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Pumpkin Cake Recipe

This pumpkin cake is soft, moist and full of pumpkin and warm fall spices. It's one of those really simple cakes that doesn't need much to make it good. Add a thick layer of cream cheese frosting and it's pretty much everything I want in a fall dessert.
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time35 minutes
For Cupcakes:22 minutes
Keyword: pumpkin cake, pumpkin cake recipe, pumpkin cupcakes, pumpkin recipes
Servings: 12 servings

Equipment

Ingredients

For the Pumpkin Cake:

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 cup vegetable or avocado oil
  • 1 cup light brown sugar packed
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 3/4 cups pumpkin puree

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

Instructions

How to Make the Pumpkin Cake:

  • Preheat your oven to 350°F.
  • Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan and line with parchment paper if you'd like to make the finished cake easier to remove.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice.
  • Set aside.
  • In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the oil, brown sugar and granulated sugar.
  • Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until smooth.
  • Add the pumpkin puree and mix again until everything is well combined.
  • Gradually add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture.
  • Mix just until everything is combined. Try not to overmix the batter.
  • Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread it into an even layer.
  • Bake at 350°F for about 30–35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
  • Allow the cake to cool completely before adding the cream cheese frosting.

How to Make Pumpkin Cupcakes Instead:

  • One of my favorite things about this recipe is that you can use the same batter to make pumpkin cupcakes.
  • Line cupcake pans with paper liners and fill each liner about 2/3 full with pumpkin cake batter.
  • Bake at 350°F for approximately 18–22 minutes, or until the tops spring back when lightly touched and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
  • Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack.
  • Cool completely before frosting.
  • This recipe should make approximately 24 cupcakes.

Notes

Make Sure You're Using Pumpkin Puree
When you're grabbing pumpkin at the grocery store, make sure you buy pure pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling.
Pumpkin puree is simply cooked and pureed pumpkin, while pumpkin pie filling already has sugar and spices added to it.
For this recipe, you want the plain pumpkin puree.