The Best Pumpkin Bread Recipe

Since this is such a classic recipe with nearly 200 search results spread out over 20 pages, I have avoided developing a pumpkin bread recipe for quite awhile (save this pumpkin banana bread). But two years ago I shared a recipe for an easy fall cake, this everyday pumpkin cake, and it made me realize that I hadn’t yet found my personal favorite rendition of a pumpkin bread. I figured it would probably look something like that cake: browned butter and bloomed spices… and I’d reserve some of the browned butter to glaze, I do love a bb glaze. 

I also wanted a filling and debated between cream cheese or cream cheese and a cinnamon swirl. But after testing the base recipe I realized my base pumpkin loaf cake recipe itself was so tall it likely wouldn’t sustain a thick layer of filling – so I went with gooey pumpkin spice (not just cinnamon!). And two thin swirls please – because I wanted it to be extra special! 

Recipe Origins 

As we’ve established, there are already so many pumpkin bread recipes out there so my starting point was comparing existing recipes, seeing what was most common (and why) and figuring out how I would get to the points I wanted. I have made SK’s pumpkin bread years ago and knew it was good, if lacking in flavor (I like my pumpkin breads full of spice, personally). Tartine is also one that is widely popular, and rightly so. Most recipes use vegetable oil but my goal was to incorporate brown butter, this is my biggest departure from the classic. 

I found myself using the two as guidance but with major changes: butter, and browned to bring out both the pumpkin flavor and the pumpkin spice, a lot more spice, less egg (for a more tender bread), a bit less sugar (though I make up for this in the pumpkin spice swirls), and striking in the middle of the two flour percentages for a sturdy yet plush loaf. 

And truly, it is. It’s the best – perhaps the best quick bread recipe – I’ve ever had. I hope you’ll love it just as much. It’s still a rather easy pumpkin bread recipe, there’s no need for a mixer; you’ll brown the butter then everything happens in one bowl. Wet ingredients go in first, then dry ingredients (the flour mixture) at the end. Every slice of the bread has a double spicy gooey brown sugar swirl and some delectable glaze on top – not to mention those perfectly moist crumbs, packed with pumpkin and spice. 

Recipe Ingredients 

Butter: unsalted butter. No need to soften, we’re browning it! 

Pumpkin Spice: if you don’t have pumpkin spice you can make your own. For each tablespoon of pumpkin spice you’ll use 2 teaspoons cinnamon and half a teaspoon each nutmeg and ginger. Add a bit of ground cloves too if you like it. 

Vanilla: pure vanilla extract. Not absolutely necessary but I do like adding it. 

Salt: fine sea salt. If using table salt, halve the amount. 

Brown Sugar: light or dark. Do not use turbinado sugar as it lacks moisture. 

Sugar: fine granulated sugar. Reducing the sugar in the recipe will lead to a slightly less moist. 

Egg: ideally at room temperature. Use large eggs! 

Pumpkin Puree: pure pumpkin puree (not a pumpkin spice mix which has added spices and sugars). I like Libby’s. 

Flour: all purpose flour. If you need to make it gluten free, use a one to one substitute flour. 

Baking soda & baking powder: to leaven the cake. 

Powdered sugar: to make the glaze. 

Milk: to thin out the glaze. 

How to make the best pumpkin bread recipe 

Preheat the oven & grease a standard size loaf pan. If you’d like an easy way to remove the bread once baked, line it with parchment paper (just one sheet). 

Brown the butter

Set it in a light colored pan over medium heat. 

Cook as it melts and the milk solids separate, you’ll see panko-like bits sink to the bottom of the pan. 

If you see one area browning quicker than the rest, this means that part of the pan is on a hot spot:  stir the butter and shift the pan to even out the heat. 

Once all the bits are a warm toasty brown and the butter is mostly silent, immediately pour to a heat safe bowl (big enough to hold the pumpkin bread batter). Scrape up all those brown butter bits from the pan into the bowl. 

Take out 1 tablespoons of the browned butter: try to get more of the ‘bits’ than the yellow liquid, and place them in a smaller bowl to make the glaze in later. 

To the large bowl with the brown butter, add the pumpkin spice and stir. This warms the spices so the flavor is stronger. Let the spiced butter cool. 

Make the Batter

While it cools, mix the ingredients to make the gooey swirl: whisk together the sugar and pumpkin spice. Set aside. 

To the bigger bowl with the spiced brown butter add the sugars, salt and vanilla and whisk very well. 

Add the eggs, one by one, and whisk well. The mix should turn shiny. 

Whisk in the pumpkin puree. 

Add the flour and leaveners (baking soda and baking powder) and whisk until combined, only. 

Layer the Batter 

Dollop about ⅓ of the pumpkin cake batter into the prepared loaf pan. Smooth it into an even layer. 

Spread half of the pumpkin pie spice sugar over the batter – try to make sure you cover all of the batter. 

Dollop about half of the pumpkin batter into the pan, on top of the sugar. 

Spread the remaining sugar over the batter. 

Spread the last bit of pumpkin bread batter on top of the sugar. 

Set in the oven on the middle rack and bake until a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean of cake crumbs; about one hour. 

>> If the bread is over-browning, you can use foil to tent it while the rest bakes. 

Out of the oven, overturn the loaf onto a wire rack to cool. 

Once completely cool, make the glaze: whisk together the reserved brown butter, the powdered sugar, milk, a pinch of salt and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or paste. 

If you want a thinner glaze, add more milk. If you want it thicker, add more powdered sugar. 

FAQ 

Is it better to use butter or oil in pumpkin bread? 

Most recipes use oil; the theory is that because oil has more fat in it than butter the cake will be more moist and stay that way for longer. I think though that when a recipe has enough fat and liquid from other sources the same result can be accomplished. Plus, you get the better flavor of butter. This recipe is just as moist as any good oil-based pumpkin bread, if not better. 

Can I make this pumpkin bread gluten free? 

To make a gluten-free pumpkin bread, use a one to one gluten free flour substitute (a flour that needs no more additions to it for it to behave like a regular gluten all purpose flour). 

I don’t like glaze, can I skip it? 

Brown butter glaze is the best glaze imo… but if you really really are opposed to it, I’d brown a little less butter (200g) so that you aren’t taking any out to reserve for the glaze. 

Can I add chocolate chips or nuts? 

To make a chocolate chip pumpkin bread, I’d add about ¾ cup mini semi sweet chocolate chips. Mini chips will lead to better dispersal of the chocolate throughout the bread. For the nuts, I’d suggest pecans or walnuts. Toast them first and let them cool so they are nice and fresh! 

Can you substitute canned pumpkin for a homemade pumpkin puree? 

You can, homemade pumpkin puree has a stronger pumpkin flavor but it also has more water in it which can muck up a recipe. If you’d like to use something other than pumpkin but with similar results, I might suggest butternut squash or acorn squash. 

What size loaf pan should I use? 

I use a 4.5×8.5 inch loaf pan. If yours is a little bigger, you’ll be fine. I wouldn’t use anything smaller though as you might risk the batter spilling out. If you only have a smaller loaf pan, fill it 3/4 of the way and then make a couple of pumpkin muffins with the rest of the batter. 

The Best Pumpkin Bread Recipe: with Pumpkin Spice Swirls & Vanilla Brown Butter Glaze

The Best Pumpkin Bread Recipe: with Pumpkin Spice Swirls & Vanilla Brown Butter Glaze

Super soft and moist pumpkin bread made with bloomed pumpkin spices, brown butter, layered with a pumpkin spice swirl and topped with a brown butter glaze.

Prep Time: 30 minutes mins

Cook Time: 1 hour hr

Yields: 1 loaf cake

5 from 11 votes

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Ingredients

Brown Butter Spiced Pumpkin Bread

• 200g unsalted butter to be browned
• 2 tablespoons pumpkin spice
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1-2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 200g or 1 cup brown sugar
• 50g or ¼ cup fine granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs at room temperature
• 425g or one 15 oz can pure pumpkin puree not pumpkin pie mix
• 275g or 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder

Pumpkin Spice Swirl

• 60g or 5 tablespoons fine granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin spice

Brown Butter Glaze

• 1 tablespoons browned butter from above, mostly brown bits
• 130g or 1 cup powdered sugar I prefer organic made with tapioca starch
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla paste or extract
• Pinch fine sea salt
• 2-3 tablespoons milk

Method

• Prep: preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease and flour a non-stick standard size loaf pan (4.5 inches x 8.5 inches or 9x5 inches).
• Brown the butter: set the butter in a light colored frying pan over medium heat. Cook as the butter melts and begins to sputter. Small panko-like bits will fall to the bottom, keep cooking and stirring while those bits turn brown. The butter will smell nutty and it will stop sputtering, going silent as all of the water has evaporated and the milk solids have turned brown. Immediately transfer to a large bowl, where you’ll make the pumpkin cake batter.
• Split the butter: remove 1 tablespoons of brown butter, mostly brown butter bits, from the big bowl and add it to a small to medium sized bowl. The smaller bowl will be for the glaze. You’ll have around 160g browned butter in the larger bowl.
• Bloom the spices: to the hot brown butter for the pumpkin batter, add the pumpkin spice (2 tablespoons) and stir. The heat brings out their flavor. Add the salt (½ teaspoon) and vanilla (1-2 teaspoons), let cool.
• Make the pumpkin spice sugar swirl: whisk together the fine granulated sugar (5 tablespoons) and pumpkin spice (1 tablespoons). Set aside.
• Make the batter: add the sugar (200g or 1 cup brown sugar50g or ¼ cup fine granulated sugar) to the bowl then whisk, very well until the sugar and butter are no longer separated. Add the two eggs, one by one and whisk very well - at least 2 minutes. Whisk in the can of pumpkin puree then add the flour (275g or 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons), baking soda (½ teaspoons) and baking powder (1 ½ teaspoon). Whisk until the mix is smooth.
• Layer the batter into the pan: dollop a third of the pumpkin batter into the pan, smooth it into an even layer. Sprinkle half of the sugar mixture on top, covering all of the pumpkin batter. Spread another third of pumpkin batter over the sugar, then sprinkle the rest of the pumpkin spice sugar over the top - covering all of the pumpkin batter. Add the remaining pumpkin batter on top and smooth into an even layer. It will come close to the rim of the pan but this isn't a high rising bread so it'll be fine.
• Bake the pumpkin bread: until a cake tester comes out clean, for about 50-60 minutes. Let cool briefly in the pan then transfer to a wire rack to fully cool.
• Make the glaze: into the bowl with the 1 tablespoon of reserved brown butter, add the powdered sugar (130g or 1 cup), vanilla bean paste (1 teaspoon), a pinch of salt and 2-3 tablespoons of milk (heavy cream works too). Whisk until smooth. Spoon the glaze over the cooled pumpkin bread. The bread will keep for 3-4 days though it’s best not to cover the glazed part (it will act as a barrier anyway). I wrap the bottom in foil and leave the glazed top exposed.

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