Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese Frosting
This easy recipe for Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese Frosting makes a moist, delicious pumpkin bread! It is soft, moist and full of fall flavor.
Servings: 12 slices
Calories: 398kcal
Equipment
- 1 Loaf pan
Ingredients
Streusel Topping (optional)
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Pumpkin Bread
- 1½ cups all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2¼ teaspoons cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar light or dark, packed
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1½ cups canned pumpkin puree not pumpkin pie filling
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup whole milk or 2%, room temperature
Cream Cheese Frosting (optional)
- 2 ounces cream cheese full fat, room temperature
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature
- ¾ cup powdered sugar sifted
- ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon optional
- 1 tablespoon whole milk
Instructions
Streusel Topping (optional)
- Melt the butter in a small bowl in the microwave and let it sit for 1–2 minutes so it’s warm but not hot.
- In another small bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and cinnamon with a fork. Pour the slightly cooled melted butter over the dry mixture and stir until crumbly. Chill the streusel in the fridge while you prepare the batter, then sprinkle it over the batter before baking. (If you want to add nuts to the streusel, fold in 1/4 cup chopped walnuts, plain or candied, see notes section below).
Pumpkin Bread
- Set your oven rack to the lower third position. Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan with nonstick spray or grease the sides with butter and line with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg and ginger. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk to combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar and oil. Use the bottom of your whisk or your fingertips to break up any little lumps of brown sugar, if needed. Whisk in the eggs, pumpkin, and vanilla extract.
- Use a spatula to fold in half the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Stir in the milk then stir in the rest of the dry ingredients until just combined. Be careful not to over mix. Pour the batter into the loaf pan.
- Take the streusel out of the fridge and use a fork to break it up into chunks of the same size. Cover the top of the batter evenly with the streusel. Use your fingertips to press the streusel down lightly.
- Bake 60 to 75 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs on it when inserted into the center. Begin checking at about an hour and check it every five minutes or so until it's done.
- Let cool for ten minutes in the pan on a wire rack and then remove it from the pan to cool on a wire rack. Once cooled completely, drizzle with frosting.
Cream Cheese Frosting (optional)
- In a small mixing bowl, cream the butter, cream cheese, and vanilla extract with an electric mixer til combined. With the mixer on low, add the cinnamon and powdered sugar followed by the milk. Beat til combined and creamy. Drizzle frosting over cooled pumpkin bread.
Video
Notes
Recipe Update: I left the walnuts out of the streusel to keep the recipe nut-free. To add nuts, stir 1/4 cup chopped walnuts into the streusel, or toast 1/4 cup walnuts with 1/8 tsp cinnamon, a pinch of salt, and 1 tbsp maple syrup in a skillet over medium heat for 3–4 minutes. Spread on parchment to cool, roughly chop, then stir into the streusel.
Pumpkin puree- Use 100% pure canned pumpkin puree. Don't confuse pumpkin puree with pumpkin pie filling.
Spices: Use extra cinnamon instead of nutmeg or ginger. You can also swap in a little allspice or cloves for some of the other spices.
Chocolate chips: Stir in some chocolate chips after adding the dry ingredients. I recommend adding 3/4 cup or up to 1 cup of chocolate chips.
Nuts: Add chopped pecans or walnuts to the batter for some crunch.
Avoid overmixing: Mix the batter just enough that the dry ingredients are combined with the wet. Stop mixing as soon as you no longer see any bits of flour.
Storage: Store unfrosted pumpkin loaf in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. Store frosted pumpkin loaf in the fridge for up to 5 days. To freeze, wrap the loaf in plastic and foil or a freezer-safe bag for up to 3 months. It's best to freeze the bread before frosting it. Frost after thawing.
Nutrition Information: The nutrition information provided is an estimate. The calorie accuracy is not guaranteed.
Nutrition
Serving: 1slice | Calories: 398kcal | Carbohydrates: 55g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 51mg | Sodium: 223mg | Potassium: 135mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 39g | Vitamin A: 5088IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 47mg | Iron: 2mg
