Easy pumpkin spice coffee cake starts with a boxed cake mix, then gets a fall upgrade with a pumpkin seed streusel and pumpkin spice glaze. It is perfect on the breakfast table with coffee or served after a holiday dinner. Keep this versatile cake in your back pocket all season long.
If you like pumpkin bread with streusel topping, this cake is going to be right up your alley. Except that this one starts with a boxed cake mix. No shame in that around here, lots of bakeries use mixes. Sometimes you just want something easy, especially when you already have a million things to do. I like to make this the day ahead so that on Thanksgiving morning, there is an easy breakfast waiting for us while we start cooking for the day. A slice of pumpkin spice coffee cake, a cup of coffee and we are ready to get to work!
Yet, you don't have to save this one just for breakfast. With the crunchy pumpkin seed streusel and the pumpkin spice glaze, this pumpkin coffee cake is gorgeous on the dessert table too. It is one of those recipes that can go from a casual breakfast to a holiday dinner dessert, which makes it a pretty handy one to have around during the busy holiday season.
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Ingredients for pumpkin cake
- Boxed yellow cake mix
- Canned pumpkin puree
- Eggs
- Water
- Pumpkin pie spice, homemade or store bought
- Baking soda
See recipe card for quantities.
Ingredients for streusel topping
- All-purpose flour
- Brown sugar
- Green pumpkin seeds
- Salted butter
- Pumpkin pie spice, homemade or store bought
See recipe card for quantities.
Ingredients for pumpkin spice glaze
- Brown sugar
- Heavy whipping cream
- Salted butter
- Pumpkin pie spice, homemade or store bought
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9x13 baking pan with cooking spray. In a large mixing bowl, add the pumpkin puree, eggs, water, pumpkin pie spice and baking soda.
Step 2: Whisk the pumpkin puree, eggs, water, pumpkin pie spice and baking soda until well combined.
Step 3: Add the yellow cake mix and whisk or stir only until combined. Don't over mix. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and even out.
Step 4: Add the melted butter, all-purpose flour, brown sugar, green pumpkin seeds and pumpkin pie spice to a small bowl and stir together until crumbly. Crumble the streusel evenly over the cake batter, breaking up any large pieces with your fingers.
Step 5: Bake the cake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean. Cool the cake for at least 30 minutes. Poke holes in the cake, make the pumpkin spice glaze and drizzle the glaze evenly over the cake.
Substitutions and Variations
- Gluten free - to make this recipe gluten free, you would need to use a gluten free boxed cake mix. You can also check out my gluten free pumpkin cake recipe.
- Vegan - to make this recipe vegan, use vegan butter and vegan heavy whipping cream. You will also need to use an egg replacer like Bob's Red Mill Egg Replacer or make flax eggs. To make 2 flax eggs, add 2 tablespoons of flax meal and 6 tablespoons of water to a small bowl. Stir well and let it sit for 10 minutes. Once it's nice and gooey, it's ready to use in place of the eggs.
- Green pumpkin seeds - if you don't like green pumpkin seeds, you can skip them or substitute oatmeal or chopped nuts like pecan or walnuts instead.
Equipment
No special equipment is needed for this recipe.
Storage
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Next Level Tips
- Don't be afraid of cake mixes when you're in a time crunch. Sometimes, we have to make hard choices, even when it comes to cake. Besides, lots of bakeries use some kind of cake mix. They aren't back there opening one box at a time, but they do buy commercial mixes in 50 pound bags. Some high volume bakeries even get their cake mix bases trucked in using pneumatic dry bulk tankers.
- Also, because we're adding to the cake mix and decorating the top with homemade streusel and a homemade glaze, this cake certainly doesn't taste or look like it started with a mix. My son's very favorite cake of all time is chocolate bundt cake that one starts with a boxed cake mix too. No one ever guesses that one starts with a box mix either.
- The truly great thing about this cake is that we can and do eat it for breakfast as coffee cake. But it's also fancy enough to serve as an official dessert for the holiday. Or, really, you could do both. Whatever isn't eaten for breakfast on Thanksgiving day morning can go out on the dessert table for after the big meal.
FAQ
Yes! You can easily make this cake the day ahead. I'm not a fan of cold cake, so I recommend allowing the cake to come to room temperature before serving though.
Traditionally, coffee cake was served alongside a cup of coffee. Personally, I think it's a great excuse to have cake for breakfast.
While I recommend using a yellow cake, you could also use a white cake if needed. You could also use a spice cake, but then I would recommend leaving out the pumpkin pie spice in the cake base. It's not quite an equal substitution, but it would work and still taste good.
Yes, you can use fresh pumpkin. However fresh pumpkin must first be cooked and drained well.
I love layers of flavor. The pumpkin pie spice changes a bit when it's cooked and based on the ingredients that it's paired with. I recommend adding pumpkin pie spice to all 3 layers. But, if you want, you can add it all to the cake for a total of 1 tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice.
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Easy Pumpkin Spice Coffee Cake
Ingredients
For the cake
- 1 can pumpkin puree
- 2 eggs
- ¼ cup water
- 2 ½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice homemade or store bought
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 boxed yellow cake mix
For the streusel topping
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup salted butter melted
- ¼ cup green pumpkin seeds
- ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice homemade or store bought
For the glaze
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice homemade or store bought
Instructions
Making the cake
- Preheat the oven to 350℉. Spray a 9x13 baking pan with cooking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, eggs, water, pumpkin pie spice and baking soda until well combined.
- Add the cake mix to the mixing bowl and stir just until combined. Don't over mix.
- Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and spread it evenly.
Making the streusel topping
- Melt the butter in the microwave in 15 second increments until almost melted. The butter will continue to melt after you take it out, so stir by hand until the butter is completely melted.
- Add the melted butter, all-purpose flour, brown sugar, green pumpkin seeds and pumpkin pie spice to a small bowl and stir together until crumbly.
- Crumble the streusel evenly over the cake batter, breaking up any large pieces with your fingers.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean.
Making the glaze
- Allow the cake to cool for at least 30 minutes.
- Add the brown sugar, salted butter, heavy whipping cream and pumpkin pie spice to a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave in 30 second increments, stirring well after each increment, until the mixture is hot and starts to bubble.
- Poke holes evenly across the top of the cake and drizzle the glaze over the cake.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon cloves
- ¾ teaspoon ginger
- ¼ teaspoon allspice
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
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