Pumpkin Coffee Cake

Oh, boy.  It's been a while since we've posted any recipes.  Our crazy busy schedule drives me nuts sometimes.  We've been trying a ton of new ones, especially since it's.... baking season!

Wait.  Did you hear that?  I know it was angels singing.

Plus, I get to bake with pumpkin.  I. Love. Pumpkin.  I would marry it, but I think that it's illegal, or something like that.

I found this recipe on Pinterest and it's shut-the-front-door!-kind-of-amazing.  It was an instant hit with my whole family and is now considered one of my favorite fall baking recipes.

This recipe originally came from the Tasty Kitchen.  Oh, my, my, my, my.

(photo from Tasty Kitchen)

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

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

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.

Grease a 9×13 pan with butter and pour batter into pan.

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.

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.

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.

*I didn't have the ingredients on-hand to make the glaze top the cake with, so I left it off.  In my mind, the cake can stand on it's own two feet, and what tasty feet those are, too.  I would love to try it with the glaze someday, but for now, with five children in the house, we try to avoid sugar comas as much as possible.  I know, crazy, right?

I also used a spice cake mix, and it was wonderful!

Until next time (which is hopefully much more frequently than the last time), here's to more Smoochin' in the Kitchen!