Vegan pumpkin coffee cake with a thick cinnamon swirl and generous pecan crumble! This cake is moist, ridiculously delicious and easy to make, just like my regular vegan coffee cake!
What to expect from this cake
FLAVOR: Each bite is packed with warm spices and pumpkin flavor and will warm you up from head to toe.
OCCASION: This sweet treat is perfect for breakfast or dessert during Fall or on Thanksgiving! It doesn't have coffee in it but is perfect with a hot cup of coffee.
Ingredients for the vegan pumpkin coffee cake
The full list of ingredient quantities and instructions are in the gray recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Notes about the ingredients
Light brown sugar and/or granulated sugar. Light brown sugar provides the best flavor while granulated sugar allows the color of the pumpkin to shine. For the best of both worlds, use 50/50 light brown sugar and granulated sugar. If you want a refined sugar-free cake, you can use coconut sugar, however your cake will be darker in color.
Pumpkin puree. I've tested this recipe with Libby's canned pumpkin puree and homemade pumpkin puree and they both work wonderfully!
Baking powder AND soda to make sure the pumpkin cake is fluffy!
Even though this cake is eggless, you don't need any special egg replacers such as a flax egg.
Preparing the crumb topping and cinnamon layer
To prepare the crumble, add all ingredients to a bowl and mix until it is crumbly. There shouldn't be any pockets of butter or flour but the mixture should be 'chunky' like a typical crumble topping.
To make the cinnamon sugar layer, simply mix your sugar with cinnamon until there are no lumps.
Preparing the cake batter
The cake batter comes together in one large bowl! You can mix the batter using a whisk or spatula or with a hand mixer.
Simply add all the wet ingredients to a bowl and mix until combined. Add all your dry ingredients and mix through. The batter is thick but will bake beautifully!
Assembling the vegan pumpkin coffee cake
First, pour half of the cake batter into your cake pan and smooth the surface (the batter is quite thick).
Liberally sprinkle the cinnamon sugar on top. And finally, pour over the remaining cake batter. You may need to smooth the surface again.
The last step is to scatter the streusel topping on top. It may look like A LOT of crumble but it will all stick when the cake bakes.
Baking top tips!
My top tip for baking the cake is to keep an eye on the crumb topping. It's high in nuts and sugar so it may brown quickly.
If your crumb topping is already golden brown but your cake is still uncooked, cover your cake pan with a baking tray or aluminum foil (as long as they don't touch the cake).
This traps in the heat and forces the middle of the cake to cook, rather than the outside. Alternatively, you can reduce the oven heat by 50-60°F (10-15°C).
Customizing this coffee cake recipe
This cake will bake well in an 8-inch square cake pan or 9-inch round cake pan. Your cakes will be thinner so will bake in less time. Try checking your cake at the 35-minute mark.
Alternatively:
- If you want to make a layer cake, check out my vegan pumpkin cake.
- For a pumpkin loaf, I recommend following my vegan pumpkin bread recipe. You can still use the cinnamon swirl layer and pecan streusel from this recipe!
- Or for muffins, check out my vegan pumpkin muffins recipe.
Sweet potato has more starch than pumpkin so the cake will have a different texture. Instead, I recommend checking out my vegan sweet potato cake recipe.
I haven't tested this recipe to be gluten-free however, it may work with a high-quality gluten-free flour such as King Arthur's measure for measure. It may also work with half almond flour and half gluten-free all-purpose flour.
More easy vegan pumpkin recipes
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Vegan Pumpkin Coffee Cake
Ingredients
Pecan Crumble
- ½ cup (50g) pecans, or walnuts, chopped (or use an extra or an extra 2 tablespoons / 15g of flour to make nut-free)
- ½ cup (65g) all-purpose plain flour
- ¼ cup (55g) vegan butter, or coconut oil, softened
- 3 tablespoons (40g) packed light brown sugar, granulated sugar or coconut sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Cinnamon sugar layer
- 3 tablespoons (35g) packed light brown sugar, dark brown sugar or coconut sugar (note 1)
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
Pumpkin Cake ingredients
- 1 cup (200g) pumpkin puree, canned or homemade (not pumpkin pie filling)
- ¾ cup (190g) dairy-free milk
- ⅓ cup (85g) neutral flavored oil
- ⅓ cup (65g) packed light brown sugar
- ⅓ cup (65g) granulated sugar, or more light brown sugar (note 2)
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, white vinegar or lemon juice (optional)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, optional
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose plain flour, spoon and leveled
- 3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice, (note 4 for homemade blend)
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- Pinch of salt, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Grease or line the bottom and sides of an 8-inch (20 cm) round springform or loose-bottom cake pan with parchment paper.
Crumb topping:
- In a small bowl, add all the ingredients. Use your finger tips or a spoon to mix until everything is well combined. There shouldn't be any pockets of flour or butter.
Cinnamon sugar layer:
- In a small bowl, mix the ingredients until well combined.
Prepare the cake:
- Add the wet ingredients (pumpkin puree, dairy-free milk, oil, sugars, vinegar and vanilla) to a large mixing bowl. Whisk until combined.
- Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until there are no big lumps.
Assemble the cake:
- Pour half of the pumpkin cake batter into your prepared pan and smooth the surface with a spoon. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar on top. Pour the remaining batter into the cake pan and smooth the surface. When you smooth the final layer of cake batter, it will not want to stick to the cinnamon sugar layer so just do what you can.
- Sprinkle the crumble on top of the cake (there'll be a lot of crumble).
- Bake the cake for 50-60 minutes. At the 30-minute mark, if the cake is browning too quickly on top, cover the cake pan with an oven-safe tray or aluminum foil. The cake is ready when you can insert a toothpick in the middle and there is no wet batter on it (a few moist crumbs are fine).
- Allow the cake to rest in the cake pan for at least 10 minutes then remove the sides of the pan to fully cool. To serve, dust the top with powdered sugar or drizzle with a simple glaze (note 5 for glaze).
- The cake can be kept at room temperature for 1 day or in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 days. This coffee cake freezes well for up to 1 month (store the slices individually if you're not serving a crowd).
Notes
- For a darker cinnamon swirl, add 1 teaspoon of cocoa powder to your cinnamon sugar mixture to intensify its color.
- Granulated sugar makes the cake lighter and fluffier whereas light brown sugar provides more flavor. I used a combination of both sugars.
- To spoon and level your flour, fluff up the flour in its container, use a spoon to add flour to your measuring cup, and level it off with a knife. Using your measuring cup to scoop flour out of the container will pack in too much flour and result in a dense cake. Alternatively, use the gram measurements for the best results.
- To make your own pumpkin spice blend, use 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon ground ginger and ¼ teaspoon ground cloves.
- To make a simple vanilla glaze, mix 1 cup (100g) of powdered sugar, 1-2 tablespoons of dairy-free milk and 1 teaspoon vanilla until smooth. Or replace the milk with maple syrup for more flavor. Add more sugar to make it thicker or more milk to make it more runny.
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published in 2020 and updated a few times since then.
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Hello! I made this today and everyone loved it! its so moist an delicious that is incredible that is vegan! Just one question, how can I replace it to make it Gluten Free?
Hey 🙂 I've got a question. I have learned that baking soda in cake batter only makes sense when mixed with something sour like a bit of vinegar. I don't know if this is true, but I see you don't have vinegar in your batter recipe... will it even work?
Thanks for providing a promising recipe! 🙂 I'll bake it soon.
Hi Kerstin! Yes, baking soda does react with vinegar, but it also reacts when it's heated to high temperatures (with the oven) which helps cakes rise. I've tested this cake without baking soda and the results aren't the same. Baking powder is the main raising agent in this cake and provides most of the leavening. I hope that helps!
Thanks for your kind reply. I just baked it and realised there actually IS apple cider vinegar in the recipe, I didn't see it before. I am sorry!
Haven't tried it yet, it's still cooling 🙂 but it smells great.
Hi Anthea
We have anaphylactic allergy in our house. I would love to try & make this cake as this would work for us. I'm in Australia (in a small country town) & can't buy canned pumpkin. Should I steam pumpkin & let excess moisture drain away or bake pumpkin? How much weight is in a can? Appreciate your help!
Hi Donna! No worries at all! A can of pumpkin is 425g. I love the flavour of baked pumpkin but honestly, steaming works just as well. Whichever method you use, definitely strain or cook away the excess moisture, as you mentioned! I've tested this with steamed pumpkin puree and it works well, as long as the puree is relatively thick. I hope that helps :).
I made this cake using the grams and it was the best pumpkin cake I've ever eaten! I used canned pumpkin puree. The cake was fluffy, not too sweet and I loved the crumb topping. Thanks so much!
Oh I'm so happy that you loved this cake! Thanks for your comment 🙂
I made this (using coconut oil & homemade purée) and it came out really heavy and dense. Thought it maybe wasn’t cooked so put it in for longer than the time… ended up with hard outside & still not ‘cake’ textured inside. No idea what I did wrong! Loved the idea, enjoyed making it & house smells nice though!
Hi Kate, oh no! I find that a dense cake is often due to pumpkin puree that's too runny, older baking powder or if the flour was under or overmeasured. It can even be the result of overmixing! I'm sorry it didn't work out for you this time but thanks for your feedback!
Made this recipe as soon as I saw it! It comes together quickly and easily and the results are delicious. I made the recipe into muffins so I could share with friends and family- everyone loved them (even the non-vegans!) keep this recipe in your arsenal for breakfast, a baked gift or just a cozy morning at home!
Aw I'm so happy that you all loved this recipe Jessica. It's music to my ears when non-vegans enjoy vegan cakes! Thanks so much for your support and wonderful feedback! x
Amazing cake, tried only one time but it’s going to reach definitely the top of the list of our favourite cakes. Just will try with a smaller pot to make it come taller. It makes me wanna always keep a pumpkin in my food storage!
What a compliment, I'm so happy this is one of your favourite cakes! And I agree about the pumpkin hahaha. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment!
Excellent cake. We made this wonderful dessert tonight and enjoyed it very much. We made it with the coconut oil and it turned out perfect. Thank you for the recipe.
Aw that's so wonderful to hear Kathleen and glad you enjoyed it with coconut oil! Thanks so much for your review!!
My two year old and I made this recipe and turned it into mid size muffins! They are soft and fluffy. Not dense. Such an easy recipe to follow - it’s basically easier than any box mix. We baked them for 15 minutes and left them in the greased muffin tin to cool for 10 minutes or so. The crumble topping was delectable and (obviously) my kid's favorite part. These make my house smell like Fall. Definitely adding these to my regular rotation! ps: read the notes and details, super helpful pointers!
I'm so glad that you enjoyed this as muffins and they were easy enough to bake with a 2 year old! The crumble topping is my favorite part as well :). It's good to know they only take 15 minutes to bake. Thanks so much for your positive feedback!
Hi,
I really want to try this cake but I am going sugar less these days. Please can you let me know how I can make this a healthy sugar free cake, please?
thank!
Hi! It depends what you mean by sugarless. This cake will work with unrefined coconut sugar and maybe granulated monk fruit sweetener or a granulated stevia blend, though the texture and colour of the final cake will be different. I hope that helps!
Can I use a 9” spring form pan for this cake?
Yes that's fine! The cake will just bake in less time (check it at maybe 40 minutes).