Pumpkin Bread Recipe • Two Purple Figs

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! 

Pumpkin Season is the BEST. Like we can not get enough of it, and we stretch it beyond the Holidays! A couple weeks ago I shared with you guys this Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies. SO GOOD! It’s a twist on our viral Oatmeal Cookies, except with the richness of pumpkin.

If you have missed out on our Pumpkin Donuts With Cinnamon Sugar and Pumpkin Spice Latte Donuts, here’s your clue to make them. And our savory Pumpkin Risotto is like a treat!

So today we’re sharing our ULTIMATE Pumpkin Bread Recipe, which is glazed using a flavor packed Chai Spice Glaze. Even my pickiest eater devoured this! 

Why This Pumpkin Bread Recipe

While there are so many varieties of pumpkin bread, today’s recipe is our favorite and it’s absolutely unique. Here’s why.

• You absolutely TASTE the pumpkin. This recipe is rich in flavor of pumpkin and pumpkin spice. If you’re looking for a bland mild recipe, this is not for you.
• The texture is SO MOIST and soft, you wouldn’t believe it! It almost feels like it’s not cooked yet, but it is! 
• This pumpkin bread recipe stays soft and moist for days. Like DAYS.
• It takes 10 minutes to prepare. 
• Your home will smell so cozy and warm🧡
• You can use canned pumpkin for this recipe, or fresh.
• The chai spice glaze adds a depth of warm flavors and richness to the pumpkin bread, so we highly recommend it!
• If you’re not a chai spice person, use a simple vanilla glaze or Cream Cheese Icing. 
• You can add chocolate chips, pecans, walnuts or your favorite additions here.
• You’ll never buy Starbucks Pumpkin bread ever again!

Ingredients You Need

• Pumpkin. This is a really rich pumpkin bread recipe. Like you do taste the sweetness of it. Along with the taste, the puree adds so much moisture and softens the bread. Just similar to our popular Whole Wheat Banana Bread or Chocolate Banana Chocolate Chip Cake. We use canned pumpkin puree, however you can absolutely use fresh. Make sure to squeeze out any excess moisture however.
• Butter and Oil. We use butter for flavor and oil for extra moisture here on the bread. Make sure you use a neutral tasting oil, not olive oil for example. We use Avocado oil when possible. If you’re a coconut person, use coconut oil.
• Sugars. Likewise, a combination of light brown sugar and white sugar makes an impeccably moist and soft bread. The light brown sugar also adds a rich taste.
• Spice and Vanilla. Our absolute favorite pumpkin pie spice is from The Spice House which we get online. We love their spices and we used the pumpkin spice, vanilla and chai spice here. It’s so well balanced, 
• Egg. Egg binds the read together.
• Flour, salt and Leaveners. The flour mixture is a blend of flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. 

Glaze Ingredients

You can absolutely use our popular Cream Cheese Icing for this bread recipe and it tastes SO PERFECTLY paired with pumpkin bread. We have made another glaze today.

• Confectioner Sugar. The base of any glaze or icing. Its best to buy confectioner sugar as it contains a small percentage of cornstarch. 
• Chai Spice & Vanilla. While optional, I can assure you the flavors are so warm and compliment the pumpkin spice impeccably. I buy my Chai Spice and vanilla from the spice house as well-we love them!
• Milk. This is to thin out the glaze to your desired consistency. If your glaze feels to thin, add more confectioner sugar.

How To Make Pumpkin Bread

1. 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. 
2. Add in the egg and mix again. 
   
3. Now add in the pumpkin puree and pumpkin spice. Add in the vanilla too. Mix well using a whisk or the hand held mixer. 
   
4. Mis them well until blended and then add in the dry mix. The dry mixture is flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
   
5. 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.
6. 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. 
   
7. Spray the loaf pan or line it with parchment paper. Place the batter into the loaf pan and bake. 
8. The 8 inch loaf takes anywhere between 50-60 minutes. Test it using a toothpick, it should come out clean.
   
9. Once ready, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool for 10 minutes before removing it from the pan.
10. You can slice or glaze as we recommend! 

To Glaze the Pumpkin Bread

1. 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. 
2. Use a whisk and add in the milk. Whisk in the milk gradually until you reach the desired consistency of the glaze. 
3. 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. 
   
4. 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. 
   
5. And just like that your pumpkin bread recipe is ready to devour!

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.

Pumpkin Recipes

Risotto
Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies
Fall Baked Pasta with Roasted Pumpkin, Kale and Mushrooms
Pumpkin Donuts With Cinnamon Sugar
Hazelnut Cranberry Pumpkin Muffins
Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal Latte
Instant Chia Pumpkin Pudding
Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls