This pumpkin cake is soft and moist, packed with warm spices, and topped with cinnamon sugar. This single layer cake can be whipped up in minutes with pantry staples.

This isn’t the first pumpkin cake I’ve shared (see: pumpkin pudding cake and pumpkin bundt cake), but it is the easiest. This no-fuss recipe is what I would call a snack cake. It’s perfect anytime of day, it’s super simple, and no special occasion is needed. Let’s get to it!

Two slices of pumpkin cake stacked on top of each other.

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Why you’ll love this recipe
Ingredients and substitutions
Recipe overview
Success tips
Optional topping
More pumpkin recipes
Recipe

Why you’ll love this recipe

Ease: As far as homemade cakes go, it doesn’t get much easier than this! This recipe comes together in minutes. No mixer needed.

Basic ingredients: I wanted this recipe to include pantry staples and nothing fancy. Hopefully you won’t even need to make a trip to the store.

Flavor and texture: This cake is flavored with pumpkin, warm spices, vanilla, and cinnamon sugar. It bakes up moist and soft and stays that way for days.

Versatility: This cake can be served for breakfast, snacking, or dessert. It’s great any time of day!

Slice of pumpkin cake topped with honey butter on a white plate.

Ingredients and substitutions

All purpose flour: Spoon it in to your measuring cup and level it off. I have not tested this recipe with gluten free flour, but if you’d like to try it I have the best success with Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Baking Flour.

Baking powder and baking soda: For the perfect rise.

Spices: I use a combination of pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon in this recipe. Don’t have pumpkin pie spice? Combine: 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ginger, ¼ teaspoon nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon all spice.

Pumpkin puree: Canned pumpkin puree works best for this recipe. Be sure it is pumpkin puree not pie pumpkin pie filling which is already sweetened and spiced.

Brown sugar and granulated sugar: This combination gives the cake the perfect amount of sweetness.

Oil: Use a neutral flavored oil like vegetable oil or canola oil.

Sour cream: This helps keep the cake moist. If you don’t have sour cream you can use plain yogurt.

Eggs: You’ll need 2 large eggs.

Vanilla extract: To round out and enhance the flavors.

Pumpkin cake topped with cinnamon sugar in a square aluminum pan.

Recipe overview

*Full recipe below in recipe card*

Whisk together pumpkin, sugars, sour cream, oil, eggs, and vanilla.
Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt over the wet ingredients. Whisk to combine.
Add the batter to a greased 8×8 baking pan.
Sprinkle the top with cinnamon sugar and bake!

Collage of four photos showing how to make a pumpkin cake (batter in a white bowl, and in a square baking pan).

Success tips

Once you add the flour to the cake batter, whisk until combined, being careful not to overmix.

After adding the cake batter to the pan, tap it onto the countertop a few times to release air bubbles.

Use a metal/aluminum pan if possible. For cakes and bars this is always my preference.

This cake can be baked in 8×8 (pictured) or a 9×9 but it will be thinner.

The day you bake this cake the cinnamon sugar topping will be crackly and a little crunchy. In the days following the topping will soften from the moisture from the cake.

Closeup of a slice of pumpkin cake topped with cinnamon sugar on a plate.

Optional topping

My intention when creating this recipe was to have a cake that could stand on its own without frosting or icing. And it definitely can. But 😉, I took some inspiration from this apple cake and decided to try this cake with a thick smear of honey butter and… MIND BLOWN.

The honey butter only takes a few minutes to put together and you probably have everything you need. I highly, highly recommend it!