Pumpkin-Pecan Coffee Cake

I love making this simple, delicious coffee cake all through the fall. In fact, after finding it in a magazine years ago, I picked up about 9 of those cheap 8" nonstick cake pans just for this. If you have a convection oven, you can easily fit three pans each on 3 oven racks. For conventional ovens, just rotate the pans from top to bottom, halfway through baking time. They freeze well - I love having some in the freezer to pull out for breakfast. Just wrap well in saran wrap then in a heavy duty foil. Your friends will love you too when you make a few extras to give away! :)

1 teaspoon buter

1/4 cup regular oats

3 tablespoons brown sugar

3 tablespoons chopped pecans

3 tablespoons butter, softened

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 large egg

1-1/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice or

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon each nutmeg and ginger

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put 1 teaspoon butter in an 8 or 9-inch cake pan and place in oven for a few minutes to melt. Combine oats, 3 tablespoons brown sugar and pecans in a small bowl. Sprinkle oat mixture evenly over bottom of pan, and set aside. Beat 3 tablespoons butter and both sugars at medium speed of mixer until well-blended (about 4 minutes). Add the egg and beat well. Lightly spoon the flour into dry measuring cups and level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, pumpkin-pie spice and baking soda. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture alternately with the pumpkin and buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Spoon batter evenly over oat mixture. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 5 minutes, then invert cake onto a serving plate. Serve warm or at room temperature; great with cinnamon whipped topping. 8 servings