the goose loves pumpkin coffee cake

 So if you can't tell, we're officially giving up on summer (what summer? yeah. there wasn't any.) and moving full-on into fall. I'm doing my best to embrace the cold days that let me wear my peacoat and bake with pumpkin. This pumpkin adventure really hit the spot on the weekend - it was easy to pull together but so. amazingly. delicious. No joke here. This is SO worth it.

This recipe was really meant to be. It was Saturday morning, and I was hunting online for a tasty treat. I looked up one of my fave food blogs, How Sweet It Is, and bam - there it was. Pumpkin Coffee Cake. Oh yeah. With brown sugar glaze. We didn't even make the glaze, but wow this was tasty.

The recipe was on Tasty Kitchen, but I'm sharing it for you here, with all credits to Jessica at How Sweet Eats, Heather, and Tasty Kitchen.

Pumpkin Coffee Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze

Ingredients

• ⅓ cups Water
• 1 can Pureed Pumpkin (15 Oz)
• 2 whole Eggs
• 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
• 2 teaspoons Pumpkin Pie Spice
• 1 box Yellow Cake Mix (18 Ounce Box)
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 cup Brown Sugar, Divided
• ½ cups Flour
• ⅓ cups Walnuts, Chopped
• 4 Tablespoons Butter, Melted
• ¼ cups Granulated Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• ¼ cups Heavy Whipping Cream

Preparation Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350F.

1. In a large bowl mix together the water, pumpkin, eggs, 1 Tablespoon of vanilla, and pumpkin pie spice until well combined. Add the cake mix and baking soda and mix until just combined.
2. Grease a 9×13 pan with butter and pour batter into pan.
3. In a small bowl mix together 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1/2 cup flour, walnuts, and melted butter. Use fingers to sprinkle over the top of the cake. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
4. For the glaze, combine the other 1/2 cup brown sugar, granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and heavy cream in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and stir until all sugar is dissolved.
5. When cake is finished baking, poke holes in the top with a toothpick. Pour glaze over the cake, making sure to cover all surfaces. Serve cake warm or at room temperature.

Mix wet ingredients.

Add in dry ingredients.

This recipe is made super easy by using a box cake mix. And yeah, having the butter recipe yellow cake mix didn't hurt one bit.

 We used a 9 x 13 pan to get the classic coffee cake effect. However, this would be equally wonderful in a bundt pan or even in round cake pans. Yum.

 Here's the best part of this dish - the brown sugar topping.

Ready for the oven!

 And wonderfully hot out of the oven. (Sorry about the funky white balance.)

Let's zoom in on that brown sugar goodness.

 So the recipe suggests a brown sugar glaze, which I don't doubt would be a-mazing. But that's a lot of sweetness. And it's only breakfast. Oh and we already have leftover cream cheese frosting from my carrot cake cupcakes. So I stick a bit in the microwave to get it glaze-y and drizzle it thickly on top.

.

 Haha this picture looks funny. Green half-moon for breakfast, anyone? I made a pesto-feta fritatta as a protein-filled side for our breakfast dessert. Which Billy LOVED.

 Overall, this coffee cake was meant to be. I enjoyed it the next week for some delicious breakfasts. It's so easy, and the results will wow anyone who eats it. So go make it.

Lastly, let me leave you a photo of our little angel. Isn't he so adorable? If only he always was like this.