Easy Pumpkin Bread Recipe

5 from 2 votes

This Easy Pumpkin Bread Recipe is the perfect way to welcome the fall season. This uses canned pumpkin puree, warm spices, and a few other simple ingredients, and this dessert bread is ready to enjoy in about an hour.

Sliced pumpkin bread on wooden cutting board with a streusel on top.

When the cooler weather hits, the pumpkin flavors start flowing. So it’s a toss-up between this bread, these pumpkin cream cheese bars, or this no-bake pumpkin pie.

Gift Idea: This pumpkin bread recipe is one of my favorites to gift my neighbors when the season rolls around too. It’s a great way to bring the fall flavors in and spread the love. It’s hard to choose if this banana bread recipe, this chocolate bread loaf, or this pumpkin bread is their favorite.

Pumpkin Bread Highlights

Texture: This bread is dense, soft, and sturdy enough to hold a piece in your hand while you take a bite.
Simple ingredients: No wild things to get for this dessert recipe. You may already have the items on hand to make this one, except the pumpkin puree. But you can grab a can of it to keep on hand for those last-minute fall dessert cravings.
Quick: A quick bread that’s ready in about an hour!

Jump to:

Pumpkin Bread Highlights
Key Ingredients
How to Make This Pumpkin Bread
For Mini Loaves:
Pumpkin Bread FAQs
Related Recipes
Recipe
Comments

Key Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this fall bread recipe:

Complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.

Cream cheese: Since cream cheese usually comes in 8-ounce blocks, save the other 4 ounces to make this cream cheese frosting for brownies.
Oil: I like to use coconut oil for a lot of my baking and cooking. You can use vegetable oil if you prefer.
Brown Sugar: Light brown sugar is recommended for this recipe.
Streusel Topping Ingredients: Note that the streusel uses a lot of the same ingredients that are used in the bread. So when checking the ingredient measurements to see if you have all that you need, don’t forget the similar ingredients in the streusel.
Buttermilk: If you don’t have buttermilk, you can use regular milk (the same amount) and add a tablespoon of lemon juice to it, and allow it to sit and curdle a bit before adding to the pumpkin batter.
Eggs: I’ve made this recipe using 4 eggs in the past, and it causes the bread to be fluffier and lighter. I prefer using only 2 eggs, and it making a heavier, more dense bread. It’s up to you on how you prefer your bread.

How to Make This Pumpkin Bread

Canned pumpkin puree and spices in saucepan. — 1. Cook pumpkin puree, 1 teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon nutmeg & ⅛ cloves.

Sugars, and cream cheese added to pumpkin mixture. — 2. Add sugars, oil, and cream cheese & cook until melted together.

Eggs and buttermilk in small bowl. — 3. Mix eggs and buttermilk.

Pouring eggs and buttermilk in to pumpkin mixture. — 4. Add buttermilk mixture to the pumpkin mixture.

Flour, baking soda and baking powder mixed in small bowl. — 5. Mix flour, baking soda and baking powder together.

Flour added in to pumpkin puree mixture for pumpkin bread. — 6. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture.

Loaf pan lined with parchment paper. — 7. Grease or line loaf pans with parchment paper.

Pumpkin bread batter poured in to loaf pan. — 8. Pour half of batter in each loaf pan.

Pumpkin bread streusel ingredients in mixing bowl. — 9. Make streusel: Combine ingredients.

Streusel ingredients poured on top of pumpkin bread batter. — 10. Sprinkle half of the streusel on top of each loaf pan.

About the Streusel: The Streusel on top is kind of my favorite. There are times I’ll leave a streusel off of my recipes, just because I feel like it’s a whole other step that’s not really necessary. But with this one… I couldn’t believe how good it was. I start eating a piece, anticipating when I reach the top, to get to the streusel.

Bake the pumpkin bread at 350° degrees F for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in to the middle comes out clean.

Baked loaf of pumpkin bread on parchment paper.

Remove the bread from the oven. Carefully lift out parchment paper (if using) slice, and enjoy.

For Mini Loaves:

If making mini loaves of pumpkin bread, I found that it only took about 15 minutes for the mini loaves to be done, baking at 350 degrees. However, mini loaf pans can vary so it’s best to check with a toothpick after about 12 minutes to see if the bread is finished baking.

Pumpkin Bread FAQs

What’s the difference between canned pumpkin and pumpkin puree?

There is no difference. Canned pumpkin is the same as pumpkin puree. However, canned pumpkin pie mix is not the same as pumpkin puree. Pumpkin pie mix has spices mixed in with it already.

How to store pumpkin bread?

When the bread has cooled, it’s best to store it by wrapping in parchment paper or wax paper. You can also store it in an airtight container or in a zip-top storage bag but it could cause the bread to become gummy. No need to refrigerate. It’s best to enjoy within 2-3 days.

How do you remove pumpkin bread from a loaf pan?

For a no-fail way of removing pumpkin bread from a loaf pan, it starts before you even put the batter in the pan. Spray the loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray. Then place a piece of parchment paper inside of the loaf pan, with the corners cut with a slit, so it forms to the loaf pan easier. Then, once baked, simply lift out the bread loaf by pulling on the parchment paper corners.