Spiced Pumpkin Coffee Cake with Streusel
A moist, tender pumpkin cake packed with warm fall spices and layered inside and out with a buttery brown-sugar streusel. The coziest thing to bake on a crisp morning — perfect with coffee, and a guaranteed Thanksgiving brunch winner.
Prep
20 min
Cook
45 min
Total
65 min
Serves
12
Ingredients
Streusel topping
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold and cubed
Pumpkin cake
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 1/2 cup sour cream or full-fat Greek yogurt, room temperature
Method
- 1
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and flour a 9x9 pan, or line with parchment with an overhang. Whisk the streusel flour, both sugars, cinnamon and salt, then cut in the cold cubed butter until it looks like coarse crumbs with pea-sized bits. Chill while you make the batter. Whisk the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and all the spices in a large bowl and set aside. Beat the softened butter with both sugars on medium-high 3–4 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each, then beat in the vanilla and pumpkin puree until combined.
- 2
On low speed, add the dry ingredients in three additions alternating with the sour cream in two (dry, sour cream, dry, sour cream, dry), beginning and ending with dry. Mix until just combined — a few flour streaks are fine. Spread half the batter in the pan and sprinkle with half the chilled streusel. Spoon the remaining batter over the streusel, spread gently to the edges, and top with the rest of the streusel. Bake 40–50 minutes, until a toothpick in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs and the top is golden. Cool in the pan on a rack at least 20–30 minutes before slicing.
- 3
Bon appetit
Tips
- Cold butter is the secret to crumbly streusel — keep it fridge-cold until the moment you cut it in.
- Don't overmix once the flour goes in, or the cake turns tough and dense.
- Ovens vary; start checking at 40 minutes and pull it the moment the toothpick comes clean.
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