Each bite of pumpkin coffee cake with crumb topping is moist and flavorful thanks to power ingredients like pumpkin puree, pure maple syrup, and seasonal spices like ground nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. Piled high with brown sugar cinnamon crumble topping and drizzled with easy vanilla icing, this spiced breakfast cake certainly hits the spot during the fall season.
I originally published this recipe in 2013 and have since added new photos, a video tutorial, and more success tips.
Perfectly acceptable for breakfast, snack, or dessert, today’s pumpkin coffee cake is a must make during the fall season. Heavy on the crumb topping, this is a fall version of my New York-style crumb cake and tastes just like my pumpkin crumb cake muffins but in cake form. We love it so much, we also created a cookie version with these pumpkin crumb cake cookies! It’s bursting with pumpkin flavor and will have you racing to the kitchen table any morning of the week! Not to mention, it’s the perfect treat to serve on Thanksgiving morning as a prelude to all the pumpkin pie in the evening (see my complete list of 30+ make-ahead Thanksgiving breakfast ideas for even more inspiration).
And if you’re looking for dessert, this pumpkin crumb cake is perfectly acceptable or you may love my regular pumpkin cake instead. For even more inspiration, here are my 30+ best pumpkin dessert recipes.
One reader, Jamie, commented: “This recipe turned out exceptionally. I baked it for about 35 minutes. The crumb topping is not as floury as coffee cakes but blends into the cake beautifully. The vanilla glaze took it over the edge. One of the best recipes I have made in some time. I used 1/2 dark and 1/2 light brown sugar and enjoyed the result. Thank you! ★★★★★“
This Pumpkin Crumb Coffee Cake Is:
- Simple and quick to prepare
- Ultra soft and moist
- Incredibly pumpkin-y
- A perfect fall breakfast indulgence (serve alongside another fall favorite, cranberry cake!)
- Wonderfully spiced with cozy fall flavors
- Piled high with crumb topping
- Garnished with a sweet vanilla icing
This recipe also joins 30+ others in my collection of Quick Dessert Recipes—ready in 1 hour or less!
Video Tutorial
3 Parts to My Best Pumpkin Coffee Crumb Cake
- Pumpkin Coffee Cake: There’s incredible flavor in each soft, moist bite of the pumpkin cake layer.
- Crumb Topping: Top today’s coffee cake with a thick layer of cinnamon-spiced crumbs.
- Vanilla Icing: It’s not coffee cake without a drizzle of icing. For something different, you may love this pumpkin crumb cake paired with the same brown sugar icing we use on pumpkin donuts.
Overview: How to Make Pumpkin Coffee Cake with Crumb Topping
This recipe is made completely from scratch with no boxed cake mix in sight. Made with pantry basics, the cake comes together in minutes without a mixer. Ingredients like oil, maple syrup, brown sugar, and pumpkin puree make this the moistest coffee cake you’ll ever taste. (Careful not to over-bake it!) Pumpkin takes the place of egg and helps bind everything together, so this is an entirely egg free recipe. (This cake is vegan-friendly as well—use dairy free milk in the cake and dairy free butter in the crumb topping.)
See more egg-free baking recipes.
Make sure you’re using real pumpkin puree (I like canned puree), not pumpkin pie filling. We’ll use a little brown sugar and maple syrup to sweeten. There’s lots of spices and you can absolutely use homemade pumpkin pie spice here, see recipe Note. The crumb topping and glaze sweeten the cake, so there’s no need for more sugar in the cake itself. You’ll love how the sweet maple flavor pairs with real pumpkin and warm spices!
Be prepared, this is a super, super thick batter. Why? We’re using lots of heavy, wet ingredients to yield a moist and satisfying cake.
Crumb Topping
We can all agree that the crumbs are the best part of coffee cake, so we’re going heavy on the crumb topping today. (For more recipes loaded with crumbs, try apple crumb cake, zucchini crumb cake, pumpkin french toast casserole, and apple cinnamon muffins.) Today’s crumb topping is cinnamon-spiced—you need flour, brown sugar, salt, ground cinnamon, and cold butter. Cut the cold butter in with a fork or pastry cutter until it begins to clump together and form crumbs. Pour that glorious crumb streusel on top of the batter and gently press it down into the cake before baking. So easy!
Vanilla Icing
While the cake bakes, make the icing. If I have it on hand during the fall season, I like to use pumpkin spice coffee creamer instead of milk. If you have any leftover pumpkin puree, you can even make and use homemade pumpkin coffee creamer in the icing. Milk works just as well, though. Mix the coffee creamer or milk with a little confectioners’ sugar and vanilla extract, and then pour the glaze on top of the warm coffee cake. Instead of vanilla icing, try a drizzle of salted caramel or dollop of homemade whipped cream.
More Fall Breakfast Recipes
- Apple Cinnamon Rolls
- Morning Glory Muffins
- Apple Cider Donuts
- Pumpkin Scones
- Apple Cinnamon Muffins or Mini Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Muffins
- Pumpkin Pancakes or Pumpkin Waffles
And if you are looking for dessert, here is a list of 30+ fall cake recipes.
Print
Pumpkin Crumb Coffee Cake
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: serves 9
- Category: Cake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
An incredibly moist and flavorful spiced pumpkin coffee cake, piled high with a crumb topping and finished with vanilla icing.
Ingredients
Crumb Topping
- 1/2 cup (63g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup (4 Tablespoons; 56g) unsalted butter, cold
Pumpkin Coffee Cake
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg*
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves*
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger*
- 1 cup (226g) pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (120ml) canola or vegetable oil (or melted coconut oil if you prefer)
- 1/4 cup (82g) pure maple syrup
- 1/4 cup (60ml) milk*
Vanilla Icing
- 1 cup (120g) confectioners’ sugar
- 2 Tablespoons pumpkin spice coffee creamer, half-and-half, or milk
- 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease a 9-inch square or 9-inch springform baking pan (or any 2.5 quart baking dish) with nonstick spray. Set aside.
- Make the crumb topping first: In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon together. Cut in the cold butter using a pastry blender or a fork. Mix to create clumps and crumbs. Set aside.
- Make the cake: Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger together in a large bowl until combined. In a medium bowl, whisk the pumpkin, brown sugar, oil, maple syrup, and milk together until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until *just* combined. Avoid over-mixing the batter. Batter will be very thick. Spoon/pour the batter into the prepared baking pan. Spread to make an even surface. Pour the crumb topping evenly on top and gently press them down into the batter.
- Bake the cake for 30-35 minutes. Check the cake’s doneness at the 30 minute mark by inserting a toothpick into the center. If the toothpick comes out clean or with a couple moist crumbs, the cake is done. If the toothpick has wet batter on it, bake the cake for 5 more minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean.
- Make the icing: Whisk the icing ingredients together. Add an extra splash of creamer/milk to thin out if desired. Drizzle over warm or cooled cake. (We like serving this warm.)
- Cover leftover cake tightly and store at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: This cake may be frozen for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before enjoying.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 9-inch Square Pan, 9-inch Springform Pan, or any 2.5-quart Baking Dish | Glass Mixing Bowls | Pastry Blender | Whisk | Rubber Spatula
- Spices: Instead of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger in the batter, you can use 2 and 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice. You could also just replace the nutmeg, cloves, and ginger with pumpkin pie spice and keep the cinnamon in the recipe.
- Milk: You can use any milk, dairy or nondairy, in the cake batter. I really like using buttermilk when I have it on hand. Makes the cake very moist.
Reader Comments and Reviews
My crumb topping just baked into the cake, no sign of crumb any suggestions?
Hi Ronda, it sounds like your crumb mixture may have been overworked a bit. You’ll want large clumps and crumbs, otherwise if it’s too pasty, it will bake into the cake. An easy fix for next time—we hope you still loved the cake!
I recently made this for a family dinner and everyone absolutely LOVED it!! The next day I received a text from several people who had a piece after dinner requesting the recipe!!! I ended up making it again a couple days later at the request of my daughter!! You are my “go to” for most of my desserts!! Thank you for making me look like such an amazing baker!!
Made this today and it is wonderful.
I tried your pumpkin crumb cake muffins and they were delicious!! Thank you!!
Sally, I was wondering if I could make this recipe in two loaf tins? I’m hoping to be able to give a portion away and keep some. Would loaf tins work? If so, how long do you think the bake time would be?
Hi Reygan, if your loaf pans are the smaller 8×4-inch size (as opposed to the 9×5-inch pans), it could work, but there won’t be enough batter for 2 9×5 loaf pans. For more information, check out this post on cake pan sizes and conversions. I’m unsure of the bake time, however. Keep a close eye on them and check for doneness with a toothpick.
Thank you for posting this recipe! It is easily made vegan with almond/soy milk so it was perfect for my daughter who is allergic to milk and eggs. My 2 & 3 year old kids helped to make it and we enjoyed for a nice Fall brunch.
Can you sub the maple syrup? I’m out of honey & maple syrup.
Hi Jacquelyn! Do you happen to have agave syrup? That would work well here as well.
Can honey be a substitute for the maple syrup?
Yes, you can use an equal amount of honey or agave in place of the maple syrup.
Hi Sally! No eggs in this recipe?
Hi Lisa, correct! Pumpkin takes the place of egg and helps bind everything together, so this is an entirely egg free recipe.
I love the pumpkin crumb muffins, so I thought I would try this. I made two batches and then baked it in a 9×13″ pan. I baked for 30 minutes and my toothpicks all came out clean. But upon cutting, I found the the center of the cake was still a little underbaked and not servable. I was able to save the edges though and it’s super delicious! Next time I’ll bake another 5-10min if doing a double batch in a 9×13″ pan.
Wowee! This recipe is a winner! Everyone loved it!
I made this cake yesterday and it is the best coffee cake ever. Wonderfully moist and so flavourful ( Canadian spelling). I bake a lot, so finding such an outstanding recipe is great. Thanks Sally and team.
Made these into muffins instead and were delicious! Sweet spot for bake time is around 21-23 min.
So delicious!! I added one cup of unthawed frozen cranberries to the batter. So good. Thank you Sally!
Made this for work and everyone loved it! Plus was very easy to make. So my question is, I saw “the best pumpkin cake ever” recipe on this site also. Would that be better to make and use the crumb topping and drizzled icing rather than the cake recipe for this? The cake recipes are different. If anyone has tried please let me know
Hi can I use an 11.5 x 8 dish and or 8.5 x 6 dish?
Is this a cake that tasted better the next day? Can it be made ahead?
Hi Katie! This is a great cake to make a day ahead of time. We would wait to add the icing until just before serving.
I am in South Africa and we seem to have gone directly into summer! Look forward to trying this out this weekend which is a long weekend for the Public Holiday – Heritage Day. Could I use Butternut instead of pumpkin?
Hi Alison, although we haven’t tested it in this particular recipe, you can typically swap pumpkin puree with butternut squash puree. Let us know if you try it!
Made this for my bible study group last week. Very moist and delicious. Everyone loved it
Hi De Ann, correct–pumpkin takes the place of egg and helps bind everything together, so this is an entirely egg free recipe.
We loved this recipe! I used Maple extract in the icing and it was a nice compliment to the cake. We have enjoyed so many of your recipes! Thank you!!
I have not tried it yet, but know it will be delicious! Can chocolate chips be added to the batter? If so, would a cup sound right? Thank you for all the amazing recipes! They always get compliments and requests!
Hi Chelsea, you can definitely try adding a cup of chocolate chips to the batter. Hope you love it!
Making now! Sounds so yummy. Really no eggs?
Really no eggs! Enjoy!
Love that there’s no eggs, my kiddo has an allergy! What a sweet surprise, she’ll be able to enjoy too!
Can this recipe be doubled for a 13×9 baking pan?
Hi LuAnn, We haven’t tested it, but we’d recommend making the batter twice (instead of doubling) and filling a 9×13 halfway. Or use our larger pumpkin cake recipe and top with the crumbs. (double the crumb portion).
I doubled it, turned out great. I used a 9×13 pan, big fluffy cake.
I love this recipe!! I just changed the maple syrup to Agave and it was not super sweet.
This cake came together so quickly and had wonderful warm flavours. Loved it! My new go-to coffee cake for fall.
I thought this was delicious. It was very moist and flavorful. I added 1/2 cup of chopped pecans to the streusel topping. I will be making this again. Thank you!!
This is a delicious pumpkin coffee cake! Will definitely be making it again.
My family loves this recipe but I always have trouble with it sinking in the middle after it comes out of the oven. What am I doing wrong? I tried baking at 375 to maybe give it a little more lift and that almost seemed to make it worse. Please advise…
This recipe is great! I added a little molasses to deepen my brown sugar and used half and half because I was out of milk. Those were the only changes. My husband loved it!
Hi, have you heard of anyone subbing regular flour for a gluten free all purpose? I love this recipe so much and life will be better this fall if I can make it with GF flour!!
Hi Stephanie, It’s worth a try! We’ve never tried it, but if you find a cup-for-cup GF flour you like a lot, try it out. Let us know!
I’m going to try making it this weekend with Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 GF all purpose baking flour and will report back!
My mom uses Better Batter GF flour for all of Sally’s recipes (she’s made a lot!) and everything she makes is soo good! I’ve also used Trader Joe’s GF flour and that’s always turned out for me!