Make Pumpkin Spice Coffee Cake

The only thing easier than making this coffee cake is eating it. It comes together in no time!

Make the Streusel

Heat Oven: Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

Combine Flour, Sugars, Oil, Salt & Seasoning Mix: Add the flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, vegetable oil, salt and pumpkin spice seasoning to a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Mix together until combined.

Add Pecans & Cinnamon: Transfer 1 1/2 cups of the mixture to a small bowl for the topping. Add the finely chopped pecans to the bowl. Stir everything together and set the topping aside.

Make the Coffee Cake

Prepare Baking Dish: Grease and flour a 13×9-inch glass pan.

Combine Ingredients: Add the milk, pumpkin puree, egg, baking soda and baking powder to your stand mixer. Mix at slow speed until there are no more lumps.

Assemble in Pan: Add the cake batter to the prepared baking dish, then evenly spread the streusel on top.

pumpkin spice coffee cake on a plate with a fork

Bake: Bake the cake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Enjoy: Serve with a nice warm cup of coffee!

Tips for Success

Not all that familiar with making coffee cake at home? Here are some quick hints to help you out.

  • Don’t Use Pumpkin Pie Filling: Pumpkin pie filling is not just pumpkin puree with a fancy name. It has additional ingredients in it and thus should not be used for this recipe.
  • Grease and Flour the Pan: Since this cake is so light and fluffy, it’s extra important to grease the pan well for easy removal. I find that it works best to use a combination of oil (or cooking spray) and flour.
  • Avoid Over-Baking: Once your coffee cake has been in the oven for 35 minutes, do a toothpick test. You’ll want to remove it as soon as the toothpick comes out clean.
fork holding pumpkin spice coffee cake

Variation Ideas

Sometimes I like to put a little twist on my pumpkin breakfast cake. Consider trying one of these fun variations!

  • Drizzle with Glaze: Adding a drizzle of glaze makes this coffee cake even more festive and special. I highly recommend using my 3-ingredient Cardamom Cream Cheese Glaze!
  • Layer with Cinnamon Sugar: Combine equal parts all-purpose flour and brown sugar, about 1 1/2 cups total. Season to taste with cinnamon. Add half of your cake batter to the pan, then spread the cinnamon sugar mixture over the batter, topping it with the remaining batter followed by the streusel. Now you have an additional layer of goodness in your cake!
  • Make Pumpkin Spice Latte Coffee Cake: Do you prefer coffee cakes with actual coffee in them? If so, this Pumpkin Spice Latte Coffee Cake is calling your name!

How to Store and Reheat Leftovers

Once cooled, the leftover coffee cake should be stored in an airtight container. From there, you can either keep it on the counter or in the fridge. It will last for 3 days at room temperature and 4 in the fridge. Reheat individual portions in the microwave until warm.

Can I Freeze Coffee Cake?

You can! Just place the completely cooled cake into a freezer-safe container and keep it in the freezer. Frozen pumpkin coffee cake lasts for up to 2 months. Thaw it out in the fridge before digging in.

spatula holding a slice of pumpkin spice coffee cake
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fork holding pumpkin spice coffee cake

Pumpkin Spice Coffee Cake

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.3 from 3 reviews
  • Author: Krista
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 40 minutes
  • Total Time: 50 minutes
  • Yield: 12 1x
  • Category: Breakfast
  • Method: Oven
  • Cuisine: American

Description

Light, moist and packed with fall flavor, this Pumpkin Spice Coffee Cake is a heavenly make-ahead breakfast recipe! It features a crunchy pecan streusel topping made with brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon.


Ingredients

Scale

For the Pecan Streusel Topping

  • 2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup of brown sugar
  • 3/4 cup of sugar
  • 3/4 cup of canola or vegetable oil
  • 1 teaspoon of pumpkin spice seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon of salt
  • 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
  • 1 cup of finely chopped pecans (I put mine in a small food processor)

For the Pumpkin Coffee Cake

  • 3/4 cup of milk
  • 1 egg
  • 3/4 cup of pumpkin puree
  • 1 teaspoon of baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon of baking powder

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
  2. To a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, add flour, brown sugar, white sugar, vegetable oil, salt and pumpkin spice seasoning. Mix together until combined.
  3. Remove 1 1/2 cup of mixture and add to a small bowl, this is for your topping.
  4. Add finely chopped pecans to the topping mixture in the small bowl, then add cinnamon. Stir topping and set aside.
  5. In the stand mixer, add milk, pumpkin puree, egg, baking soda, and baking powder.
  6. Mix at slow speed until there are no more lumps.
  7. Grease and flour a 13×9 glass pan and add cake batter.
  8. Next, evenly spread pecan topping over batter.
  9. Place in oven and cook for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

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More Pumpkin Breakfast Ideas

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84 comments on “Pumpkin Spice Coffee Cake”

    1. Hmm… unfortunately not because you reserve part of the batter and transform it into a streusel. Applesauce in streusel would not work. Yeah, this is definitely one of my more “joyful” recipes… not the healthy side. haha 🙂 But it is delicious!

  1. I made this last night and was sadly disappointed. The cake didn’t seem to rise much, and it has a strange consistency. The flavor is great, but something just didn’t work…:-(






    1. Oh… I’m so sad to hear that Wendy. This is one of our favorites in the fall. What kind of texture did it have that threw you off?

      1. Hey Holly, yes there is! You make the streusel part first which is where your flour will come from, then you’ll pull 1 1/2 cups of that mixture out for the topping. The rest of the flour brown sugar mixture gets used as the batter. 🙂 Hope that makes sense!

  2. Hi Krista! I’m planning to make this next week for thanksgiving! I have to travel 6 hrs with it. How many days in advance can it be made and what is the best way to keep it fresh the longest? Thank you!

    1. Hey Erica, you could make it 1-2 days in advance, no longer than that. It would be best 1 day ahead of time. I store ours in an air tight container, so if your baking dish has a lid – use it. If not, cover it with plastic wrap. Hope your family loves it and that you have a wonderful thanksgiving!

  3. This is now officially my favorite coffee cake recipe. Thanks for the wonderful recipe, & I love your site! I posted a recipe review on my site http://designsbyjeanner.com/2014/11/23/pumpkin-spice-coffee-cake-a-recipe-review/
    if you’d like to stop by for a visit. 🙂






    1. Awww… yah! So glad you loved it Jeanne! Thanks for stopping in and letting me know, always love hearing that kind of stuff. 🙂

  4. I actually just bought a small oven (they don’t come with apartments here in Thailand ;), and I’m definitely trying this. Been looking for a good pumpkin cake recipe and this looks amazing – easy too 🙂 Thanks!






    1. So awesome Leo! I can’t imagine not having an oven, love that this is gonna be one of your first recipes in it. 🙂

      I’ve heard Thailand is gorgeous, definitely one of my “go to” places to visit someday!

  5. Hi Krista,
    Me and my mom want to make this but I am allergic to pecans can i substitute the pecans for almonds and get the same results.

    Thanks

    1. Hey Gabby, you could try almonds I’m just not sure how the texture would come out. I would try walnuts before I try almonds. 🙂 Hope you love it girl, your comment just reminded me I need to make it again.. yummy!

  6. Love pumpkin all year long! The recipe looks awesome, can’t wait to make it! What topping would you recommend for someone with treenut allergy?

    1. Hey Victoria! Thanks so much for the foodie props, major bummer on the treenut allergy.

      I haven’t tried it with these before but here are a couple of options to sub the pecans with, oatmeal, sunflower seeds, or pumpkin seeds. What do you normally use in place of treenuts?

  7. Krista, I just made your pumpkin coffee cake recipe. It’s pretty much AMAZING! Great job. I made it with walnuts instead of pecans as I didn’t have any pecans on hand. LOVE this recipe! I’m pinning this to make every fall now. Have a wonderful day! ~ Jamie

    1. haha… thanks Jamie! Yah, I’ve tried it with walnuts, pecans, and hazelnuts. They were all good, I just like the pecans the best because there not as salty. 🙂 So glad you liked it and have found your new fall treat! 🙂 Thanks for the pin.

  8. Thank you for this post – I was craving pumpkin coffee cake but wasn’t sure if it existed! I loved this recipe! The only thing I would have tweaked was to have less flour in the topping, because it felt a little dry. Still delicious though, and just what I was looking for. Thanks!

    1. Sara you can totally make the topping with 1 cup of the mixture from the batter instead of the 1 1/2 cups. My family and I are just addicted to topping so we add 1 1/2 cups which does add more flour on top. 🙂 So glad to hear that you liked it! Yeah for pumpkin coffee cake! Thanks for stopping by and letting me know the verdict! I appreciate it.

  9. Avatar photo
    The Cake Lovers (@thecakelovers75)

    Pumpkin Coffee Cake is so tasty and easy to make. I tried it last year and we make it a yearly thing at thanksgiving.

    1. It sure it! I actually just made another one today! Ok… I might be a little addicted. hehe… but fall is in the air. I bet your family loves it when thanksgiving rolls around so they can have that cake!

  10. Hey Krista! This looks so homey and comforting – can’t wait to try it! I’m bringing it in today for my coworkers at Starbucks 🙂 Thinking a dash of instant espresso may make this an homage to our Pumpkin spice latte? Oh yes 🙂

  11. This looks so delicious! I’m totally gonna try these out. Do they have to be baked in a glass pan?

    1. Oh Ashley, it definitely is. I haven’t made this coffee cake with anything but glass before, but I’m sure you could make it with a dark non-stick pan if you’d like. I would just bake it for a shorter amount of time and keep an eye on it. {metal heats up quicker than glass} Let me know how it turns out!

    1. Aww…. your so sweet! So glad to have you as a new follower Mari and I hope you enjoy that “tasty looking treat”. I think I might make another one this week. hehe. 🙂

  12. Drake who? I need some Krista Coffee Cakes. I love the addition of pumpkin and I can’t wait to have a whole pan of these with a pot of coffee. I had to share your post on my, “Whacchoo Bloggin’ Bout” section. So good. I hope mine come out as moist as the ones you baked up.
    http://www.meatandpaprika.com/2013/09/whacchoo-bloggin-bout-3/

    Justin & Garnet

    1. haha… Awesome Justin! So glad to hear it. The pumpkin in these is amazing and definitely my husbands new favorite breakfast treat. Thanks for the feature and I hope yours turn out just as moist as mine did! 🙂

  13. Hey Krista! This recipe looks and sounds fabulous! I’m so glad you shared it at The PINcentive Blog Hop! In fact, you were chosen a winner! CONGRATS! We’d love to have you co-host our next hop and choose our winner! Your post will also be featured this week and it will be pinned a minimum of 31 times! Please contact me to discuss further. I look forward to hearing from you :o)

    Hope you’re having a great weekend!

    croppedstories@gmail.com

    1. OH girl, you have no idea! I have to refrain from opening the door early. 🙂 Fall is definitely in the air when this is baking!

  14. Avatar photo
    Laura @ The Rookie Cook

    Oh my goodness, I love coffee cake but pumpkin + coffee cake?? I’m in food heaven! 🙂

    1. I know right! 🙂 It is absolutely delicious and my husbands new secret {although now its not so secret because I told you} addiction. 🙂

  15. Avatar photo
    Deb@CookingOnTheFrontBurner

    Hi Krista, I’m sitting her drinking coffee and would love a slice of this! Great recipe – pinned!

    1. Well girl! If we lived close I would totally stop over and bring you a piece. I have two pieces left. 🙂 {for reals} Thanks for the pin!

  16. Avatar photo
    Consuelo @ Honey & Figs

    This cake looks beyond amazing, what a crumb! And that topping is so calling my name… it sounds awesome! x

  17. Avatar photo
    Gloria // Simply Gloria

    Krista, I love how easy these are to put together. I always try to have some pumpkin treats out when I’m hosting Thanksgiving…and this is going to be on my menu/list. Every one will go crazy over these! Pinning!

    1. Absolutely.. pumpkin just goes along with Thanksgiving… they are one. 🙂 Hope everyone loves it as much as we do. I actually made another one yesterday hehe…soooo good and moist!

  18. This looks insanely good, Krista! It looks so moist that it looks like pumpkin bars. Pinning this for sure. I never have enough great pumpkin recipes!

    1. It is soooo moist. In fact thats the first thing my hubbie said when he tried it, I think the pumpkin aids to that. Thanks for pinning!

  19. Avatar photo
    Samantha @ Five Heart Home

    These look amazing, Krista…delicious sounding recipe and beautiful photos! I’m all about pumpkin right now. 🙂 Pinned and I can’t wait to try!

    1. Awww.. thanks Samantha means alot! I am all about pumpkin right now too, its the fall so why not, right? Thanks for the pin and I hope you and your fam love it! 🙂

  20. Avatar photo
    Julie @ This Gal Cooks

    Krista, I love this coffee cake! I bet that topping is AMAZING! Thank you so much for making this for my birthday celebration. It’s getting all the social media love today! 🙂 Have a great day!

    1. Oh girl it is! I could straight up just it that but I have a love affair with pumpkins so I need the cake… hehe. 🙂 Hope you had a wonderful birthday and that your man spoiled you. 🙂 Thanks for all the social media love today sweet friend.

  21. Avatar photo
    Kumar's Kitchen

    how we wish we could simply get into that pic and devour those lovely pumpkin spiced cake bars…looks divine 🙂

  22. Avatar photo
    Anne ~ Uni Homemaker

    This looks amazing Krista! Definitely will be putting this on my to-bake list. Pinning! 🙂

    1. Awesome Anne, can’t wait to hear what you think. After all the comments today I am officially hungry for it again so I am making it today too! 🙂 haha

    1. Oh… I could barely wait for them to come out of the oven. My husband always makes fun of me because whenever I’m baking and it take the food out of the oven I have to it asap. He always tells me to wait till it cools down, I just have no self control. hehe.

  23. I can’t get enough of the pumpkin either! I just can’t decide which recipe to make first! This coffee cake looks out of this world! Thanks for sharing Krista!

    1. haha… I know, there are too many pumpkin recipes to make in one day. Well, selfishly I think you should start with this one. 🙂

  24. oh, I really, really like this. This was what I thought I was going to make when I started my dish! :0
    Pinned!

    1. Actually they both do look similar, I like the praline topping on yours. 🙂 I guess great minds think alike my friend. 🙂 thanks for the pin!

  25. Avatar photo
    Claire @ A Little Claireification

    Ok, hello delicious!! This looks so yummy and I can picture having it for breakfast with my coffee!! Pinning now! xo

    1. haha… you crack me up. When I first read that I thought of the victoria secret commercials when they say. “Hello Gorgeous!” haha.. Glad you can envision having this for breakfast, not go make it and make that vision and reality! Thanks for the pin chica!

  26. Avatar photo
    Nora (Buttercream Fanatic)

    The only thing I love more than coffee cake is pumpkin-flavored treats. Great recipe, Krista!

    1. We are on the same page with that girl, nothing better than pumpkin treats in the fall. Thanks for stopping by and the sweet comments!

  27. Avatar photo
    Andi @ The Weary Chef

    Holy smokes, this looks amazing! I love that sugary topping, Krista! Pinning this one to try for sure.

    1. OH, the sugary topping with pecans is the best. We fight over her gets that when it falls in the pan. 🙂 Hope you like it chica! Have a great day.

    1. NO problem girl. By the way, I used lactose free milk in it. Still tastes the same. 🙂 Hope you and the kiddos enjoy!

  28. Hey there! Just wanted to say thanks for the follow on Pinterest; I’m happy to be following you back :o) Hope you are having a great Tuesday!

    croppedstories@gmail.com

    1. Aww.. your so sweet to stop over Elena! Your welcome, had a great time at your party, such a great idea to have 31 pinners! Thanks for the follow and have a great rest of the day!

  29. Hello Krista,

    OMG! I love your recipe and I am definitely going to make this for my family this year. By the way, my daughters name is Krista also. 🙂 Thanks for sharing and I will check out your other treats on your blog.

    1. Awesome! I barely know anyone with that name, yeah for Krista’s! 🙂 hehe… Thanks for stopping by and your sweet comments. Hope you and the fam like this coffee cake, after posting it this morning I am craving it again. Probably going to make it again this week. 🙂

  30. I can never get enough pumpkin! I love coffee cake too, so this is a MUST make for me! Thanks for all the extra links to look at too!

    1. Me neither! 🙂 I can’t wait to see more of your pumpkin recipes this week too girl! 🙂 Hope you and the fam enjoy the coffee cake, I know we did. 🙂

  31. Avatar photo
    Cindy Eikenberg

    Hi Krista! This cake looks incredible! Loving all of these amazing pumpkin recipes for Julie’s birthday! Pinning and buffering! Have a happy day!

    1. Thanks Cindy, it was delicious. Totally need to make this one again. I had the perfect subtle amount of pumpkin and awesome in the morning with a cup of coffee. In bliss! 🙂 Thanks for sharing, headed to go check out the other sweet treats for Julies bday! 🙂