Gingerbread Pumpkin Streusel Coffee Cake

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: 

1. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, whole wheat flour, cornmeal, and spices.
   
   
2. Using a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.
   
   
3. Remove ¾ cup of the crumb mixture for topping and set aside. This will serve as the streusel topping! 
   
   
4. In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, pumpkin puree, molasses, buttermilk, and baking soda.
   
   
5. Add the pumpkin mixture to the crumb mixture and stir until just moistened.
   
   
6. Spread the batter into a greased 9-inch springform pan. Sprinkle with reserved ¾ cup crumb mixture.
   
   
7. 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? 

• Apple Streusel Coffee Cake
• Pumpkin Banana Muffins
• Pumpkin Apple Muffins
• Pumpkin Spice Pancakes
• Pumpkin Blueberry Muffins
• Apple Pie French Toast Bake