Pumpkin Crunch Coffee Cake

I have about a zillion cookbooks. That may be a slight exaggeration, but still: It’s sort of an addiction for me. I love sitting down and browsing through a cookbook, folding down the corners of the pages to mark the recipes I want to try. But I’ll be the first to admit that sometimes the internet is just...better. Blogs and recipe sites will probably never completely replace cookbooks for me – but having tons and tons of recipes at my fingertips is such a wonderful convenience.

Last weekend, I knew I wanted to bake some sort of pumpkin cake, but I didn’t have a recipe in mind. I turned to my cookbooks first, but after looking through seven or eight of them and finding nothing (every recipe called for ingredients I didn’t have, or it just didn’t sound good), I turned to the internet. I typed a quick search into Google, and the first recipe that popped up sounded amazing. I had everything on hand, so I decided to go with it. And you guys, it was perfect.

I can’t say enough good things about this coffee cake. It’s not too sweet, and the texture is perfect: really light and fluffy, and a wonderful contrast to the crackly, crunchy topping. The topping was actually my favorite part. There was plenty to cover both cakes with a pretty thick layer of brown-sugar-pecan-cinnamon goodness, and my older son loved helping me sprinkle it on.

I think my stepmom said it best when she told me that this coffee cake tasted “just like fall.” She’s so right. I’ll be making this every year from now on, without question.

Pumpkin Crunch Coffee Cake
adapted from Allrecipes

For the topping:

1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons cold butter or margarine
1/2 cup chopped pecans

For the cake:

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 cup canned or cooked pumpkin
1 inch of vanilla bean (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; I just ran out)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. In a small bowl, combine sugars and cinnamon for topping. Cut in the butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in pecans; set aside.

2. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine the sour cream, pumpkin and vanilla; mix well.

3. Combine dry ingredients; add to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream mixture. Beat on low just until blended.

4. Spread the batter into two greased and floured 8-inch round cake pans. Sprinkle with topping. Bake at 325 degrees for 40-50 minutes (mine took 45) or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.