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A hand holding a bitten piece of pumpkin bread recipe close up showing up the texture

Pumpkin Bread Recipe

We love a good Pumpkin Bread Recipe, it's a Fall classic thats stretches to the Holidays and beyond! Over years of testing, we found this pumpkin bread to be the ultimate one. Moist and soft, stays soft for days, rich in pumpkin and pumpkin spice, and glazed with a chai glaze. Impeccable! 
Course baking, Fall Baking, holiday, holidays, thanksgiving
Cuisine American
Keyword fall baking, fall recipes, holidays, how to make pumpkin bread, pumpkin bread, pumpkin bread recipe, pumpkin recipe, pumpkin recipes
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 53 minutes
Servings 10 slices
Calories 247 kcal
Author Mahy

Ingredients

Pumpkin Bread

  • 1 cup flour
  • pinch of salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 5 tablespoons soft butter
  • 2 Tablespoons oil
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons pumpkin spice

Chai Spice Glaze

  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp Chai Spices
  • 2 tbsps milk
  • 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

  2. Start by mixing the room temperature butter in a large bowl with light brown sugar and regular sugar. Add in the oil and use a whisk or a hand held mixer to beat up until smooth. You don't need to super fluff it, but rather make sure the sugars are broken down in the fat.
    A hand mixer beating the butter, oil , light brown sugar and white sugar in a large bowl
  3. Add in the egg and mix again.
  4. Now add in the pumpkin puree and pumpkin spice. Add in the vanilla too. Mix well using a whisk or the hand held mixer.
    The pumpkin purée added to the bowl to make pumpkin bread along with pumpkin pie spice
  5. Mis them well until blended and then add in the dry mix. The dry mixture is flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
    The flour, baking soda and baking powder are added on to the pumpkin bread batter now and a spatula is used to incorporate them
  6. Use a spatula to incorporate the dry mixture into the batter until no visible pieces of flour are seen in the batter. You're going to end up with a thick batter, and that's optimal.
    A spatula in the pumpkin bread batter showing the texture of the final batter
  7. Now take your loaf pan. You should use one 8 inch loaf pan for today's recipe. You can easily double it however and it turns out perfect.
    The pumpkin bread batter poured into a load pan lined with parchment paper and ready to bake
  8. Spray the loaf pan or line it with parchment paper. Place the batter into the loaf pan and bake.
  9. The 8 inch loaf takes anywhere between 50-60 minutes. Test it using a toothpick, it should come out clean.
    pumpkin bread out of the oven
  10. Once ready, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool for 10 minutes before removing it from the pan.
  11. You can slice or glaze as we recommend!
  12. To make the glaze, add in the confectioner sugar in a large bowl. Add to that the flavorings, for us we love the Chai Spice and vanilla combo. It's such a warm and sweet spice blend that compliments the pumpkin spice and pumpkin bread so beautifully.
    chai spice glaze ingredients all mixed in a bowl using a whisk and the whisk showing how thick it is
  13. Use a whisk and add in the milk. Whisk in the milk gradually until you reach the desired consistency of the glaze.
  14. Keep in mind that as the glaze hits the hot bread, it will feel thinner than it is. SO always opt for a slightly thicker consistency than what it feels.
    A hand spreading the glaze evenly over the pumpkin bread using a spatula
  15. Take a spatula or spoon and spread the glaze evenly across the top of your pumpkin bread. Let the extra glaze drip naturally from the sides. It will set as it sits and it will harden.
  16. And just like that your pumpkin bread recipe is ready to devour!
    sliced pumpkin bread on a white board showing the texture and moist crumb close up

Recipe Video

Recipe Notes

Pumpkin Bread Recipe Tips

  1. The puree is essential here for the bread recipe. We find that canned is just as awesome as the fresh, however you can use either. If you feel the canned or fresh has moisture, you'll need to drain it on paper towels for 15 minutes. The consistency should be similar to a paste.
  2. To keep the flavor of butter and enjoy the moist pumpkin bread for days, we use a combo of oil and butter together.
  3. Likewise, a combo of light brown sugar and granulated sugar makes a huge difference in taste and texture. 
  4. If you don't like pumpkin spice, use cinnamon only.
  5. Once you add the flour mixture into the batter, avoid over mixing it. For this reason we switched to a spatula and folded it in until no visible flour can be seen. 
  6. Make sure you use the correct size pan: 8 inch.
  7. You can grease the pan, but we used parchment paper to make sure nothing sticks. 
  8. To check if the pumpkin bread is done, use a toothpick in the center and it should come out clean.
  9. Keep the bread in the pan for 8-10 minutes before attempting to remove it or glaze it. 
  10. Feel free to keep a simple vanilla glaze, or try the rich warm chai spice as we recommend here. SO GOOD!

Pumpkin Bread Recipe Variations

How to Serve Pumpkin Bread

Well we love it glazed and perfect as it is! It almost feels like a dessert. You can however slather it with butter for an extra luscious feel. Another option is to sevr it with some spreadable cream cheese--so GOOD! Also some nut butter like almond  butter spread here tastes phenomenal!! Feel free to use peanut butter as well, OMG so good!

How to Make Ahead, Store and Freeze this recipe?

  • To store leftovers, cover the cooled down pumpkin bread with plastic wrap and keep it over the counter. It stays moist and fresh for 3-4 days.
  • To freeze, make sure the bread has cooled down completely. Wrap it in plastic wrap, and then foil, and freeze it for 3 months. 
  • To Thaw, remove the pumpkin bread from the freezer and thaw over the counter for a few hours. Serve right away.

 

Nutrition Facts
Pumpkin Bread Recipe
Amount Per Serving
Calories 247 Calories from Fat 81
% Daily Value*
Fat 9g14%
Saturated Fat 4g25%
Trans Fat 0.2g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1g
Monounsaturated Fat 3g
Cholesterol 32mg11%
Sodium 111mg5%
Potassium 102mg3%
Carbohydrates 40g13%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 28g31%
Protein 2g4%
Vitamin A 4019IU80%
Vitamin C 1mg1%
Calcium 33mg3%
Iron 1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.