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Ohmygoodness! In the words of my husband “that cake ROCKED!” Probably the best coffee cake ever. Hands down. I used white wheat flour. Man. It was good. And it keeps a long time too! Mine was good for a week. 🙂
Halloooh!
I’m still here! and so is this extra indulgent, feels like fall, crumb-heavy, spiced pumpkin coffee cake with a cinnamon streusel topping and a maple glaze. Ain’t nobody messing around with this one. No way no how. Pumpkin coffee cake to the max in the most deliciously crumbly-glazey way.
So today I’m coming to you live from San Francisco! We’re spending a week on the West Coast involving a road trip from SF to Seattle (which will start today, when I finish this post!) and I can hardly believe this entire trip is almost halfway over already. I’ve been having a blast doing some food photography related work stuff (both teaching and attending classes) and we are making our way through San Francisco one super yummy meal at a time. Literally every time I open my mouth to take a bite of something, I fall head over heels in love.
Yesterday I had a gluten free breakfast sandwich at a little bakery (only because it was the only one left that also had bacon… sometimes a person has to sacrifice), and then *surprise* I loved it so inappropriately much that I was ready to commit to a gluten free lifestyle on the spot and exist solely on those gluten free English muffins. Honestly. Thank you, SF, for being so good to all the Food Lovers.
Sadly this coffee cake is not gluten free, so that’s where my plan reached the end of the road. But I am still dreaming of those gluten free English muffins. When I get an oven back… yes. Happening.
Remember how we don’t have a kitchen? I really wish I could say I baked this in my Easy Bake oven after resurrecting it from some box in the back corner of the basement, but the sadness of the day is that a) that’s not how this happened, and b) I actually never even owned an Easy Bake. My sister got one instead. Maybe all along the blog has been my wishful thinking and trying to make up for my childhood days of longing for that Easy Bake oven. You guys. My destiny. It’s all coming together now.
Focus.
Instead of the Easy Bake scenario, I took myself and a bunch of baking ingredients and a few little baking pans and cookie sheets back to my parents’ house, where there is an oven that works and a happy + large crowd of people who will eat whatever I bake. So I started out by baking these pumpkin biscotti, because my sister made them and they were so cute and delish and I wanted to put them on the blog. She showed me the recipe she used, I tried it, and an hour later I literally pulled two loaves of bread out of the oven. WHAT? Gross, weird, fail. Maybe if I could have had a few years to practice on the Easy Bake oven?
I decided to ditch the biscotti attempt, stop talking with my mom while measuring ingredients, and just go for something simple and fool-proof: PUMPKIN COFFEE CAKE.
Mostly this is fool-proof because it has that overwhelmingly delicious topping and glaze that is so phenomenally tasty that even if you couldn’t get the cake quite right somehow (maybe you had to use an Easy Bake oven or something?) you would still enjoy this for a warm, cozy breakfast on a fall morning. Promise. The topping will be your life.
This cake itself is moist, mildly sweet, cinnamony and warm, and heavy with all the toppings — a soft cinnamon streusel and a warm, thick maple glaze. It’s best served warm, so if you make it the night before you know you’re gonna have to pop that slice (or 7) in the microwave for a few seconds to get the whole thing jazzin up again. The sweetness is the perfect complement to a hot mug of rich, black coffee. Literally salivating at the thought. Plus, it’s easy to make and it will feed a crowd. I am so sure that if you make this for your ____ club or for the morning after Thanksgiving (not that I’m already going there buuuut just in case we might want to be ultra prepared and dwell on food), it will be gone in 2.47 seconds flat.
If you are super awesome, you could put half of the topping through the middle of the cake to get a yummy cinnamon struesel layer baked right in. I got distracted when I was making the cake and forgot to make the super awesome middle layer, but someone please make that happen. It’s giving me really good vibes right now.
Cinnamon Streusel Pumpkin Coffee Cake with Maple Glaze
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
Description
Cinnamon Streusel Pumpkin Coffee Cake with Maple Glaze! This recipe is super easy to make and it will feed a crowd! Perfect for a fall gathering!
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1/2 cup salted butter, almost melted
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 1/2 cups pumpkin
- 3 large eggs
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon each cinnamon, ground ginger, allspice
- a pinch of nutmeg and ground cloves
For the topping:
- 6 tablespoons flour
- 6 tablespoons white sugar
- 6 tablespoons packed brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 tablespoons butter, melted
For the maple glaze:
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1–2 tablespoons maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a square baking dish (see notes) with nonstick cooking spray or butter.
- With an electric mixer (or with a large spoon, like I did) mix the butter, brown sugar, pumpkin, and eggs together until smooth. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, and spices. Mix until just combined and pour into the prepared baking dish.
- To make the topping, mix all the ingredients together and crumble with your fingers until a fine-crumbed mixture forms. Sprinkle over the top of the cake.
- Bake for 45 minutes – a little longer if the middle isn’t quite set. The cake should be firm and puffy as pictured.
- For the topping, melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add the powdered sugar and stir it up – the butter will awkwardly soak into the sugar and that’s okay. Add the vanilla and maple syrup and stir it into a nice, smooth frosting, all while keeping it over medium low heat. If you need to, add a tiny bit more liquid to thin it out. When it’s smooth, drizzle over the cake.
Notes
The pan that I used for the pictured version was a really odd size – about a 6×11. If you have something close to that, that would work great but if not I’d go with a square pan. I would recommend 9-inch square baking dish.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: pumpkin cake, cinnamon streusel pumpkin cake, maple glaze
One more thing:
- We are still running around on the West Coast and I would love to have you following along on Instagrammy! I haven’t been able to respond to comments for a few days but we’ll be in the car A LOT today and tomorrow so I’m hoping I can get through them and connect with you that way, too, in addition to the ‘grams. And to everyone who gave us all those phenom recs for places to eat is SF, I can’t thank you enough. We should publish those into a book. It should be titled FOOD FOREVER: SF Version. I heart your foodie souls!
I’ve been seeing all these pictures of you on Instagram, loving it! You’re food adventures in SF sound (and look on Instagram) soo good. Seattle is going to be an absolute blast! Enjoy yourselves while I go (over)indulge in this coffee cake. Maple syrup glaze ftw!
Love that you’re following along on our trip Marzia! We are having tonso fun – so much to see!
I’m in a ‘pumpkin everything’ phase this fall so I cannot wait to make this….I mean, is there anything better than coffee cake? Wait, let me answer that…YES, THIS cinnamon streusel pumpkin coffee cake…with maple glaze! Pinned! And I’m totally following along SF looks awesome!
Thanks Phi! 🙂 XO
Omg! These are gorgeous! I have to give this a try soon! Pinned!
Thanks Maya! Appreciate that!
I love pumpkin/squash stuff! As far as gluten-free Pamela’s baking mixes are pretty yummy and you can substitute their mix for flour. I”m rarely using sugar but I do use Turbinado sugar in certain recipes as it substitutes easier than honey. I’ve got 20 banana squash we grew to deal with so all pumpkin/squash recipes are appreciated. I can hardly wait to start pumping out those honey pumpkin pies.
Thanks for the tip Vickie!
Lindsay, can you help–I made the cake, and although the flavor was good, the texture of the cake was very very heavy–not cake like at all. I wonder what went wrong…I am actually baking a new one right now to see if it comes out better. I do notice that the “batter” that I spread in the pan was more like a dough. Any advice would be appreciated…thanks very much.
I had a very similar experience! I ended up with a dense texture, more like bars than cake. My dough definitely didn’t “pour” into the prepared pan, I just spread it out to cover the bottom. I used a 9×13 pan, was this the intended vessel? I loved the crumb for the top, though!
After reading Patti and Cassie’s comments, I made a few tweaks to the recipe – which I was dying to make because it looked delicious!
I separated my eggs and whipped the whites (folded them in at the very end). I only used 2 cups of flour and I added an extra tbsp of melted butter and a 1/2 tsp of baking soda.
I used an 8×10 pan and the cake came out absolutely lovely. Moist, fluffy and pumpkiny. I also used Bacardi spiced rum instead of maple syrup in my icing, but that’s just because my husband doesn’t like maple.
Thanks for the comment Sue!
Hm, I’m not sure. How did the second one come out? What size pan were you using? The batter is very thick to begin with, so that part is normal… I will have to give this one another test.
The only variable that I can think of is that the butter should be almost melted…I did microwave it and it was half melted…perhaps it should just be softened? The pan I used was 9×13…the second one came out slightly less dense, but still not cake like…everyone loved the topping, but passed on the cake part…I’m sure it’s something Im doing wrong
I wonder if it could be the pumpkin? That can vary tremendously in water content depending on what you are using for pumpkin, canned? Fresh? Roasted? Boiled? I used microwaved sweet potatoes, and I measured out 1 1/2 cups, but then thought I’d use the mixer and a little bit of water so they might be more like canned pumpkin. The cake was a dense cake, but definitely cake and not fudge-like. Very moist and perfect.
Thanks for weighing in, Charlene.
I had the same issue. The batter seemed waaay too thick, so I added another 1/2 cup of pumpkin and a 9×13 pan. Mine also came out like bars, but everyone is still gobbling them up, so it’s a happy accident as far as I’m concerned. I’m going to try another round, (smaller pan, maybe a bit more liquid instead of additional pumpkin) just to see what happens. Still delicious, though!
Thanks Monica! FYI I did test the recipe after some of these comments came in and it still turned out great for me even with the thick batter! Might be worth a shot? 🙂
I was excited to make this as well, and di bake one last night for a little celebration at work today. It looks beautiful, smelled heavenly, but the cake ws so dense and heavy..I should have guessed it would be that way judging from th heavy batter. I had to make apologies for this cake…definitely not a keeper for me. I wish it had come out differently…I love pumpkin anything!
Same problem here. I followed the recipe to a T and it came out horribly dense. The topping and glaze were wonderful, but the cake was inedible. I had to throw the whole thing out. I hate to leave a comment like this because I really appreciate your wonderful recipes, but I don’t know why everyone’s is coming out dense and yours is not. Maybe there is something your not thinking of or a typo in the recipe
Hi Beth, sorry to hear that. This is a puzzling one – I’ve had multiple people other than myself test the recipe with the same results I had. Maybe I need to have yet another person test it? I’ll see what I can do.
So you said three final things…. but I only counted two. Am I missing something? lol! This is calling my name so bad right now. During the summer I made a similar cake, with rhubarb instead of pumpkin and just a regular cinnamon sugar top. But this… must happen pronto. Love how you plan when you’re going to enjoy sugar! I’ve been doing that too, and it just makes it so much more special.
ps SO jealous of your SF eats! It’s always been my dream to go there!
No, I totally misspoke. Hahaha – writing too early in the morning pre-coffee! Rhubarb cake sounds yummm!
The pumpkin coffee cake looks delicious, but that streusel topping with maple glaze…oh my…it’s beautiful!
I am so glad your trip is going well and that you are enjoying eating your way through it – like you said, sometimes a person has to sacrifice! This is definitely the time of year for pumpkin and I can’t wait to give these a try – I’m drooling!
It’s a fantastic city for foooood!
Hope you’re having a great time! This cake looks delicious!
Thanks Amanda! We’re having lots of fun so far – always nice to be able to work from the road. 😉
Yay San Fran! I’ve always wanted to go there. Have a blast!! Annnnnnnd I need this cake. Looks bonkers good.
It’s everything that I thought it would be and more! Loved it. You’ll have to get there ASAP – super fun city trip. 🙂
I WANT TO GO TO SF SO BADLY!!!
I, like you, was also denied the Easy Bake Oven in my youth (stupid sister got it instead! What is the DEAL with that!?)… I”m still tempted to buy them every time I see one at the store… Is that bad?
Anyway, I digress, this cake looks BANANAS. Or…. PUMPKINANAS? It looks insanely good. Excuse me while I clean all the drool off of my keyboard…
Hahaha – thanks Natalie! Maybe we should gift ourselves Easy Bake ovens this year.
Love it! I’ve always been a big fan of your blog..and even more so with the influx of sugar-free, wholesome recipes of late. Love that you can still consciously decide when a “splurge” is worth it and oh so necessary. Enjoy the road trip. I just moved from Chicago to Seattle a month ago, and it’s a great city. Hopefully the sun will still be shining when you get here. Is it all vacation in Seattle or doing anything for work?
Safe travels!
I’m actually attending a food photography workshop! I can’t wait! I’ve done a lot of teaching lately and I’m ready to soak up all this new knowledge and photography inspo like a dry sponge. 🙂 Hopefully my instructors won’t get overwhelmed by my zest for learning.
I have been planning on making a pumpkin streusel coffee cake tonight but was disappointed in the recipes I was finding and the underwhelming amount of pumpkin in them…I mean it’s fall, and I want LOTS of pumpkin flava. So I searched one more time before heading off to the store and voila! One of my favorite food blogs has miraculously posted a recipe for it with a very satisfying amount of spice and pumpkin goodness. And a maple yummy glaze that would I be crazy if I added a small amount of bourbon too (c’mon it’s fall…and its bourbon, duh) THANK YOUUUU! I canNOT wait to try it!
Enjoy your road trip!
And why have I never thought of pumpkin coffee cake before? If something looks and sounds that delicious I wouldn’t even care if there were three pounds of sugar per slice!
Thanks Nora! Pumpkin coffee cake for everyone!
Yum! This sounds delish!
Oh how I would love to visit California and then take a road trip to Washington! Totally on my bucket list. This coffee cake, well it was just added to my bucket list, too. Looks great, Lindsay! Enjoy the rest of your trip! 🙂
Thanks Julie! We are having a blast so far!
1) I was just looking for a pumpkin coffee cake recipe to make for my coworkers! You are food psychic.
2) The suspense is killing me! What is happening in that pictures with you and all the cameras! I hope you’re going to be in (or on!) a magazine 🙂
Thanks Michelle! No magazines – just a high production video thing that I’ll tell about soon! 🙂
One of the benefits of being ‘older’ ,some the toys we had were not really safe. I had a little stove. You plugged it in and it was NOT heated by a light bulb. I cooked more things on that—-melted a lot of crayons. Like you could cook on top too.
Sorry about your failure, but look what a lovely coffee cake you presented us instead. I think we won. Enjoy the rest of your trip. I live up Seattle way and the weather has been great.
gahhhhh, I need this in my life!
your coffee cake sounds like a perfect addition to a brunch am planning. By the way, I’m so sorry that I missed the presentations by you and your husband at blog elevated. I was only able to attend for a short while and didn’t get the full benefit of the conference.
This cake looks dreamy. I want it.
This is TOTALLY worth the sugar splurge!! As in, eat-the-whole-pan-by-yourself worthy. That streusel on top… And the pumpkin underneath… SO good! And I totally hear you on the no oven desperation thing. I’ve been baking out of a tiny toaster oven for 6 weeks. 6 weeks!! I’ve been contemplating banging on random neighbor’s doors to ask if I could borrow their oven in exchange for the baked goodies that come out of it. But then I get nervous and stay inside instead… So glad for you that you have your parents nearby! 🙂 Pinned!
Girl! You yoself an Easy Bake or something! 🙂 That’s a looong time to be cooking out of a toaster oven.
Stunning looking, and utterly delicious sounding recipe Lindsay. I so wish I was digging into that instead, as I sit here in Scotland eating my porridge for breakfast and catching up on my favortite blogs! 😉
Yours naturally being my favorite blog 😀
It’s the maple glaze on this cake that has my mouth watering the most.
Enjoy the road trip – I love the food inspiration I get while travelling. And you have the bonus of being able to come back to a new kitchen to try out all your new ideas!
I KNOW! I seriously can hardly wait.
oh my gosh, I think I’m drooling! this looks so freakin good Lindsay! I mean seriously the moist cake with that crunchy/crumble topping I don’t know what to say other than ah-ma-zing! and seriously great flavor combo!
Absolutely schedule a food tour of the Pike Street Market with Savor Seattle. A must NOT miss!! https://www.savorseattletours.com/