This incredibly delicious Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Bundt Cake is made with a moist and tender pumpkin cake and coated with a spiced cinnamon sugar, then drizzled with a maple glaze!
If you're a fan of snickerdoodles, then you'll love this Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Bundt Cake. It's absolutely moist, delicious, and so easy to make! This recipe is made with a base pumpkin bundt cake, then coated with a spiced cinnamon sugar, and drizzled with the most amazing maple glaze that you're going to want to eat right out of the pan with a spoon! It's that good.
This Snickerdoodle Cake is going to be your new go-to cake to make for holidays like Thanksgiving! Make sure to try out my Brown Butter Pumpkin Blondies that also feature a spiced cinnamon sugar topping. For more pumpkin desserts, try my Frosted Pumpkin Bread and Pumpkin Cupcakes
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♥ Why You'll Love This Recipe
Snickerdoodle Cake - If you love snickerdoodle, you'll love this cake. It's coated in a pumpkin spiced cinnamon sugar that is so delicious!
Pumpkin Cake - 'tis the season for all things pumpkin, and the base of this cake is INCREDIBLY moist and tender and it stays that way for days!
Maple Glaze - You'll want to eat this glaze with a spoon (I am not embarrassed to admit that I did). It is THAT good. The butter and maple syrup combination creates the most delicious glaze to top any cake!
Easy - This cake is made in literally one bowl. Bundt cakes are so incredibly easy to make, like my Lemon Bundt Cake, Chocolate Chip Banana Bundt Cake, and Cinnamon Apple Bundt Cake.
Dairy-Free Pumpkin Cake - The base pumpkin cake has absolutely no dairy. If you'd like to keep it all diary-free, you could brush dairy-free butter all over the cake before coating with cinnamon sugar and make the glaze out of a dairy-free butter.
📝 Ingredient Notes
A full list of ingredients, quantities, and instructions are located in the recipe card at the end of the post.
Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Bundt Cake
- Pumpkin puree: Make sure it's pure pumpkin puree, and not pumpkin pie filling. Pumpkin pie filling contains more ingredients than pumpkin puree, and has a ton of sugar. My favorite brand of Pumpkin Puree is by Libby's.
- Sugar: This recipe uses all half brown sugar and half granulated sugar. You can use either dark or light brown sugar. If you don't have any brown sugar, you can use all white sugar.
- Eggs: Three whole eggs for structure and rise. Make sure they're at room temperature.
- Neutral oil: You can use any type of neutral oil, like canola, vegetable, avocado, light olive oil.
- Vanilla extract: for flavor.
- All purpose flour: All purpose flour gives this cake the best crumb. Use a scale when measuring to get the best results.
- Spices: I use cinnamon and Pumpkin Pie Spice. You can make your own pumpkin pie spice as well.
- Baking Soda: Baking soda works great because of the acids from the pumpkin and brown sugar. It helps the cake rise and gives a tender crumb.
- Salt: balances out the sweetness and adds more flavor.
Coating and Glaze
- Butter: I use unsalted butter for both brushing on the bundt cake as well as in the glaze.
- Sugar: Granulated is best to use for the coating because of the granules and it doesn't stick like brown sugar.
- Cinnamon: You can use as much of as little as you like.
- Pumpkin pie spice: You can add this or leave it out, or add a little more if you like.
- Maple Syrup: I use organic maple syrup, but you can use any kind you like. You can even add a little maple extract for more maple flavor.
- Powdered sugar: For the glaze, a little powdered sugar helps thicken and sweeten the glaze.
See recipe card for quantities.
🍴Special Equipment
Kitchen Scale: It's so important to use a kitchen scale for accurate results.
Bundt Pan: You'll need a 10-12 cup bundt pan.
Mixing bowls: I love using glass Mixing Bowls when making batters and doughs.
⇄ Substitutions
Brown Sugar: You can use either light or dark brown sugar. If you don't have any, you can use all granulated sugar.
Oil: You can use any type of oil. For this specific cake, I used vegetable oil, but I've successfully used a light olive oil as well.
Spices: You can add more cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice, or make your own pumpkin pie spice or combination of spices.
Pumpkin puree: You can make your own pumpkin puree if you like. You'll need 15 oz.
✨ Variations
Pumpkin Pecan Bundt Cake: You can add chopped pecans to the batter, then top the glaze with whole pecans. To jazz it up, you can toast the pecans for extra flavor.
Chocolate chips: Add chocolate chips to the batter for extra flavor and texture.
Butterscotch glaze: You can switch it up and use a butterscotch glaze like the glaze I top my Chocolate Chip Banana Bundt Cake with. It's incredible.
Caramel sauce: You can top the cake with a homemade salted caramel sauce!
𓎩 Step-by-Step Instructions
A few instruction photos to help you nail this recipe every time.
Prep the pan: Prepare your 10-12 cup bundt pan by spraying it heavily with baking spray. Make sure to get every single nook and cranny so that the cake doesn't stick. My favorite method is to spray using a baking spray like Baker's Joy. This is the method that works 100% of the time for me.
Step 1
In a large bowl, add pumpkin puree, brown sugar, granulated sugar, neutral oil, eggs, and vanilla extract and mix until completely combined.
💡 Hint: Be sure to generously spray your bundt pan with baking spray to avoid any sticking.
Step 2
To the wet ingredients, sift in the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice and mix until just incorporated. Do not over mix.
Step 3
Pour the batter into the prepared pan, then bake for 48-60 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Mine took around 52 minutes to bake. Remove from the oven and let cool for at least 15 minutes before inverting onto a baking rack.
Step 4
Once cake is mostly cooled (you could even wait until it's completely cooled if you're prepping the cake ahead), brush with melted butter, making sure to get every nook and cranny.
🎩Trick: Place a large baking sheet under the bundt cake when adding the cinnamon sugar. This will ensure the sugar only gets on the pan and not all over your tables and floors.
Step 5
In a small bowl, mix together the sugar, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice, then sprinkle sugar on top of the cake. To get the sides, you'll want to scoop cinnamon sugar into your hands and pat it to the sides of the cake and all around.
Step 6
In a small sauce pan, add the butter and maple syrup and place on medium heat. Let the butter melt completely, then take it off the heat and mix in the powdered sugar and salt. Whisk thoroughly until there are no lumps (this could take a couple minutes). Initially it will look pretty lumpy from the powdered sugar, but the more you whisk, the more it comes together. Let it sit for at least 15 minutes to thicken a little before pouring it onto the cake.
💬 FAQ
The number one reason cakes stick to bundt pans is that the pan was not greased enough. I know a lot of people swear by buttering and flouring the pans, but I have never had success using that. I highly recommend using a baking spray like Baker’s Joy. The cakes come out in one piece.
This cake is incredibly moist. If it turns out dry, you probably did not measure your ingredients correctly (use a kitchen scale to avoid adding too much flour), or you over baked your cake. Start checking at around 48 minutes.
No, because pumpkin pie filling contains extra ingredients and not just pure pumpkin.
💡Pro Tips
Measure Flour Correctly - As always, with any recipe, use a kitchen scale, as it is the best form of measuring your ingredients. If you don't have a kitchen scale, fluff your flour, scoop flour with a spoon into a measuring cup and level off.
Don’t over mix: Once the dry ingredients are incorporated, stop mixing.
Grease Bundt Pan: It’s so important to make sure your bundt pan is heavily greased when making bundt recipes because they tend to stick. To avoid a cake from sticking, grease every single nook and cranny of the pan. I HIGHLY recommend the Baker’s Joy cooking spray because I have had success 100% of the time using it.
Don’t over bake: Start checking the bundt cake at 48-48 minutes by inserting a toothpick. If it comes out clean, remove them from the oven. Depending on your oven, it could take longer. Mine take closer to between 50-55 minutes.
Cool cake: Before inverting the cake onto a cooling rack, make sure the cake cools down for at least 15 minutes.
Avoid a mess: Place a large baking sheet under the bundt cake when adding the cinnamon sugar. This will ensure the sugar only gets on the pan and not all over your tables and floors.
❄ Storage
Room temperature - Place cake in an airtight container and let sit at room temperature for about 3 days.
Refrigerator - Wrap well and place in an airtight container and it should last about 5 days.
Freezer - To freeze, wrap individual slices in saran wrap, then place in a ziploc bag. Freeze for up to 2 months. Let come to room temperature before enjoying.
📖 Recipe Card
Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Bundt Cake
Ingredients
Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cake
- 15 oz. can of pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 1 cup (200g) brown sugar, packed
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1 cup neutral oil vegetable, canola, avocado, light olive oil, etc.
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups (360g) all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Spiced Cinnamon Sugar Coating
- 3 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
- ⅓ cup (66g) granulated sugar
- 1½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Maple Glaze
- 3 tablespoon unsalted butter
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- pinch of salt
Instructions
Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cake
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 350℉Prep the pan: Prepare your 10-12 cup bundt pan by spraying it heavily with baking spray. Make sure to get every single nook and cranny so that the cake doesn't stick. My favorite method is to spray using a baking spray like Baker's Joy. This is the method that works 100% of the time for me.
- Combine wet ingredients: In a large bowl, add pumpkin puree, brown sugar, granulated sugar, neutral oil, eggs, and vanilla extract and mix until completely combined.15 oz. can of pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling), 1 cup (200g) brown sugar, packed, 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar, 1 cup neutral oil, 3 large eggs, 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Add dry ingredients: To the wet ingredients, sift in the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice and mix until just incorporated. Do not over mix.3 cups (360g) all purpose flour, 2 teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoon cinnamon, 2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- Bake: Pour the batter into the prepared pan, then bake for 48-60 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Mine took around 52 minutes to bake. Remove from the oven and let cool for at least 15 minutes before inverting onto a baking rack.
Spiced Cinnamon Sugar Coating
- Once cake is mostly cooled (you could even wait until it's completely cooled if you're prepping the cake ahead), brush with melted butter, making sure to get every nook and cranny.3 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
- In a small bowl, mix together the sugar, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice, then sprinkle sugar on top of the cake. To get the sides, you'll want to scoop cinnamon sugar into your hands and pat it to the sides of the cake and all around.⅓ cup (66g) granulated sugar, 1½ teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Maple Glaze
- In a small sauce pan, add the butter and maple syrup and place on medium heat. Let the butter melt completely, then take it off the heat and mix in the powdered sugar and salt. Whisk thoroughly until there are no lumps (this could take a couple minutes). Initially it will look pretty lumpy from the powdered sugar, but the more you whisk, the more it comes together.Let it sit for at least 15 minutes to thicken a little before pouring it onto the cake.3 tablespoon unsalted butter, ¼ cup maple syrup, ½ cup powdered sugar, pinch of salt
- Cake will stay fresh at room temperature in an airtight container for at least 3 days. To last longer, cover tightly and refrigerate for up to 5 days.
Lizzy says
THIS CAKE IS AMAZING! I shared it with my family and friends and they wanted more. It was very easy to make, and the maple glaze is sooooo delicious. It's a very moist cake, and not an overpowering pumpkin flavor. It was perfect. I'm planning to make it again for thanksgiving.
Hakima says
Thank you so much for this wonderful review! I'm so glad you enjoyed the recipe! 🙂
Besma says
Came out perfect!
Hakima says
Thank you for the review and for trying out the cake, Besma! 🙂
Alyssa says
SO GOOD! I brought this for Thanksgiving dinner and managed to fit two slices into a full belly because it was so good lol. The cake was super moist with the perfect amount of pumpkin, and I absolutely loved the cinnamon sugar coating on the edges. I left the cake unglazed but had it on the side for people to use if they wanted, and everyone ended up using it anyway, so next time I'll glaze it in advance. Also, +1 for using a FULL can of pumpkin!!
Hakima says
YAY! So happy you loved the recipe, Alyssa! Thanks for trying it out and leaving a review! 🙂