Cinnamon Swirl Pumpkin Coffee Cake

It's no secret that I like to bake. But sometimes when I hit the net to check out recipes, I recoil in horror. 1/2 pound of butter is bad enough, but it's so often followed by 1 cup of sour cream. Yikes! That's a lot for a 9 x 9 coffee cake. Now, I admit that there are times, holidays and birthdays for instance, when I throw all good sense to the wind and cook super rich food. 1/2 a pound of butter is necessary for some cakes, but they're usually big cakes!

I couldn't find anything that was quite what I had in mind today, so I gave up and made up my own Cinnamon Swirl Pumpkin Coffee Cake recipe. Pumpkin makes for nicely moist cakes and breads, so this has a very pleasant crumb. It's not diet by any means and certainly contains a lot of sugar, but I decided to use 1/2 cup of olive oil instead of butter. And surprisingly, it's not overly sweet!

It's almost a dump cake. Simple to make and requires no frosting. If you hate pumpkin, substitute apple sauce. Pour yourself a steaming cup of coffee, enjoy a piece of Pumpkin Coffee Cake, and read a mystery! Ahhh, doesn't get much better than that.

Cinnamon Swirl Pumpkin Coffee Cake

1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup regular sugar
3/4 cup mashed pumpkin

SWIRL:
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour a 9 x 9 baking pan.

Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon in a bowl and stir with a fork to mix. Set aside.

Beat the eggs, and add the vegetable oil, the sugar and 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, and then the pumpkin. Slowly add the flour mixture until well blended, scraping the sides of the mixer as necessary.

Combine the 1/2 cup dark brown sugar with 2 teaspoons of cinnamon.

Pour half the batter into the prepared pan. Cover with the cinnamon sugar swirl mixture.

Pour the remaining batter over top and spread. Twist a knife through the batter in a curly pattern, taking care not to over-mix.

 

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.