Pumpkin Pecan Coffee Cake

November 14, 2023

Coffee cake can seem a lot more complicated than it actually is. The cake is as straightforward as any other cake and the crumb topping only requires some basic crumbling skills (which is even easier than it sounds), but when you put those two elements together they transform into something very special.

Now that covers your standard coffee cake, but today we are baking up a pumpkin pecan coffee cake. This fall inspired version of a classic coffee cake is warmly spiced, tender and much more moist than most traditional coffee cakes are thanks to the pumpkin involved. This cake is absolutely delicious and one of my favorite things to serve along side a mug of coffee from mid September all the way to Christmas.

Let’s get it started…

Begin by whisking 1 1/4 cup of pumpkin puree with 1/3 cup of brown sugar, 1/2 cup of canola oil, 1/4 cup of maple syrup and 1/4 cup of whole milk until completely combined.

Whisk together 2 cups of all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon of baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon and 1-2 teaspoons of pumpkin spice or chai spice in a large bowl. I always use a full 2 teaspoons of pumpkin spice in this batter, but the flavors are bold using this amount. Everyone always loves it, but if you are feeling a bit more reserved, anything between 1 and 2 teaspoons of the pumpkin or chai spice works great. You can also omit the full teaspoon of ground cinnamon if you prefer to just have the spice blends involved.

Combine the smooth and creamy pumpkin puree mixture with the spiced flour mixture and stir with a silicone spatula or wooden spoon until all of the ingredients are just combined. Like many batters, you don’t want to over mix this one. As long as you no longer see dry ingredients in the bowl (check the bottom!), you are ready to proceed.

To create the spiced pecan crumb topping, combine 1/3 cup of finely chopped pecans with 1/3 cup of all purpose flour, 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 4 tablespoons of cold butter cut into small cubes.

Now use a pastry cutter or a stiff fork to “cut” the butter into the dry ingredients. Cutting is simply a term describing combining the cold butter with the other ingredients quickly. We want the butter broken into small pieces and evenly distributed throughout the mixture, but we do not want it to begin softening. Cold butter in a crumb topping helps to give the topping a crumbly texture than will crumble beautifully. Adding warm or melted butter into a crumb topping will simply create a thin layer sort of like a crust, which will still be delicious, but will lack the classic coffee cake crumbliness.

This is the texture we are looking for. Small crumbles of butter and the dry ingredients not look a bit like damp sand. Now we can assemble the coffee cake and get it into the oven.

This pumpkin coffee cake can be baked in a 9″ square dish or a 7″x11″ deep baking dish.

Grease the dish with softened butter or your favorite non-stick spray and then line it with parchment paper. You can either cut a piece of parchment paper down to the size of the bottom of your baking dish or you can cut a long rectangle and lay it into the dish folding the excess over the sides. These excess pieces will help you easily lift the cake out of the baking dish later on, so I love and always suggest using this method.

You have 2 options for assembling this coffee cake. You can layer it like a traditional coffee cake or you can add all of the batter into the baking dish and top it with all of the crumb topping.

The batter is pretty thick, so if you are having a tough time spreading half of it into your baking dish, I suggest just putting it all in. Its the easiest method.

Now if you are really set on having those coffee cake layers then smooth half of the batter into the bottom of your prepared baking dish, top that with about 1/3 of the crumble topping and then add the second half of the batter and try to spread it evenly over the entire baking dish.

Add the remaining crumb topping and you are ready to bake this cake.

Bake your pumpkin pecan coffee cake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick will come out of the center of the cake clean.

Note: Do not remove the cake from the oven until the center feels set and a toothpick comes out mostly dry from the very center of the cake. A common complaint about baking coffee cake is that the center falls and this only happens if you take it out of the oven too early and the center is still a bit under cooked. I have had this cake take as long as 43 minutes, but as long as your oven remains at 350 degrees, the outside will not over bake. Just keep gently checking the center and once it feels springy and not soft, transfer the cake onto a cooling rack.

Let the cake cool in the baking dish for about 10 minutes and then carefully remove the cake from your dish and transfer it directly onto a cooling rack. This is where those parchment paper “handles” come in handy.

While the cake cools, make a simple vanilla drizzle by combining 3/4 cup of confectioners sugar with 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Add just enough whole milk or heavy cream to make a consistency that will drizzle, but hold its shape. This should be about 1 tablespoon, maybe a tiny bit more, but add the milk very cautiously. If you end up adding too much milk, dust a bit more confectioners sugar in to thicken it back up.

Once the cake has cooled, slice it up and then drizzle your slices with that wonderful spiced vanilla drizzle, dust with a bit more confectioners sugar (just enough to be pretty) and get ready to be happily surprised at the beautiful flavors of this cake…

The pumpkin flavors are bold and so inviting. It is warmly spiced, buttery and the crumble compliments this tender, moist cake just perfectly. I am so obsessed with this cake right now and I know that you will be too.

If you have family or friends over for the holidays, treat them to a nice slice of this pumpkin pecan coffee cake with a big mug of hot coffee or tea (or hot cocoa!) in the morning and they will be singing your praises all day long.

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