My favourite Pumpkin Bread recipe: incredibly soft and moist, with almost like a melt-in-you-mouth texture. It’s also perfectly (heavily!) spiced and topped with a crunchy streusel and nutty miso brown butter glaze. Easy to make without a mixer!

A classic, iconic & must-bake staple every fall.

This, to me is the best pumpkin bread:

It’s is not the light and fluffy type. This pumpkin bread is rich with a tight, plush crumb and incredibly soft. It boarder line melt in your mouth. It’s heavily(!) spiced, as it should be.

Topped with a crispy and sweet streusel and drizzled with a salty-sweet, nutty glaze.

Pumpkin bread ingredients

This recipe requires basic ingredients you’d typically find in pumpkin bread, with the addition of a few special ingredients that takes it further:

Pure pumpkin puree: Store bought or homemade. I always the brand ED SMITH, which is not watered down.
Sugar: both cane and light brown sugar are used to make it moist, but not dense with a slight depth of flavour from the molasses which also helps uplift the spices used. You may substitute the brown sugar for all cane if you prefer a lighter texture.
Neutral oil: I recommend vegetable oil, avocado oil or canola oil. Oil keeps the bread moist for days and makes for a plush and incredibly soft texture.
Apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
Eggs: helps bind the loaf and make it rise. You may substitute with flax eggs, however it does tend to be slightly more crumbly and dense (still delicious though!).
Almond flour: my secret ingredient I add to most of my loafs, cakes and cookies. It makes for a tender, melt-in-your-mouth texture. You may substitute with more flour and increase the oil by 1 tsp.
Pumpkin pie spices: you may use store bought or homemade pumpkin spice mix (1 1/2 – 2 tbsp). I like my loaf to be heavily spiced, however if you prefer less spice you can use less of the cinnamon. I also like to swap the cloves and all spice for five spice powder when I’m feelin frisky.

How to Make Pumpkin Bread

Make the streusel: combine all the ingredients and mix with your hands until crumbly, and then refrigerate.
Mix dry ingredients: sift the dry ingredients to a bowl and whisk together.
Mix wet ingredients: whisk the eggs (or flax eggs), and then stir the remaining ingredients together until well combined.
Mix batter: add the dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix with a spatula until no flour streaks remain.
Bake: transfer to prepared loaf pan, add streusel topping and bake at 350 F. Reduce to 325 F and bake until cooked.
Make the glaze: make brown butter and stir together the remaining ingredients.
Finish: remove loaf from pan and drizzle with glaze.

Streusel topping for pumpkin bread

The streusel topping requires pretty much the same ingredients as the loaf. While you can make it without it, I highly recommend adding it. It’s crunchy and sweet, which is the perfect contrast for the moist and not-too-sweet cake.

Don’t forget the miso brown butte glaze! Would it be a recipe by me if I didn’t add miso? (lol) Again, the loaf its self is not overly sweet, and I purposely made it that way so that the streusel and glaze would add to it and not make it disgustingly sweet. Not only does it add a bit of salty and nuttiness to the loaf, but it also helps keep the streusel hold onto the loaf.

How to tell if pumpkin bread is done baking

In the past, I would always use a toothpick to test doneness. While that method does work, sometimes I would have slightly underbaked breads and cakes (especially with a old oven). I’ve found it more accurate to use a temperature thermometer. It’s an inexpensive fail-proof tool and highly recommend having one if you like to bake. Insert the thermometer in the middle of the loaf and bake until it reaches 200-210 F.

Additionally, check for visual cues. It should have risen significantly with golden edges.

How to store pumpkin bread

If keeping the loaf whole, after cooling on a wire rack carefully place it back into the loaf pan and cover with cling wrap.

If it has been slices, store in an air tight container for up to 4 days at room temperature.

My preferred method is to tightly wrap each slice and freeze.

When ready to serve, defrost in the fridge or at room temp for a few hours. You can also warm it up in the microwave for a few seconds or place it on a pan over a stove top for a few minutes to toast it up. The stove top method makes it a little crispy, and is so good.

Tips to making delicious pumpkin bread

Make the streusel first! It needs time to cool in the fridge after crumbling it with your hands. Out of the fridge, if there are large chunks of butter, break them up with a fork and then spread over your loaf.
Cover with foil if it starts to darken faster too quickly: we don’t want burnt or hard streusel! About 1/2 – 3/4 of the cooking time, if it looks like the top is darkening, loosely cover with foil.
Loaf pan: Use a 9 x 5 inch metal loaf pan. I do not recommend baking this bread in a glass pan because it doesn’t conduct heat as well and is easier to underbake.

More fall desserts to love

Enjoy!! If you make this Pumpkin Bread with Streusel & Miso Brown Butter Glaze recipe, let me know! Leave a comment, rating and if you decide to share it on socials, tag me on instagram @Okonomikitchen. I’d love to hear from you 😁!