When the leaves start to change and there’s a chill in the air, I head straight to the kitchen to bake pumpkin bread. This easy quick bread recipe combines pumpkin purée with my homemade pumpkin spice blend for a loaf that’s tender, flavorful, and moist. The cinnamon-sugar streusel adds a sweet crunch that makes it hard to stop at just one slice.
Why You'll Want to Bookmark This Pumpkin Recipe
After making multiple loaves to test this recipe I think this is the best pumpkin bread recipe you'll ever have. I also use it as the base recipe for my Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese and my Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread, and Cranberry Pumpkin Bread. One of the things I learned was that canned pumpkin is the best option.
- Flavorful: This bread is perfectly sweet, and packed with wonderful fall spices - cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg. The spices make a big difference in the flavor. The cinnamon adds a warm floral note and the ginger adds a little spice. The dark brown sugar adds a hint of molasses.
- Soft and tender texture: The batter is mixed by hand, so the pumpkin bread stays tender and doesn't get overmixed which can lead to tough or rubbery bread. The buttermilk also contributes to the tender texture.
Pro Tips for Making This Recipe
- For the best results use a scale to weigh the flour to ensure you have just the right amount. Too much and the bread will be dry, too little and it have an underdone texture.
- Make sure to pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling.
- Use room temperature eggs and buttermilk, which is 68-72°F.
- When melting the butter, melt it on low heat to reduce the amount of evaporation
- Don't overmix the batter after adding the flour. Mix the batter just until the flour is mixed in and there are no white specks. The batter will still be lumpy which is okay.
Key Ingredients for Homemade Pumpkin Bread
Homemade pumpkin bread is delicious and so easy to make. You have a lot of control over the final taste (adjust the spices, add a glaze) and it takes less time to mix the batter than to run to the bakery and buy a loaf.
Below is the list of ingredients for this delicious pumpkin bread:
- Pumpkin Puree: For the best results I recommend using Libby's Pumpkin Puree. Because Libby's grows a special pumpkin for their canned puree, it's consistent in flavor, texture, and color.
- Dark Brown Sugar: I specifically chose dark brown sugar because of the amount of molasses it has and to be it's a little less sweet than light brown sugar. That being said if all you have is light brown sugar go ahead and use that.
- Buttermilk: Buttermilk adds moisture and helps create a tender crumb. Because of the moisture from the pumpkin puree and butter you don't need a lot to achieve a moist loaf.
- Pumpkin Pie Spice: My homemade pumpkin pie spice is made with cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and allspice. It's incredibly fragrant and adds a lot of flavor tp the pumpkin bread. After you've made the base recipe you can adjust according to your own tastes.
I like plenty of spice, especially for fall desserts, so there is plenty of cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, and ginger. The combination of these spices with the pumpkin is really delicious. I wanted the richness of butter, instead of oil, so I experimented a couple of times to figure out how much butter to use in combination with either milk or buttermilk.
How to Make Pumpkin Bread
This is an easy recipe, made by hand, and requires only two bowls. If making a double batch you may want to use an electric mixer, but be careful not to overmix.
Once you've assembled all the ingredients it takes less than 15 minutes to make this batter by hand (no mixer required).
Step 1: Whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder in a medium-sized bowl. Set aside the flour mixture.
Step 2: In a large bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar, brown sugar, and homemade pumpkin pie spice.
Step 3: Add the eggs and whisk until the mixture is thick and lighter in color.
Step 4: Whisk in the cooled melted butter, followed by the pumpkin puree and buttermilk until fully combined.
Step 5: Fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture with a spatula, mixing until just combined. Don’t overmix - a few lumps remaining are okay.
Step 6: Don’t overmix - a few lumps remaining are okay.
Step 7: Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle the streusel on top.
Step 8: Bake until a skewer inserted in the center comes out with no more than a few crumbs clinging to it.
Avoid Overmixing the Batter
When you mix a dough that contains flour, you develop gluten. Gluten is the protein in wheat that is responsible for the elastic texture of dough. Imagine long rubbery cords. The more you mix, the more these cords develop and the stronger they become.
For most yeast bread recipes this is what you want, but for cake and quick bread, you want tender, soft bread with moist crumbs. Therefore you only mix the batter enough to incorporate the dry ingredients.
Homemade Pumpkin Puree
I made multiple loaves of pumpkin bread with canned and fresh-made pumpkin puree. I prefer Libby's canned pumpkin puree, but homemade pumpkin puree would be my second choice.
I recommend against canned organic pumpkin puree. I tried two different brands and in both instances, the organic canned puree was pale orange and very watery compared to Libby's and the homemade puree.
See my recipe for How to Make Pumpkin Puree if you want to make your own. The recipe makes 3-4 cups of puree. Leftover puree can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week or frozen for up to 2 months.
If using canned puree do not confuse canned pumpkin puree with pumpkin pie filling. They are two totally different things and the pie filling usually contains all the ingredients necessary for a pie filling, such as sugar and spices.
If you make this moist and tender pumpkin bread please leave a rating and a comment below.
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Soft and Moist Pumpkin Bread with Fall Spices
Ingredients
Streusel Topping
- 3 tablespoons (37 grams) packed dark brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon (14 grams) unsalted butter room temperature
Pumpkin Bread
- 1-3/4 cups (220 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 cup (150 grams) packed dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
- 1-1/2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
- 2 large (100 grams) eggs room temperature
- 8 tablespoons (113 grams) unsalted butter melted
- 1 cup (227 grams) pumpkin puree Libby's recommended
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) buttermilk room temperature
Instructions
Streusel Topping
- In a small bowl, whisk all the dry ingredients together. Add the butter and use a fork to mix the butter into the dry ingredients until it is well combined and resembles wet sand.
Pumpkin Bread
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter and flour an 8.5 x 4.5-inch loaf pan.
- Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat to prevent splatter and avoid evaporation. Remove the butter from the heat and set it aside.
- Put the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Whisk for 30 seconds to combine.
- Place the brown sugar, granulated sugar, and pumpkin pie spice in a large bowl. Use a whisk to combine. Use your fingers to break up any brown sugar clumps.
- Add the eggs and whisk until thoroughly combined and the sugar starts to dissolve. Add the melted butter, whisk until incorporated, and then add pumpkin puree and whisk to combine. Add the buttermilk and whisk until thoroughly incoporated.
- Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients in two batches and mix with a silicone spatula until the dry ingredients are thoroughly mixed in. The batter will be lumpy which is okay. Don't overmix the batter.
- Pour the batter into a loaf pan and use an offset spatula to spread the batter evenly across the pan. Sprinkle the streusel on top. Bake for 55-65 minutes or until a long skewer inserted in the center comes out clean with no more than a few crumbs clinging to it or the center registers at 202°F. Rotate the pan after the first 25 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the loaf pan for 10 minutes. Remove the bread from the pan and place on a cooling rack. Allow the bread to cool to room temperature before slicing.
Storage
- Store the pumpkin bread at room temperature for two days in an airtight container or wrapped in plastic wrap. After two days, store it in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
PENNY F says
This recipe is the bomb, The streusel topping throws it over the edge.
Cheryl Norris says
Hi Penny
Thank you for trying the pumpkin bread. I'm so glad that you liked it. I really enjoy that streusel topping too. It's just the right amount of sweetness.
Diane says
The recipe instructions do not mention when to add the melted butter but I assume it would be in step 5, along with the pumpkin puree. (I like to add walnuts to the batter, too!)
Cheryl Norris says
Hi Diane
Thanks for visiting the blog and trying this recipe. And a huge thank you for letting me know about the missing step for the butter. I appreciate it. It has been added.
I updated the recipe and obviously missed this crucial step. I hope you enjoyed the pumpkin bread.
Donna Sutherland says
I made this loaf to use up a LARGE can of pumpkin. This meant I had to triple the recipe 🙂 I made an error and accidentally doubled the ginger. My non-pumpkin eating husband could not get enough of this loaf. Took the loaves to a church function and everyone loved it! Super moist recipe that does not dry out or get stale quickly. I highly recommend giving this recipe a try. It is moist so do test and get the internal temp to 202 as recommended. Thanks for such a good recipe!!!!
Cheryl Norris says
Hi Donna
Thank you so much for trying this recipe and leaving such a glowing review. I really appreciate it. So glad to read that your non-pumpkin husband and friends at church loved it. Yay!!
And I love ginger, so glad to hear that the extra ginger worked out for everyone. I will add that note to the recipe.