Moist Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese Frosting
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With Fall around the corner there’s nothing better than baking a warm, comforting treat. Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese Frosting is the perfect choice! With its deep pumpkin flavor, cozy spices and moist texture, it’s a dessert that works for breakfast, a snack, or dessert.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe:
- Super Moist: The key to making a dessert bread is ensuring it’s moist, and this recipe nails it. I use a little trick to help lock in the moisture, keeping your bread soft for days.
- Full of Fall Flavors: Cinnamon, nutmeg and pumpkin pie spice blend perfectly with the pumpkin puree to create a classic Fall taste.
- Easy to Make: This recipe does not need any special equipment and has minimal prep time, making it easy for bakers at all levels.
- Versatile: You can add chocolate chips, nuts and dried fruit for a personal touch!
- Cream Cheese Frosting: The silky cream cheese frosting works perfectly with the spices of the bread.
Pumpkin Bread Ingredients
- Pumpkin Puree: The star ingredient! Make sure to use puree and not filling.
- All purpose flour: AP flour works best, but if you would like to try whole wheat or gluten free, go ahead!
- Granulated Sugar & Brown Sugar: The combination of sugars gives the bread sweetness and a slight rich caramel flavor.
- Oil: Vegetable oil is what helps keep the bread moist. You can experiment with other oils like coconut oil or avocado oil.
- Eggs: These help bind the ingredients and give the bread structure.
- Baking Soda & Baking Powder: These leavening agents help the bread rise perfectly.
- Cinnamon, Nutmeg and Pumpkin Pie Spice: This blend of spices help give the bread that signature pumpkin flavor.
- Salt: The salt balances the sweetness and enhances the flavor.
- Water: Water helps thin out the batter but also ensures it stays moist.
- Vanilla Extract: Vanilla helps give the bread a warm aroma and flavor.
Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients
- Room temperate cream cheese: Make sure it’s room temperature so it blends well!
- Powdered sugar: Powdered sugar sweetens and thickens the frosting.
- Butter: Butter adds flavor and helps give structure.
- Vanilla extract: A little vanilla adds a warm aroma and flavor.
- Milk: A little milk helps thin the frosting out just enough so it’s silky and spreadable.
Step-by-Step Instructions:
Tips for Making the Perfect Moist Pumpkin Bread:
- Don’t over-mix: You want to avoid over-mixing the batter. Once you add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, slowly mix just until incorporated. Over-mixing can cause the bread to become too dense.
- Use Fresh Spices: Pumpkin bread relies heavily on spices to create flavor, so make sure you are using non-expired spices to for the best flavor!
- Use Oil: Although butter offers more flavor, oil is better to keep the pumpkin bread moist.
- Let It Cool Completely: Letting the bread cool completely, will give you cleaner slices and a better texture.
- Prepare Ingredients Before Baking: When making any recipe, preparing your ingredients will make sure you don’t forget anything or make a mistake.
- Use plastic wrap or aluminum foil: Place a piece of plastic wrap or aluminum foil over the bread as it cools. If using plastic wrap, wait until the bread has cooled to warm otherwise it will melt. This helps lock in moisture.
- Tent a piece of aluminum foil over the bread: Check the bread after 45-50 minutes. If the top of the bread starts to burn, tent a piece of aluminum foil over top of it. This will help prevent it from burning. It’s very common for breads to burn on top while the center of the bread continues to bake.
- Test with a knife: Insert a knife in the center of the bread to check if it’s done. If it’s done the knife will come out clean or with a few crumbs. If there’s wet batter on the knife, it needs more time to bake.
Variation and Add-ins:
- Chocolate chips: A cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips will add extra texture and flavor to the pumpkin.
- Nuts: Pecans or walnuts add a crunchy bite.
- Cranberries: Dried cranberries or cherries will offer a chewy bite and tart flavor.
- Nutella: Swirl in dollops of Nutella before baking to make this easy pumpkin bread even more indulgent.
- Streusel Topping: A streusel topping adds a nice texture along with a salty sweet flavor profile.
Storing and Freezing:
- Storing: Wrap your pumpkin bread tightly with plastic wrap, in a zip-lock bag or an airtight container. It will stay fresh for 3 days at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to a week.
- Freezing: Wrap the cooled bread in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil before placing in the freezer. You can also use a gallon freezer bag just make sure to suck any air out of it before zipping it up. It can be stored for up to 3 months. Simply thaw at room temperature.
FQAs About Pumpkin Bread:
How do I prevent my pumpkin bread from being too dense?
Over-mixing the batter is often the reason why bread becomes too dense. Slowly mix in the dry ingredients. To ensure you don’t over-mix, you can do this step by hand.
Can I use fresh pumpkin puree instead of canned?
Yes! Make sure it’s pureed and strained of any excess moisture before using it.
Why is my pumpkin bread dry?
You may have used too much flour or over-baked. Be sure to measure the flour correctly and keep and eye on the bread towards the end of baking time.
Can I make this pumpkin bread gluten free?
Yes! Simply use a cup for cup gluten free flour. This is the brand I use!
There’s no better way to embrace the warmth of Fall than baking with pumpkin! Not only is this Easy Moist Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese Frosting a delicious choice, there are many pumpkin recipes to enjoy during this cozy season! A few of my favorites are Pumpkin Streusel Muffins, Pumpkin Crumb Cake, Pumpkin Bundt Cake, Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting, and soft pumpkin cookies with maple glaze.
Yield: 1 loaf
Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese Frosting
Moist Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese Frosting has deep pumpkin flavor, cozy spices and moist texture, it's a dessert that works for breakfast, a snack, or dessert.
Prep Time
10 minutes
Cook Time
1 hour
Additional Time
30 minutes
Total Time
1 hour 40 minutes
Ingredients
PUMPKIN BREAD:
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil or refined coconut oil
- 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 of a 15 ounce can pure pumpkin. About 1 cup.
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup water
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 ounces butter, room temperature
- 4 ounces full fat cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1-2 teaspoons of milk as needed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray and flour a 9x5 inch loaf pan; set aside. You can also line the loaf pan with parchment paper for easy removal.
- In a medium bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together; flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and pumpkin pie spice and set aside.
- In a stand-alone mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (hand-held mixer works, too) cream together the vegetable oil, brown sugar and granulated sugar, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Next, mix in eggs one at a time along with the vanilla, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Next, mix in pumpkin puree and water, again scraping down the sides of the bowl.
- Lastly, add the bowl of dry ingredients a little at a time and mix just until incorporated.
- Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 50-65 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Baking time with vary based on your oven's temperature. If the top of the bread starts browning too much, tent a piece of aluminum foil on top the last 10-15 minutes of baking.
- Remove pumpkin bread from oven and let for about 10-15 minutes. You can tent it with a piece of aluminum foil to cool completely - this will make the bread really moist!. Once cooled completely, turn the pan to remove the pumpkin bread and frost!
- To make the cream cheese frosting, use a hand-held mixer or a stand-alone mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Cream together the cream cheese, butter and vanilla extract until smooth. Mix in powdered sugar until fluffy and smooth. Add milk if necessary - you don't want the frosting to be too runny as it should sit on top of the bread, not fall down the sides. Only use milk if necessary. Frost cooled bread and enjoy!
Notes
For extra moistness, let bread cool for 15ish minutes then gently cover with aluminum foil or plastic wrap. This trick will help produce a very moist bread.
Maybe it’s just me… but where does it say how much cream cheese to use for the frosting? I have looked and looked at the ingredient list and the instructions. Am I missing it?
4 ounces! I apologize – it was not on the recipe card. It has since been updated. Enjoy!
Why do you use unsalted butter and then add salt to it ? That makes no sense to me.
I like to use unsalted or low sodium ingredients because I can then control the amount of salt. If you use salted butter, simply omit the salt – you don’t want to add too much.
Hi Jessica: do you wrap the entire loaf in plastic after taking it out of the pan?
Yes, you can do that or you can wrap it while it’s still in the pan. Just make sure it’s not crazy hot, just warm. Enjoy!
I added raisins and nuts. Super good.
yum!
This is an amazing recipe. I had to bake a little longer and added pecans.
Thank you!!