Gingerbread Pumpkin Streusel Coffee Cake
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This Gingerbread Pumpkin Streusel Coffee Cake is made with molasses and my favorite gingerbread spices. It’s the perfect fall or winter coffee cake recipe!
This isn’t your average pumpkin coffee cake recipe! Rather than use store-bought pumpkin pie spice, I flavored this coffee cake with my favorite gingerbread spices.
Think: ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and black pepper. Yes, black pepper! It might sound strange to you, but just 1/4 teaspoon of ground black pepper really wakes up the coffee cake and delivers that delicious gingerbread flavor.
Unsulphered molasses rounds out the coffee cake and complements the pumpkin puree nicely.
And just because I can’t resist adding a streusel topping whenever possible, I made this a pumpkin streusel coffee cake. The streusel topping is made from the dry ingredients of the coffee cake, so there are no extra steps required to make it!
This would be a great Christmas or Thanksgiving breakfast option. You could make the coffee cake the night before, then enjoy it in the morning with a cup of cocoa, tea, or coffee!
Gingerbread Pumpkin Streusel Coffee Cake Ingredients
This is an incredibly moist and dense pumpkin spice coffee cake. Between the molasses, pumpkin puree, and buttermilk, it’s impossible to make a dry coffee cake!
Here’s everything you’ll need to make the gingerbread spiced coffee cake:
- All-purpose flour
- Whole wheat flour
- Granulated sugar
- Yellow cornmeal
- Spices (ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, black pepper)
- Unsalted butter
- Eggs
- Pumpkin puree
- Molasses
- Buttermilk
- Baking soda
How to Make Pumpkin Streusel Coffee Cake
This may not be your typical pumpkin coffee cake recipe, but it’s still just as easy to make — streusel and all! Here’s a look at how the coffee cake comes together:
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In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, whole wheat flour, cornmeal, and spices.
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Using a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.
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Remove ¾ cup of the crumb mixture for topping and set aside. This will serve as the streusel topping!
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In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, pumpkin puree, molasses, buttermilk, and baking soda.
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Add the pumpkin mixture to the crumb mixture and stir until just moistened.
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Spread the batter into a greased 9-inch springform pan. Sprinkle with reserved ¾ cup crumb mixture.
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Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of cake comes out clean.
Tip: If you want to go all out, make a cup of pumpkin hot chocolate to enjoy alongside this coffee cake!
Storage Instructions
Once the coffee cake has cooled to room temperature, it can be stored in an airtight container for up to four days. Or, you can freeze either the entire cake or individual slices for up to three months.
Can the Buttermilk Be Substituted?
If you don’t have any buttermilk on hand, you can make your own using regular milk and a little vinegar or lemon juice. There are lots of tutorials online for how to do this!
Tips for the Best Pumpkin Coffee Cake
- I used my favorite blend of gingerbread spices in this recipe to really pack in that classic cookie flavor. However, you’re welcome to substitute your favorite pumpkin pie spice if desired.
- Use unsulphered molasses to make this recipe, NOT blackstrap molasses. Blackstrap molasses is very bitter and I don’t like to bake with it.
- Likewise, you need to use pure pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling to make this recipe.
Looking for More Fall Breakfast Ideas?
I have lots of easy fall recipes on my site, but here are just some of my go-to breakfast recipes:
- Cranberry Coffee Cake
- Apple Streusel Coffee Cake
- Pumpkin Apple Muffins
- Pumpkin Spice Pancakes
- Pumpkin Blueberry Muffins
Gingerbread Pumpkin Streusel Coffee Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup whole wheat flour
- ½ cup yellow cornmeal
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¾ cup unsalted butter
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 can (15 ounce) pure pumpkin puree
- ½ cup unsulphured molasses
- ⅓ cup buttermilk
- 1½ teaspoons baking soda
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, whole wheat flour, cornmeal, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and pepper.
- Using a pastry cutter or two forks, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Remove ¾ cup of crumb mixture for topping and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine eggs, pumpkin, molasses, buttermilk, and baking soda.
- Add pumpkin mixture to crumb mixture in large bowl. Stir until just moistened.
- Spread batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle with reserved ¾ cup crumb mixture.
- Bake for 55-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes.
Notes
- Recipe from Better Homes & Gardens 100 Pumpkin Recipes - 2017
Can AP flour be used in this recipe?
Hi Carol! All purpose flour is in this recipe, though there is 1/2 cup whole wheat flour. I haven’t tried it without the whole wheat flour, so I can’t say for sure how it would affect the outcome. Hope you enjoy!
Can I substitute something for the eggs?
Hi Doris! I’ve never tried an egg substitute, so I don’t know what would work in its place.