Pumpkin Coffee Cake

 

I had just a bit of roasted pumpkin in the freezer from my home-grown pumpkins last year.  I've been having more breakfasts at home lately, choosing to get up a little early and eat a small something before a 5am shift, in case my first break isn't until after 8.  My weekly challah doesn't always make it the whole week because of that, so I needed something else.

Sally's Baking Addiction had a pumpkin coffee cake recipe without eggs, which has knocked it way up on searches.  Pumpkin is one of those ingredients that works as an egg or oil replacement, like applesauce or banana.  This recipe also uses very little butter.  I needed the 8x8 casserole for something else that day and cut the recipe in half to fit in a loaf pan, which also makes it four breakfast-sized servings.  The recipe acknowledges it makes a lot of crumb topping, so I cut that in quarters.  I like crumb, but not as half the cake.

This version is going to simplify the spice listing by calling for pumpkin pie spice.  Most bakers with extra purée in the freezer to use up also have a half-used jar of pie spice.  If you are using defrosted pumpkin, make sure to mix the water back in.  Some will have separated from the purée while it was in the freezer.  I drained mine off, which might have made it too dry, but fresh is different than canned.

Crumb

2 Tb flour
2 Tb brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 Tb cold butter

1.  Stir together flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon.

2.  Cut in butter until mixture kind of looks like rolled oats.  Chill until ready to use.

Cake

1 C flour (125g) spooned in, not scooped
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1-1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
*1/2 C pumpkin purée
1/4 C brown sugar
1/4 C vegetable oil
2 Tb maple syrup
*2 Tb milk or buttermilk

1.  Preheat oven to 350º.  Coat a regular loaf pan with baking spray.

2.  In a bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and pie spice.  Sally was serious about not overdoing the flour.  If in doubt, weigh it.  In a separate bowl or measuring cup, whisk together remaining ingredients.  I was using powdered buttermilk, so that went in the dry and the water for it went in the wet.  Also note, since I was using roasted mashed pumpkin instead of commercial purée, the consistency and water content will be different than what you get out of a can.

3.  Stir wet ingredients into dry.  It will form a thick batter, almost like a scoopable cookie dough.  Mine was very thick, so I added another tablespoon of milk just so I could work with it.  Again, because the water content of the pumpkin was not regulated.  Spread in loaf pan.  Sprinkle top with crumb.

4.  Bake 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool in pan, then serve.  If desired, you can glaze it with a drizzle of powdered sugar glaze or even just powdered sugar.  I was happy with it being a little less sweet than the average coffee cake.  If I had made the full amount of crumble, it would have been too sweet.

Makes 4 breakfast/dessert servings or 6-8 snack slices

Difficulty rating  :)