This sweet potato coffee cake is one of my favorite sweet potato desserts. Warm spices, a perfectly tender crumb, and a delicious pecan streusel topping make it the ultimate Fall treat. Seriously, what's not to love about the combination of classic coffee cake, sweet potatoes, and pecans?
While pumpkin usually gets all the attention when the weather cools down, and I certainly love baking up a batch of Pumpkin Spice Cookies or a classic Pumpkin Roll, sweet potato is an underrated favorite for autumn baking. Just like pumpkin, it adds an amazing amount of natural moisture to baked goods, giving this homemade cake a wonderful texture without making it overly sweet.
Table of contents
This delicious coffee cake is absolutely wonderful served slightly warm with a cup of tea or coffee. It makes a spectacular addition to your next weekend brunch gathering, or the perfect cozy addition to a Thanksgiving dessert table alongside a traditional Apple Pie.
Best of all, you don't need a box mix or any fancy equipment to make it. Grab your mashed sweet potatoes, and let's get baking!
Key Ingredients & Substitutions
- Mashed Sweet Potato: You will need one cup of cooked and mashed sweet potato for the cake batter. Make sure it is completely cooled before adding it to your wet ingredients so it doesn't accidentally warm up the eggs!
- The Sugars: This recipe uses a combination of granulated and light brown sugar for the perfect balance of sweetness and moisture. If you don't have light brown sugar, dark brown sugar works beautifully as a substitute and will add a deeper caramel flavor. In a pinch, you can also use all granulated sugar, though your cake might be slightly less rich.
- Pecans: Chopped pecans give the streusel ribbon its signature autumn crunch. If you don't have pecans on hand or have an allergy, walnuts make a fantastic one-to-one substitution. You can also leave the nuts out completely for a smooth cinnamon-sugar streusel.
- Heavy Cream: This is the secret to a thick, bakery-style vanilla drizzle icing. If you don't have heavy cream in the fridge, you can swap it for whole milk, just use a splash less so the icing doesn't become too runny.
See the recipe card below for the full list of ingredients and measurements.
How To Make Sweet Potato Coffee Cake with Pecan Streusel
This coffee cake is put together in layers: cake, streusel, cake, streusel. Follow these simple steps to put it all together:
- Cream together the softened butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in the eggs, then mix in the cooled, mashed sweet potato and vanilla extract.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt.
- Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the milk to the wet sweet potato mixture. Stir just until combined.
- Combine the brown sugar, granulated sugar, vanilla, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Cut the cold, cubed butter into the mixture until it looks like coarse crumbs, then stir in the chopped pecans.
- Pour half of the cake batter into the bottom of the prepared pan and spread it evenly. Sprinkle half of the pecan streusel right over that first layer. Spread the remaining cake batter on top and finish with the rest of the streusel over the very top.
- Bake at 350°F for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool completely, then remove it from the pan and drizzle the vanilla icing over the top.
See the recipe card below for the full recipe.
👉 Sky's Tips
- Use a metal baking pan: For the absolute best results, choose a metal pan over a glass one. Metal conducts heat much more evenly, which helps the center of your coffee cake bake perfectly without drying out the edges.
- Keep the streusel butter cold: Make sure your butter for the topping is cold and cubed straight from the fridge. This ensures you get those delicious, distinct pockets of crunchy brown sugar and pecans rather than a topping that melts flat into the batter.
- Measure your flour carefully: When measuring your flour for both the cake and the streusel, spoon it into your measuring cup and level it off with a flat knife. Scooping directly out of the bag packs the flour down, which can make your cake dense.
- Let the sweet potato cool: If you are using freshly cooked sweet potatoes, make sure they cool down completely to room temperature before mixing them into the batter. Hot sweet potato can accidentally scramble your eggs!
I hope you love this Sweet Potato Coffee Cake recipe as much as we do!
-Sky🩷
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📖 Recipe
Sweet Potato Coffee Cake with Pecan Streusel
Equipment
- 8x8 square metal baking pan
Ingredients
Sweet Potato Coffee Cake
- ½ cup unsalted butter softened
- ¼ cup light brown sugar lightly packed
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cups sweet potatoes cooked & mashed
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoons salt
- ½ cup milk
Pecan Streusel Topping
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter cold & cubed
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup chopped pecans
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Vanilla Icing
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ½ tablespoons heavy cream
Instructions
- For the Cake Batter: Preheat your oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8x8 metal baking pan with baking spray or line it with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the softened butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together until fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then mix in the mashed sweet potato and vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt.
- In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and spices.
- Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the milk to the wet sweet potato mixture, stirring just until combined.
- For the Streusel: In a medium bowl, combine the brown sugar, granulated sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and vanilla. Cut in the cold, cubed butter using a pastry cutter or your fingers until coarse crumbs form. Stir in the chopped pecans and set aside.
- Spread half of the cake batter evenly into the bottom of your prepared pan. Sprinkle half of the pecan streusel over the batter. Carefully layer the remaining batter on top, then finish by sprinkling the rest of the streusel over the entire surface.
- Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool completely in the pan.
- For the Icing: Whisk together the powdered sugar, vanilla, and heavy cream until smooth. Drizzle over the cooled cake, slice, and enjoy!
Notes
- Make-Ahead Tip: You can roast, or boil and mash your sweet potato up to 2 days in advance. Just store it in an airtight container in the fridge until you are ready to bake.
- Don't Overmix: When combining your wet and dry ingredients, stir just until the flour disappears. Overmixing cake batter activates the gluten, which will make your finished coffee cake dense instead of light and tender.
- Storage: Store any leftover cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
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