Pumpkin Bread With Cream Cheese Frosting

Moist and perfectly spiced homemade pumpkin bread with cream cheese frosting. It makes the perfect treat to enjoy with a cup of coffee on cooler fall days.

This moist pumpkin bread is full of warming spices and topped with tangy cream cheese glaze. It’s an easy, quick bread that the whole family can make.

It’s like a spiced pumpkin cake, baked in a bread loaf pan, made with pumpkin puree and lots of spices. The bread is sweet with a brilliant orange hue thanks to the pumpkin puree. 

Adding fall spices pairs well with the earthy-sweet flavor of pumpkin. The addition of the puree to the loaf keeps it moist and soft.

Try these banana pumpkin muffins or pumpkin cinnamon rolls next!

The ingredients

You’ll find the full list of ingredients for this pumpkin loaf in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post. But here is a rundown of what you will need.

• All-purpose flour
• Pumpkin puree – Pumpkin is a key ingredient in this bread to bring the pumpkin flavor. You can use canned puree or make your homemade pumpkin puree. Making your own pureed pumpkin  is simple and cheap, especially if you are a pumpkin lover and grow your pumpkins! Once fall comes around, its pumpkin season; they are abundant in the store or at your local pumpkin patch. You can make a big batch of homemade pumpkin puree and freeze it for future uses!
• Vegetable oil
• Large eggs
• Vanilla extract or paste
• Granulated white sugar – You could swap this for soft brown sugar for some molasses flavor.
• Baking powder and baking soda – the rising agents
• Ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, and ground cloves, You can also use a ‘pumpkin pie spice‘ mixture of spices instead. That adds ginger and allspice too, which will work great to bring the pumpkin spice flavor!
• Salt

The frosting

The easy cream cheese icing is super easy to whip together and pairs perfectly with the loaf.

• Cream cheese
• Room temperature butter
• Powdered sugar
• Vanilla
• Pecans (optional)- to give a little crunch

You could also try a Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting!

Equipment

• The pumpkin spice bread is baked in an 8.5 x 4.5-inch loaf pan. 
• A hand mixer will also come in handy to beat the frosting.

Method

Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C and place a rack in the center. Grease or line a loaf pan with parchment paper.

Let the loaf cool in the pan for 5 minutes before removing it and placing it on a wire rack. Let the bread cool down to room temperature before frosting.

The frosting

In a small bowl, beat softened cream cheese and butter together on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. 

Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and mix it on low speed until combined. 

Assembling

Once the pumpkin bread is completely cooled, spread the cream cheese frosting onto the bread with an offset spatula. Roughly chop up some pecans and sprinkle them on top. 

Storing

Enjoy a slice of pumpkin bread with your morning coffee or as an afternoon snack. Leftover pumpkin bread can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to a week.

This easy pumpkin bread recipe can also be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw it overnight in the refrigerator before serving.

Additions and substitutions

This easy pumpkin bread recipe is delicious the way it is but there are a few things that can be added and tweaked according to your tastes!

• Swap the white sugar for brown sugar to bring a deeper flavor.
• Add chocolate chips to the pumpkin bread.
• Orange zest can be added to the batter for a fragrant touch.
• Toasted pecans or walnuts can be added to the batter too.

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