This easy pumpkin sour cream coffee cake is soft, fall-spiced, topped with buttery streusel and just might be your new favorite cozy fall bake.
It might sound basic, but I'm a huge fan of fall. It's just my time of year. I love all the fall vibes and this coffee cake is a big part of that.
It smells so warm and comforting when it's baking and it's just the perfect way to start off the season.
It's easy to make and put together and there's no cake decorating involved. It's also perfect as a dessert, snack or even breakfast.
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Why You’ll Love This Cake
- Moist and soft cake texture
- The cake is not overly sweet and the streusel and glaze compliment it perfectly
- It's easy to prep and bake
- Full of comforting fall spices
- Travels well
Pro Tips
- Don't skip the streusel on this one. This cake is not overly sweet on its own and that was done by design. The streusel and glaze really balance everything out, so if you do decide to skip those, add about a ½ cup of sugar into the cake batter.
Recipe
Pumpkin Spice Coffee Cake Recipe
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour (Measured correctly: Spooned into the measuring cup and leveled off - not scooped and packed into the measuring cup, that will add too much flour.)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 ½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature (1 stick)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- ⅓ cup sour cream
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the streusel topping:
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- ½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
For the glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons milk
- Dash of cinnamon (optional)
Instructions
For the streusel:
- In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Cut in the cold butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in nuts if using. Set aside. (I like to use a food processor for this as it will make it quickly, but you can just use a fork if you don't have a food processor.)
For the cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 8×8-inch pan with non-stick baking spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and spices. Set aside.
- In another medium bowl, mix the pumpkin, sour cream and vanilla and set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on high speed for a couple minutes until light and fluffy.
- Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing on medium for about 20 seconds after each egg.
- Add half of the dry ingredients to the batter and mix on medium speed for only about 15-20 seconds.
- Add the liquid ingredients and mix on medium speed for only about 15-20 seconds.
- Add the last half of the dry ingredients and mix on medium speed for only about 15-20 seconds.
- Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and mix again only for about 10 seconds.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly.
- Sprinkle the streusel topping evenly over the batter.
- Bake for approximately 55 – 60 minutes (ovens vary), or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs on it but no raw batter. This cake takes a while to bake because of the thick texture and the moisture content. It will begin to puff up in the middle towards the end of the baking time.
- Remove from the oven and cool in the pan on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes before adding the glaze.
- Note: The cake itself is not a super sweet cake and that's because the streusel on top is made from sugar, so everything is designed to go together. If you do not plan to make the streusel and the glaze, you may want to add in an additional ½ cup sugar to the cake batter.
For the glaze:
- Add all of the glaze ingredients to a small mixing bowl and mix well with a fork or a spoon.
- Spoon onto the cake.
Notes
Nutrition
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Steps to make this cake with step-by-step photos
(The full printable instructions are in the recipe card above.)
Step 1:
Make sure to preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and spray an 8×8 inch pan with baking spray. I like to use a glass pan.
Step 2:
Make the streusel first. Add the ingredients to a bowl and mix together with a fork or use a pastry blender or food processor to mix it quickly. It should end up crumbly.
Step 3:
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and spices. Set aside.
Step 4:
In another medium bowl, mix the pumpkin, sour cream and vanilla and set aside.
Step 5:
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on high speed for a couple minutes until light and fluffy.
Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing on medium for about 20 seconds after each egg.
Step 6:
Add half of the dry ingredients to the batter and mix on medium speed for only about 15-20 seconds.
Add the liquid ingredients and mix on medium speed for only about 15-20 seconds.
Add the last half of the dry ingredients and mix on medium speed for only about 15-20 seconds.
Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and mix again only for about 10 seconds.
Step 7:
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly and sprinkle the streusel topping evenly over the batter.
Step 8:
Bake for approximately 55 – 60 minutes (ovens vary), or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs on it but no raw batter. This cake takes a while to bake because of the thick texture and the moisture content. It will begin to puff up in the middle towards the end of the baking time.
Remove from the oven and cool in the pan on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes before adding the glaze.
Step 9:
Make the glaze by adding all of the glaze ingredients to a small mixing bowl and mix well with a fork or a spoon, then spoon it onto the cake.
Tips & FAQs
Make sure to only use 1 cup of pumpkin. If you use the entire can, it's too much and the cake may turn out dense and/or not bake fully.
Unsalted is always best because you can estimate the proper amount of salt that will be added plus salted has a different water content than unsalted. However, if you’re unable to get unsalted butter, you can use salted in the cake and the buttercream but omit the additional salt that each recipe calls for.
Sour cream is best in this recipe as it helps make a very moist cake and gives a little flavor. If you don’t have access to it, you can use plain yogurt but use the full-fat yogurt instead of the low fat or fat free type.
Yes, feel free to omit the nuts if you don't like them or are allergic. I make my version without the nuts.
You can omit the topping but just note that the cake recipe is not a very sweet cake and that was done deliberately so that the streusel topping would compliment it. If you omit the topping, you might think about adding in about a ½ cup of sugar to the batter.
The cake batter for this cake is quite thick and there is also a lot of moisture content in the batter, so it will take a while to bake up. Your oven may also take a bit longer than mine, so just check it when it reaches the recommended time and if it needs to bake longer, that's okay.
This cake is finished baking when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs on it or clean, but no raw batter.
This cake can be stored and covered well at room temperature for a couple of days, or it can be stored covered well in the refrigerator up to 5 days.
I have not tested this recipe out in a loaf pan, but I think that it could work just fine. You may need two loaf pans though. You might also need to bake a bit longer as the cake batter will be deeper in those pans than an 8×8 pan.
This recipe only fills an 8×8 inch pan, so there would not be enough batter for a standard sized loaf pan. You might be able to double the recipe and bake it in a bundt pan though.
This cake is best served warmed. If slices are cool, heat for a few seconds in the microwave.
Supplies
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Tried This?
If you give this recipe a try, I'd love to know what you think!
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