Pumpkin Praline Coffee Cake
Happy fall everyone! While summer is my favorite season (I love the beach), fall comes in a close second. From the delicious seasonal food, to the crisp autumn weather, to the start of the Holidays, there is so much to love about fall! I’ve decided to start off fall by creating a new, fall-themed recipe. Enter, Pumpkin Praline Coffee Cake. Not only does this coffee cake incorporate pumpkin, which is one of the most important flavors of fall, but it also has pecans, which tie so well with pumpkin and can be used from now until the Holidays. Who doesn’t love that?!
the details of pumpkin praline coffee cake
I decided to put a twist on a classic, coffee cake, and add pumpkin to it because there is nothing more fall than a pumpkin recipe ;). That being said, this pumpkin coffee cake is similar to a pumpkin pie. It incorporates pumpkin, cinnamon, and the very important pumpkin pie spice to create a classic fall flavor trio.
While I love pumpkin, my favorite part of this coffee cake is the praline topping. Yes, most people typically eat pralines in the summer, but there is no reason they can’t be incorporated into fall baking when pecans pair with so many fall foods! If you don’t know what pralines are, they are basically pecans melted with brown sugar (and some other things). Pralines make a delicious candy and, in this case, an amazing twist on your typical coffee cake topping. The mixture of pecans and pumpkin in this pumpkin praline coffee cake makes you feel like you’re at Thanksgiving dinner eating both a pecan and pumpkin pie…deeeeelicious!
coffee cake subsitutes
While I like to think this recipe is amazing as is, you can make a very important change. That is, if you are allergic to nuts and do not want to use the praline topping, then you can use a classic coffee cake crumb topping. Just omit the pecans and substitute them with up to a tablespoon of cinnamon.
If you want to make this coffee cake sweeter and more dessert like, then you can add your favorite glaze. Whether you drizzle on a vanilla or maple glaze, the coffee cake will be amazing and still perfect for this fall season.
Another thing you can try, which I haven’t done, is adding dark chocolate chips. Both pumpkin and praline go really well with chocolate, so this may be an experiment worth trying.
Overall, if you make this recipe, please leave a comment below, tag me on Instagram, pin it, or go like my page/share on Facebook! Be sure to sign up for my newsletter, 4 Secret Recipes of the Month, for other, never before seen, fall recipes!
Pumpkin Praline Coffee Cake
Ingredients
Praline Topping
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/3 cups butter cut into fourths
- 1.5 cups pecans chopped
Pumpkin Coffee Cake
- 2 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 cup pumpkin
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup butter 1 stick
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/4 cup buttermilk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 8 or 9 inch cake pan.
To make the topping:
- In a medium bowl or food processor, combine sugars, flour, pecans, and salt. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or lightly pulse with food processor. Topping is done once it has the consistency of sand (it is ok if there are crumbs).
To make the cake:
- Stir the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice together in a large bowl until combined.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the pumpkin, brown sugar, butter, maple syrup, and buttermilk together until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until homogeneous. Try not to overmix the batter.
- Pour the batter into the cake pan and spread the praline topping evenly on top. Gently press any crumbs into the batter.
- Bake the cake for 30 minutes. To check if the cake is done, insert a toothpick. If the toothpick is clean, the cake is done, if the toothpick has wet batter on it, bake for 2 minute intervals until the toothpick is clean.
- Serve the cake warm or at room temperature. Enjoy!
3 Comments
The best fall recipe ever. Everyone make this asap. I love the pumpkin and praline combo. Could use a little less praline topping though.
Thank you! The praline topping could definitely be cut down a bit. Glad you liked it!
This coffee cake is SOOO good. I am a Southern girl so I know my pralines. The topping is spot on and pairs amazing with the pumpkin. This will be a go to fall recipe.