This is the cozy autumn twist on my classic vegan coffee cake. It's perfectly moist, warmly spiced, and layered with a ribbon of rich pumpkin butter through the center.
🧾 Ingredients
Here's everything you need to make this pumpkin coffee cake recipe. Find the complete list of ingredient quantities and instructions in the recipe card at the end of this post.
Ingredient Notes & Substitutions
Pumpkin purée: Use pure pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling, which contains added sugar and spices. If you can't find pumpkin, this sweet potato coffee cake recipe makes a great alternative.
Homemade pumpkin butter: Made by cooking down pumpkin purée with apple juice, maple syrup, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, vanilla, and pumpkin pie spice until thick and concentrated, reducing the water content and intensifying the flavor. It can be prepared up to 2 days in advance.
Vegan buttermilk: A simple mix of non-dairy milk and apple cider vinegar makes the perfect buttermilk substitute, helping to tenderize the cake.
Pumpkin pie spice: Store-bought pumpkin spice mix works perfectly here, but you can also make your own with ground cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, and cloves (see the recipe notes for measurements).
Light brown sugar: I like to use light muscovado sugar, but soft brown sugar or coconut sugar will also work as substitutes.
Vegan Greek yogurt: Adds moisture and richness to the cake. You can swap it for vegan sour cream, vegan skyr, or thick coconut yogurt. Just avoid thinner yogurts, as they can affect the texture.
Olive oil: Keeps the cake moist for days. If you're not a fan of the floral flavor of extra virgin olive oil, use a neutral option like canola (rapeseed) or sunflower oil instead.
📷 Step-By-Step Images & Recipe Tips
Here's a visual overview of the recipe to help guide you through each step. Please refer to the detailed card at the end of this page for full written instructions.
Start by making the crumb topping so it's ready to go. Just toss everything into a bowl and rub the mixture between your fingertips until it resembles coarse sand. It should feel dry and crumbly
Whisk together all the wet ingredients until smooth and glossy. Make sure everything is well combined so you don't end up with uneven pockets in the batter.
When combining wet and dry ingredients, do it gently and in two stages. This helps keep the batter airy and prevents overmixing, which can lead to a tough cake. You're aiming for just combined - it's okay if there are a few small streaks of flour left.
For layering, start with half the cake batter in your prepared tin, then carefully spoon over the pumpkin butter. Try not to press it in too much - just smooth it out lightly so you get that beautiful layered effect.
Then add the rest of the batter and sprinkle the crumble on top.
Pop the cake in the oven and bake until a toothpick comes out mostly clean. A few crumbs are fine, but if you see wet batter (not to be confused with gooey pumpkin butter), give it another few minutes.
Once it's completely cool, finish things off with a generous drizzle of glaze. A little of the reserved pumpkin butter stirred into the icing adds a gorgeous seasonal touch!
💬 FAQs
This cake keeps beautifully, so it's perfect for making ahead. Just store it in an airtight container or wrap it tightly with plastic wrap to keep it fresh. It'll stay soft at room temperature for up to 2 days, or you can pop it in the fridge for up to a week.
If you're refrigerating it, I recommend letting it sit out for an hour or two before serving so the texture softens up.
Absolutely! This cake freezes really well. Just slice it into individual portions and pop them into an airtight container or freezer-safe bag. They'll keep for up to a month. When you're ready to enjoy a slice, let it defrost at room temperature for a couple of hours, or overnight in the fridge.
For sure! Chopped pecans or walnuts make a lovely addition to the crumble topping. Adding a bit of crunch and a toasty flavor that pairs beautifully with the warm spices and pumpkin. Just mix them in with the crumble before sprinkling it over the cake.
🎃 More Vegan Pumpkin Recipes
📖 Recipe
Vegan Pumpkin Coffee Cake
Ingredients
Prep Ahead
- ⅔ batch (270g /1 cup) vegan pumpkin butter *note 1
Crumb Topping
- 60 g (½ cup) all-purpose flour
- 40 g (3 tablespoons) light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice mix *note 2
- 40 g (3 tablespoons) vegan butter softened
Cake
- 300 g (2 ½ cups) all-purpose flour
- 3 teaspoons pumpkin spice mix *note 2
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 300 g (1 ¼ cups) pumpkin puree not pumpkin pie filling
- 100 g (½ cup) granulated sugar
- 75 g (⅓ cup) light brown sugar
- 120 ml (½ cup) olive oil *note 3
- Half batch (120ml /½ cup) vegan buttermilk
- 80 g (⅓ cup) vegan Greek-style yogurt *note 4
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Icing (optional)
- 1 tablespoon vegan pumpkin butter
- 90 g (⅔ cup) powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vegan Greek-style yogurt
Instructions
- Preparation: Make the pumpkin butter at least 2 hours in advance, or up to 2 days ahead. Line the base and sides of a 7.5 or 8-inch springform pan with parchment paper. I use a 7.5-inch pan which bakes up slightly taller. Preheat the oven to 160°C (320°F) fan-forced, or 180°C (356°F) conventional.
- Crumb topping: Add all the crumble ingredients to a mixing bowl. Use your fingertips to rub the mixture together until it forms a sandy, crumb-like texture. Set aside.
- Mix dry ingredients: Sift the flour, pumpkin spice mix, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt into a bowl and stir until combined. Set aside.
- Mix wet ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin purée, granulated sugar, brown sugar, olive oil, vegan buttermilk (soy milk + vinegar), yogurt, and vanilla extract until smooth and well combined.
- Make the batter: Add the dry ingredients to the wet in two additions, gently folding after each one until just combined. Be careful not to overmix.
- Assemble: Spread half of the batter into the prepared pan. Gently layer the pumpkin butter on top (reserving 1 tablespoon for the icing) and smooth it evenly without pressing it into the batter. Add the remaining batter, smooth the surface, and finish with an even layer of crumble.
- Bake: Bake for 60-70 minutes. Test doneness with a skewer inserted into the center - it should come out mostly clean with just a few crumbs. If there's wet batter (not pumpkin filling) on the skewer, bake for 5 minutes more and recheck as needed.
- Cool: Allow the cake to cool in the tin for 15 minutes and then carefully remove the pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool further. Wait for the cake to cool completely before adding the glaze.
- Make the glaze: In a medium bowl, whisk together the glaze ingredients until smooth. Cover and set aside until ready to use. Once the cake is completely cool, drizzle the glaze all over the top.
Notes
- Vegan pumpkin butter: Prep up to 2 days in advance and store in the fridge. The full recipe and instructions are linked in the pink text.
- Pumpkin spice mix: You need 4 tsp for this recipe; make your own with 2 ½ tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp ginger, ½ tsp nutmeg, ¼ tsp allspice, and ¼ tsp cloves.
- Olive Oil: Replace with a neutral oil such as sunflower or rapeseed/canola if preferred.
- Greek-Style Yogurt: Sub with vegan sour cream, vegan skyr, or very thick coconut yogurt.
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