Description
A moist and flavorful pumpkin coffee cake topped with crunchy cinnamon streusel and finished with a sweet vanilla glaze – perfect for fall mornings and cozy gatherings.
Ingredients
Streusel Topping:
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ cup melted butter
Cake Batter:
- 1 cup pumpkin purée (whatever brand’s on sale, honestly)
- ¼ cup applesauce (the chunky kind works fine)
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup white sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon allspice
- â…› teaspoon cloves (seriously, don’t go crazy here)
- 1½ cups flour
Vanilla Glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1½ tablespoons milk
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Get everything ready: Heat your oven to 350 degrees. Line that square pan with parchment paper and leave some hanging over the sides so you can lift the whole thing out later. Trust me on this one.
- Deal with the streusel first: Mix up all the streusel stuff in a bowl until it looks like chunky sand. Then spread it on a cookie sheet and ignore it for about ten minutes while you make the cake batter. This is the secret that makes it actually crunchy.
- Start the wet stuff: Dump the pumpkin, applesauce, oil, egg, and vanilla in your big bowl. Whisk it until it looks smooth and orange. Don’t overthink this part.
- Add the sugars: Throw in both kinds of sugar and whisk for maybe thirty seconds. It should look a little glossy when you’re done.
- Spice time: Add all the dry ingredients except the flour – that’s the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and all those spices. Whisk it in until you can’t see white powder anymore and everything smells like fall.
- The flour part (don’t mess this up): Add the flour and fold it in gently with a spoon or spatula. Stop as soon as you mostly can’t see dry flour. Some lumps are fine – actually, lumps are better than overmixed tough cake.
- Put it together: Spread the batter in your pan. It’s gonna be thick, so just push it around until it’s mostly even. Sprinkle that dried streusel all over the top.
- Bake it: Stick it in the oven for 30 to 35 minutes. It’s done when you poke it with a toothpick and get just a few crumbs, not wet batter but not totally clean either.
- Wait (I know, it’s torture): Let this thing cool completely before you even think about glazing it. Go fold laundry or something. If you rush this part, the glaze will just melt and make a mess.
- Glaze and eat: Mix up the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla until it’s smooth. Drizzle it however you want and then cut yourself a piece because you’ve earned it.
Notes
Check your spice drawer: If your cinnamon smells like sawdust, throw it out and buy fresh. I learned this the hard way when my first attempt tasted like nothing despite using the right amounts.
Room temperature egg matters: Take it out when you start preheating your oven. Cold eggs don’t mix well and you’ll end up with weird lumps.
Don’t overthink the flour: I used to stress about perfect mixing, but honestly? A few small lumps are fine and keep the cake tender. Overmixing makes it tough.
Parchment paper is your friend: Make those little handles by leaving overhang. Otherwise you’ll be digging cake out with a spoon like I did the first three times.
The toothpick test: You want a few moist crumbs, not a clean toothpick. Clean means overbaked and dry.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Category: Dessert, Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 square (1/9 of cake)
- Calories: 285
- Sugar: 28g
- Sodium: 245mg
- Fat: 8g
- Saturated Fat: 3g
- Unsaturated Fat: 5g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 52g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 4g
- Cholesterol: 25mg