Fall is in full swing and this Pumpkin Coffee Cake with a scrumptious pecan crumble topping, truly captures the essence of the season. It brings together the comforting flavors of pumpkin with the delightful crunch of pecans in every bite.
The cake features a moist, tender crumb, absolutely packed with pumpkin, and a fragrant blend of seasonal spices, including cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Its standout element is the golden-brown pecan crumble topping, which provides a delightful textural contrast to the cake's softness. Each slice transports you to a world of fall flavors, making this coffee cake a perfect companion for your morning coffee or a delightful treat for any autumn gathering. I also love it for a bake-ahead Thanksgiving dessert!
Bake up a cake this Halloween and the PantryChic will do all the measuring for you, giving you more time to tend to all those trick-or-treaters gravitating to your house by the smell of a fresh-baked pumpkin-spice dessert in the oven!
SmartCanister Lineup
This recipe is made easiest if you are using PantryChic SmartCanisters to store all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, ground cinnamon, baking soda, ground nutmeg, ground cloves, baking powder, and salt.
If you are not already storing all of these ingredients in their own SmartCanister, you can always use the PantryChic's scale function to manually add an ingredient.
Ground nutmeg is not currently one of our validated ingredients but can be stored to add manually.
Start the Cake Batter
You will need three mixing bowls to make this coffee cake as well as the crumble topping, but you can always lightly wipe out one of the first two bowls before starting the topping.
To start the cake batter, use the PantryChic to dispense the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Stir everything together to evenly disperse the spices, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
Whisk the Wet Ingredients
The wet ingredients in this cake use a full (15-ounce) can of pure pumpkin, so while the PantryChic can easily measure wet ingredients by weight, that isn’t necessary here. When creating this recipe, I used more pumpkin and less vegetable oil than other pumpkin cakes… It’s great that it stays moist with less fat, but the real reason I did that is because I don’t want a third of a can of pumpkin leftover in the fridge! Just be sure to use 100% “pure” canned pumpkin and not “pumpkin pie filling” as that will include sugar and spices that we are adding fresh.
Whisk the pumpkin with the the eggs, milk, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract before moving on.
Finish the Cake Batter
Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, just until all is combined and no clumps of flour remain. Spread into a 9x9-inch baking dish that has been greased with nonstick spray or vegetable oil. Set this aside as you…
Prepare the Pecan Crumble Topping
To make the topping, you can use the PantryChic to easily dispense everyday storage essentials, such as the all-purpose flour, and then use the built in scale to measure the other ingredients, such as chopped pecans.
Once you’ve cut the butter into flour and have achieved a dry and crumbly texture, simply spread it out over the coffee cake batter evenly.
Bake it Off, Bake it Off
On the center rack of a preheated 350°F oven, bake the cake for 60–65 minutes, just until the topping is a deep brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out mostly clean.
Transfer to a wire rack and let cool at least 15 minutes before slicing to serve.
Recipe: Pumpkin Coffee Cake
Active Prep Time: 20 mins ∙ Cook Time: 1 hour ∙ Serves: 9
SmartCanister Ingredients
1 1/2 cups (200g) all-purpose flour
3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons (5g) ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon (4.5g) baking soda
3/4 teaspoon (1.75g) ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon (1g) ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon (175g) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon (3g) salt
Other Ingredients
1 (15-ounce) can pure pumpkin
2 large eggs
1/4 cup (60g) whole milk
1/4 cup (55g) vegetable oil
1 teaspoon (5g) vanilla extract
Pecan Crumble Topping
SmartCanister Ingredients
1 cup (125g) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons (3g) ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon (1.5g) salt
Other Ingredients
1 packed cup (215g) light brown sugar
3/4 cup (95g) chopped pecans
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
DIRECTIONS
- Place oven rack in the center position and preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x9-inch baking dish with nonstick spray or vegetable oil.
- Place a large mixing bowl on the PantryChic scale. Dispense 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 3/4 cup granulated sugar, 2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Stir together. Set aside.
- In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together pure pumpkin, milk, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract.
- Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, just until all is combined and no clumps of flour remain. Spread into the prepared baking dish.
- Start the Pecan Crumble Topping, by placing a mixing bowl on the PantryChic scale. Dispense, 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Add the light brown sugar, chopped pecans, and butter.
- Cut the butter into the other ingredients until a crumbly texture has formed and the flour is mostly incorporated.
- Crumble the topping over the batter in the baking dish.
- Bake 60–65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool at least 15 minutes before slicing to serve.