Small Batch Pumpkin Coffee Cake

This Small Batch Pumpkin Coffee Cake is a soft and moist pumpkin spice coffee cake topped with a buttery cinnamon streusel and finished with a simple cinnamon vanilla icing. Baked in an 8×4-inch loaf pan, it’s the perfect small batch fall coffee cake when you want something homemade without making a full-size cake. The pumpkin cake batter is made without a mixer and you can make the crumb topping with your hands!

 

I’ve been having so much fun taking classic desserts and scaling them down into smaller versions – like this small apple cobbler, small batch cherry cobbler, these apple crisps for two, or these apple crumbles for two. And I knew I needed a pumpkin coffee cake for fall. You still get everything you want from a traditional coffee cake — a tender crumb, plenty of cinnamon spice, and that buttery crumb topping — just in a smaller loaf.

I tested this recipe with oil instead of butter in the cake batter. Pumpkin adds a lot of moisture on its own, and the oil helps keep the cake soft and moist even after it has cooled. I save the butter for the streusel, where it really matters for creating those buttery cinnamon crumbs on top.

And one of my favorite things about this recipe is that it’s naturally egg-free. That means there are no awkward half-eggs to deal with when scaling the recipe down. Just mix the batter, spread it into a loaf pan, add the streusel, and bake!

Ingredients

Cinnamon Streusel Topping

• Light brown sugar
• All-purpose flour
• Ground cinnamon
• Unsalted butter: Make sure your butter is softened so you can easily work it into the dry ingredients and create crumbs.

Pumpkin Coffee Cake

• Light brown sugar – If you run out read How To Make Brown Sugar
• Neutral oil: Use a neutral-flavored oil such as canola, vegetable, or avocado oil.
• Vanilla extract
• Pumpkin puree: Be sure to use 100% pure pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling, which already contains sugar and spices.
• Milk: I recommend using whole for the best texture. But any milk will work.
• All-purpose flour: For the most accurate results, measure your flour with a kitchen scale or spoon it into your measuring cup and level it off.
• Baking powder
• Baking soda
• Salt
• Pumpkin pie spice: You can use store-bought pumpkin pie spice or a homemade pumpkin pie spice.

Cinnamon Vanilla Icing

• Powdered sugar – If you run out, read How To Make Powdered Sugar
• Milk: Add the milk gradually if needed so your icing doesn’t become too thin.
• Vanilla extract
• Ground cinnamon

How To Make Mini Pumpkin Coffee Cake

1. Prepare your loaf pan.

Position a rack in the center of your oven and preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease an 8×4-inch loaf pan and line it with parchment paper, leaving some overhang on the sides.

The parchment paper makes it much easier to lift the coffee cake out of the pan after baking without disturbing the streusel topping.

2. Make the cinnamon streusel.

In a small bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon.

Add the softened butter and cut it into the dry ingredients with a pastry cutter. You can also use your fingertips to rub the butter into the mixture.

Stop once the mixture forms crumbs. You don’t want to completely blend the butter into the flour — those little buttery pieces are what give you that crumbly streusel texture after baking.

Refrigerate the crumbs while you make the batter.

3. Mix the wet ingredients.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, oil, vanilla extract, pumpkin puree, and milk until smooth and combined.

Make sure you’re using pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling. Pumpkin pie filling has additional sugar and spices added to it and will change the flavor and texture of the cake.

4. Add the dry ingredients.

Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice to the pumpkin mixture. Stir just until the dry ingredients are incorporated.

Be careful not to overmix at this point. Once flour is added, too much mixing can develop excess gluten and give you a tougher cake instead of that soft, tender coffee cake texture we’re going for.

A few small lumps in the batter are perfectly fine.

5. Add the streusel.

Spread the pumpkin batter evenly into your prepared loaf pan. Crumble the cinnamon streusel evenly over the top.

Don’t press the streusel down into the batter. Just sprinkle those crumbs loosely over the surface so they stay crumbly as the cake bakes.

6. Bake.

Bake at 350°F for 33 to 37 minutes. I recommend checking the cake around the 30-minute mark since ovens can vary.

The coffee cake is done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs. If you see wet batter on the toothpick, give it a few more minutes.

Remove the pan from the oven and allow the coffee cake to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. Then use the parchment paper to carefully lift it out and transfer it to a cooling rack.

Let the cake cool before adding the icing. If it’s still warm, the icing will melt right into the cake instead of creating that pretty drizzle over the top.

7. Make the cinnamon vanilla icing.

In a small bowl, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar, milk, vanilla extract, and cinnamon until smooth.

If the icing seems too thick to drizzle, add just a tiny bit more milk. Be careful here — a little milk goes a long way!

Drizzle the icing over the cooled pumpkin coffee cake, then slice and serve.

Recipe Tips

• Do not overmix the batter. Once you add the flour, stir only until everything is combined. Overmixing can make your coffee cake tough instead of soft and tender.
• Use pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling. Pumpkin pie filling contains added sugar and spices and isn’t interchangeable with pure pumpkin puree in this recipe.
• Don’t press the streusel into the batter. Sprinkle it loosely over the top so it stays crumbly and creates that buttery cinnamon topping as it bakes.
• Check the cake a few minutes early. I recommend checking around 30 minutes. Your cake is ready when a toothpick comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs. You don’t want to overbake it and dry out the crumb.
• Let the coffee cake cool before icing. Drizzling the icing over a warm cake will cause it to melt and disappear into the topping. For a thicker, more visible drizzle, wait until the cake has cooled.

Storage

Store your mini pumpkin coffee cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. Because pumpkin makes this cake especially moist, I recommend refrigerating it if you need to keep it any longer.

You can store the coffee cake covered in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Let individual slices come to room temperature before serving, or warm them briefly in the microwave. Or at room temperature for 2 days covered.

To freeze, I recommend freezing the coffee cake without the icing if possible. Wrap the whole loaf or individual slices tightly in plastic wrap, then place in a freezer bag or freezer-safe container. Label the container with the recipe name and date and freeze for up to 3 months.

Thaw overnight in the refrigerator or for a few hours at room temperature. Once thawed, drizzle with freshly made cinnamon vanilla icing before serving.