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If you’re familiar with and love old-school bakery-style crumb cakes that consist of a soft cake base layer buried under a ridiculous amount of crunchy but tender buttery crumbs, then my vegan pumpkin crumb cake might be for you.

In my opinion, this is everything you could want in a fall bake. It has a tender moist pumpkin cake loaded with warm spices, then it’s covered with a thick layer of buttery brown sugar crumbs on top.

This is a New York-style crumb cake (I myself am from the New York metro area so I feel I have a little authority here), where the crumb topping isn’t a small dusting or an afterthought. These are big, tender craggy crumbs piled generously on top of the pumpkin cake, giving you a delicious contrast between the cake underneath and the rich, slightly crisp topping.

What makes my recipe a little different is the mixing method and though it may seem counterintuitive, it’s a tried and true technique I’ve used for a very long time. It’s called reverse-creaming, where you mix the fat into the dry ingredients before adding the remaining wet ingredients which is often the opposite of most recipe instructions. This coats the flour with fat preventing moisture absorption and helps create a tender crumb and makes this cake surprisingly forgiving to make and hard to over-mix. It’s great for both novice bakers and kids!

This is how the dry mixture should look after the oil and sour cream is mixed in.

It’s also easy to make in one bowl, makes plenty for sharing, and is just as good with your morning coffee as it is for an afternoon treat or fall dessert to bring to a pot luck or party.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

It uses a full can of pumpkin

One of my favorite things about this recipe is that it uses an entire standard 15-ounce can of pumpkin purée (not pumpkin pie filling) and that means no awkward leftover pumpkin sitting in the refrigerator waiting for you to figure out what to do with it or eventually, toss it away.

The crumb topping makes it special

The pumpkin cake itself is delicious, but the crumb topping takes it somewhere else entirely. The sweet, buttery crumbs add crunch and caramelized flavor to every bite. If you’re a person who thinks the crumb topping is the best part of coffee cake, this one is for you.

It can be made in one bowl

Another thing I personally love is that this can be made in one bowl with no stand or hand mixer required. You can just rinse out the bowl after making the batter and pouring it in the pan then make the crumb topping in that same bowl.

Why my recipe works

Reverse creaming: Instead of adding all the wet ingredients to the flour at once, the oil and vegan sour cream are mixed into the dry ingredients first. This coats the flour and helps limit gluten development, resulting in a more tender muffin.

Vegan sour cream or yogurt: Pumpkin adds moisture, but the added fat and richness help give these muffins a better texture and flavor.

Cornstarch: A small amount lightens the flour and helps create a soft, tender crumb.

Homemade pumpkin spice: I prefer mixing the individual spices so I can control the flavor, but you can substitute pumpkin pie spice if you prefer.

Frequently asked questions

Be sure to use plain canned pumpkin purée, not pumpkin pie filling. Pumpkin pie filling is already sweetened and seasoned and will change the recipe. Different brands of pumpkin purée can also vary in thickness, so don’t be concerned if yours looks slightly different from another brand. See my post about my rating of favorite brands here.

Use your favorite plain vegan sour cream or plain non-dairy yogurt. I often use Follow Your Heart, Violife or Kite Hill brand vegan sour cream, or a plain unsweetened non-dairy yogurt. Silk soy is one of my favorites but I’ve used Forager, Cocojune and others with success.

Yes. If you don’t want to measure the individual spices, substitute 1 tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice for the cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves in the recipe. I still prefer using the individual spices because I feel it’s more flavorful, but pumpkin pie spice is a perfectly good shortcut.

Absolutely. In fact, it’s a great make-ahead dessert for fall gatherings. Once completely cooled, cover it well and keep it at room temperature for short-term storage.

Cover the cake well and store it at room temperature for a couple of days. You can also refrigerate it if you’d like to keep it longer, although I prefer letting refrigerated pieces come back toward room temperature before serving.

Yes. Cut the cooled cake into individual portions and wrap them well before freezing. Thaw at room temperature when you’re ready to enjoy it.

It’s the perfect sized pan in my opinion and most have this size in their kitchen. You can use glass, nonstick or metal but make sure to grease and flour it for easier removal of cake slices. I prefer gold nonstick metal pans as I feel they brown more evenly but just watch the baking carefully and check earlier than later to make sure it’s completely baked all the way through.

Although I have not tested it, a 1:1 gluten-free flour should work well here. I say should but gluten-free baking can be tricky so it may not be the same texture once baked.

You can try substituting arrowroot powder or potato starch in the same amount for the cornstarch in the recipe although I have not tested it.

Check out more of my pumpkin recipes below! (Click the name.)

If you love both pumpkin and crumb cake, then this is a perfect squash of both (pun intended!).

The reverse-creaming method is an extra step, but it’s what gives this cake its soft texture and makes it much more forgiving than a typical cake batter. It’s easy, it’s very pumpkin-y, and there are a lot of crumbs. Don’t forget to rate and review if you try it!

Vegan Pumpkin Crumb Cake (New York Style)

Recipe by Kreg

5.0 from 1 vote

Cuisine: Dessert, breakfast, seasonalDifficulty: Easy

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

A soft, warmly spiced vegan pumpkin cake covered in a thick layer of buttery crumbs. An easy fall bake that’s perfect with coffee!

Cook Mode

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Ingredients

Cake
Dry Ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
3/4 cup vegan cane sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
Wet Ingredients to mix into dry
1/2 cup plain vegetable oil
1/2 cup vegan sour cream or plain non-dairy yogurt
Remaining Wet Ingredients
1 15 oz can of pumpkin purée (not pumpkin pie mix)
1/2 cup room temperature water
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Crumb Topping
1 cup vegan brown sugar, packed
1⁄2 cup vegan cane sugar
1⁄4 teaspoon kosher salt
1⁄4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 1⁄2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup vegan butter, melted and cooled slightly

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare a 13×9 baking pan by greasing it with spray or vegan butter and lightly flouring it making sure to tap out any excess flour.
In a large mixing bowl add all of the dry ingredients and whisk together to remove and large lumps. Add the oil and vegan sour cream and using a rubber spatula or spoon mix together until all of the dry ingredients are coated. The mixture should look like a crumb topping mixture and there should not be large areas of flour not mixed in so make sure there’s no streaks of flour left at the bottom of the bowl.
Add the remaining wet ingredients (canned pumpkin, water and vanilla) and using a whisk or spoon, fully mix them well until a smooth batter is formed. You can’t over-mix the batter now as we’ve protected it with fat from forming gluten so whisk or stir well until fully blended.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and give it a good rap on the counter a few times to level out the top and remove any large air bubbles from the batter. Set aside while you make the crumb topping.
Place all the dry ingredients for the crumb topping in a bowl (I reuse the one I mixed the batter in after cleaning it out and drying it) and using a fork or whisk, mix it well to remove any large clumps. Add the melted cooled butter and mix until the dry ingredients are coated and large clumps have formed.
Sprinkle the crumb topping evenly over the batter in the pan then bake anywhere from 35-40 minutes as all ovens vary. The type of cake pan will also affect baking times with glass often baking faster than metal. A cake tester is sometimes unreliable with large crumb cakes like this so you may want to dig the tip of a small sharp knife into the center to see if there is any wet batter attached. The crumb topping should be golden brown but not too brown. If it seems it’s browning too fast (as all ovens vary) place some foil over the top. I often let the cake stay in the oven for an extra five minutes after I’ve turned the oven off as the residual heat helps ensure it’s baked all the way through.
Cool, then cut slices as desired. I often sprinkle powdered sugar over the top or could even glaze it if desired but I find it’s sweet enough as-is.
For leftovers, cover and store it at room temperature for a couple of days. You can also refrigerate it if you’d like to keep it longer, although I prefer letting refrigerated pieces come back to room temperature before serving. This cake also freezes well. Wrap in individual portions before freezing. Thaw at room temperature when you’re ready to enjoy it.

Notes

Make sure to use plain pumpkin purée not canned pumpkin pie filling as that’s sweetened.
I use Crystal Diamond kosher salt which is softer in flavor so if using a more aggressive salt, you can reduce the amount to just one teaspoon. Salt adds flavor to baked goods and is needed.
Use your favorite vegan sour cream or plain unsweetened yogurt. I often use Follow Your Heart, Violife or Kite Hill sour cream or Silk or Cocojune non-dairy yogurt with great results.
For the crumbs, I prefer stick style vegan butter like Country Crock plant butter but if using tub style, make sure to measure carefully. I often melt a bit more than I need then measure in a liquid measuring cup then pour any excess back into the tub and it will harden again once chilled.