Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease two 13x9-inch baking pans, line the bottom and sides with parchment paper, then lightly grease the paper.
Mix together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a medium mixing bowl until well combined.
In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and granulated sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until well combined. Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract, then pumpkin.
Alternate beating in the milk and dry ingredients to the batter.
Pour batter evenly between two prepared baking pans and spread to form an even layer in both.
Bake the cakes for about 20-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted into middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool completely.
Crunch Topping
Meanwhile, mix together flour, nuts, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in small bowl for crunch topping. Cut in butter with pastry blender or knives until mixture is crumbly. Spread out on a large baking sheet that has been lined with parchment paper or silicone baking mat (or aluminum foil).
Bake crunch topping at 350 degrees F for about 20-30 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so, or until desired crunchiness. Cool completely.
Cream Cheese Frosting
For frosting, beat together cream cheese and butter with electric mixer on medium speed until well combined. Beat in salt and vanilla. Slowly beat in powdered sugar until desired sweetness and consistency.
Assembly
Once cakes are completely cooled, lift one layer out and place on large serving platter. Top with some frosting and about half of the crunch topping. Place second cake layer on top, frost on top and sides of cake and top with remaining crunch topping.
Notes
SNAPPY TIPS: Be sure to line your pans with parchment paper so you can easily lift them out so they don't crack when trying to get out of pan. To make your frosting as creamy as possible make sure the butter and cream cheese are very soft and at room temperature.SNAPPY SUBSTITUTIONS: Instead of cinnamon, you could use pumpkin pie spice or your favorite baking blend. Instead of nuts in the topping, you can omit completely or try using oats. You can use low fat cream cheese in the frosting but the frosting may have a thinner consistency. Do NOT use pumpkin pie filling instead of the unsweetened canned pumpkin.
Course: Cake
Cuisine: American
Keywords: easy fall dessert, from scratch pumpkin cake, homemade cream cheese frosting