It’s almost officially fall, and I’m counting the days! The season for sweaters and boots, cool crisp air, cozy evenings spent cuddled under soft blankets, crunching around in the leaves with my boys, baking with all my favorite spices, pumpkin patches and pie making and honking geese and apples and hot soup. All those things in one day would pretty much be the best fall day ever. And, of course, fall is just the beginning of the holiday season, which is my favorite time of year. And I can’t think of a better way to start off the season than with a high altitude recipe for freshly baked pumpkin bread. You’ll love this moist and easy pumpkin bread recipe, with a perfect balance of spices and lots of buttery crumble topping!
Looking for more pumpkin recipes? You’ll love these pumpkin cupcakes, pumpkin bourbon crumble pie, and pumpkin crumb coffee cake.
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All the Pumpkin Things in Fall
One of the early recipes on my blog was for high altitude pumpkin bread. Sometimes I can’t believe I’ve continued blogging for as long as I have. And while my style and photography has changed, one thing has remained the same – to create the best, most dependable high-altitude recipes there are, and of course, the most delicious, too. With that in mind, I’ve updated my high altitude pumpkin bread recipe a bit. I’ve adjusted a few ingredients to perfect the rise, and added heaps of crumble topping.
I love spicy, pumpkin baked goods, and pumpkin bread is usually the first pumpkiny thing I crave when the weather turns cooler. Then, definitely a batch of pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, some muffins, and then a pie for Thanksgiving. Not forgetting pumpkin cake, too, which I’ll probably make for Halloween next month. Oh, how to decide what to bake next!
Ingredients
Obviously, pumpkin bread starts with canned pumpkin. And while you can roast and puree your own sugar pumpkin to bake with, canned pumpkin is undeniably convenient. I always stock up on extra pumpkin so I can bake something delicious whenever the mood strikes. It’s a little annoying when a recipe only uses a partial can of pumpkin, so I adjusted my recipe to use one whole can for this 2-loaf recipe.
The other liquid ingredients are granulated sugar, brown sugar, vegetable oil (it makes the bread soooo moist), eggs, milk and vanilla extract.
For the dry ingredients, I always sift them together to lighten the flour and make sure there are no lumps. The dry ingredients include all-purpose flour, baking soda and salt, and plenty of warm fall spices. I don’t keep pumpkin pie spice on hand, but I love adding cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves to pretty much all of my baked goods in the fall and winter. Cardamom or allspice would be great, too.
Pumpkin Bread Two Ways
Since my recipe makes two loaves, I decided to bake each loaf differently, to showcase how delicious and pretty the bread can be with or without the crumb topping. I baked half the batter in a standard loaf pan with crumb topping. And the other half in my Nordic Ware Classic Fluted Cast Loaf Pan. I think both loaves of bread are just so beautiful. The crumb topping spilling over moist slices of bread is simply irresistible. But how stunning is the shape of that fluted pan? I’m so in love with it.
Many people put chocolate chips in pumpkin bread, too, but I decided to leave them out this time to highlight the beautiful color and texture of the bread. It’s so moist, so perfectly spiced, and such a nice balance of sweetness and pumpkin flavor. One of my favorite things this time of year.
Spiced Streusel Pecan Topping
Streusel topping makes everything better. This topping is buttery, sweet and salty, full of crunchy pecans, and with a bit more spice for more flavor. It’s the best. The pecans are optional, and the streusel is great with or without them.
When you make the streusel , you might think it’s too much for two loaves of bread, but trust, me, it’s not. The crumble topping adds such a nice buttery, crunchy and slightly salty note to the sweet, spiced bread, and I could eat it by the spoonful.
Instructions
Batter
- Preheat the oven to 350. Line two standard-sized loaf pans with a sheet of parchment paper to easily remove the bread after it bakes.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, sugars, oil, eggs, milk and vanilla until smooth. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt and spices.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet and whisk just to combine until mostly free of lumps; batter will be thick. Divide the batter between the pans.
Streusel
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, spices, salt, sugar, and pecans (if using). Drizzle with the melted butter, and toss with a fork until very moist and crumbly. If the streusel is too wet, add a little more flour, a tablespoon at a time. Sprinkle the crumbs evenly over the batter, and lightly press into the batter.
- Bake for about 55-65 minutes, until a cake tester comes out with moist crumbs clinging to it. Cool in the pans for 15 minutes, then lift the bread out by the paper, set on a wire rack, and cool completely before cutting.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!
Frequently Asked Questions
Does this recipe make one or two loaves?
This recipe makes 2 loaves of pumpkin bread.
Where can I find the fancy loaf pan you used?
This is the Nordic Ware Fluted Loaf Pan that I used.
Can I freeze pumpkin bread?
Yes, after baking and cooling the loaves, wrap them in several layers of plastic wrap. You can freeze them for 3-6 months, and they will stay moist and fresh tasting.
How long does the bread stay moist?
Stored in an airtight container, it will stay moist for 3-5 days. If it lasts that long!
Can I add chocolate chips or nuts?
Absolutely! This recipe is delicious with either, especially with chocolate chips.
You Might Also Like
Pumpkin Sugar Cookies 
Brown Butter Pumpkin Cupcakes 
Pumpkin Bourbon Ice Cream 
Pumpkin Cake
Favorite Products
Did you love today’s recipe? Please rate the recipe and let me know in the comments what you thought! Also, be sure to follow Curly Girl Kitchen on Instagram, and tag me when you try one of my recipes so I can see all your delicious creations!
High Altitude Pumpkin Streusel Bread
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet.
Ingredients
Batter
- 1 can (15 oz) pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1 cup vegetable oil (you can also use 1/2 cup vegetable oil + 1/2 cup melted unsalted butter)
- 3 large eggs
- ¾ cup whole milk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp ground cloves
Streusel
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ½ cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup pecans, very finely chopped (optional)
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
Batter
- Preheat the oven to 350. Line two standard-sized loaf pans with a sheet of parchment paper to easily remove the bread after it bakes.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, sugars, oil, eggs, milk and vanilla until smooth. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt and spices.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet and whisk just to combine until mostly free of lumps; batter will be thick. Divide the batter between the pans.
Streusel
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, spices, salt, sugar, and pecans (if using). Drizzle with the melted butter, and toss with a fork until very moist and crumbly. If the streusel is too wet, add a little more flour, a tablespoon at a time. Sprinkle the crumbs evenly over the batter, and lightly press into the batter.
- Bake for about 55-65 minutes, until a cake tester comes out with moist crumbs clinging to it. Cool in the pans for 15 minutes, then lift the bread out by the paper, set on a wire rack, and cool completely before cutting.
Our family loves pumpkin so I have been busily making your recipes with pumpkin. I made the pumpkin spice bread with streusel tonight. The scent wafting through the house was incredible. I barely got it out of the oven before my son, bowl in hand (ice cream waiting), asked for a slice. He was unconcerned about the look-so hot it was falling apart, and jetted off as he exclaimed its awesomeness! I agreed, very moist, spicy and flavorful. Thank you Heather!
Lori, I’m so happy your family has been loving my pumpkin recipes! Thanks so much for taking the time to comment. 🙂
I am making this RIGHT NOW!! It’s in the oven! I CAN’T wait to eat it!! We have company coming up to the mountains to spend the day with us on the lake and we will eat this before we go!! You had me at streusel! OMG!!
Oh, this is perfect for breakfast! Sounds like such a fun day! 🙂
This turned out well, however I could taste the baking soda. I noticed that the recipe before you you visit the site is different. There is a 1/2 cup more brown sugar and and extra 1/4 cup white sugar. I just wonder if that’s the difference. I think some small adjustments and it will be even more perfect.
Kerry, I’m guessing you found this recipe on Pinterest. When Pinterest displays the recipe ingredients, it pulls the meta data from a website and combines everything from each component of a recipe (batter, topping, icing, etc). So if it sees 4 cups of flour in the bread and 1 1/2 cups of flour in the crumb topping, it will list 5 1/2 cups of flour in the pin’s data. Same for sugar, butter, oil, etc. The pin simply summarizes everything it sees in a recipe card, but the recipe card on a website is what you should follow, not the ingredients list in the pin.
The recipe in my post is one I’ve made dozens of times, and I never taste the baking soda. 2 teaspoons of baking soda for 4 cups of flour is the correct ratio to leaven the bread, and shouldn’t leave a bitter taste, since all of the baking soda is activated. I would also check to make sure you measured it correctly (2 teaspoons, not 2 tablespoons). Also check your spices, to make sure they aren’t expired or rancid, which could give the bread a bitter flavor.
I agree with Kerry. The ingredients list does not match up from the front page. Not only are the sugar amounts off, but the flour is as well and it states melted butter instead of vegetable oil. My bread (and muffins – I wanted some of each) looks great, but the taste is just a little “off”, almost bitter. I did not add the streusel topping, but I might add some cream cheese frosting in hopes that will improve the flavor.
Elin, I’m guessing you found this recipe on Pinterest. When Pinterest displays the recipe ingredients, it pulls the meta data from a website and combines everything from each component of a recipe (batter, topping, icing, etc). So if it sees 4 cups of flour in the bread and 1 1/2 cups of flour in the crumb topping, it will list 5 1/2 cups of flour in the pin’s data. Same for sugar, butter, oil, etc. The pin simply summarizes everything it sees in a recipe card, but the recipe card on a website is what you should follow, not the ingredients list in the pin.
As far as the flavor, I would check to make sure your spices are fresh – if they’ve gone rancid or old, they could cause a bitter flavor. Even brands of pumpkin can vary in their flavor, and some brands might have a more bitter or metallic flavor from the can than others. I’ve made my recipe dozens of times, and compared my ratios of flour, oil, pumpkin, sugar and baking soda to other popular pumpkin bread recipes, and the amounts are spot on, so if the flavor of yours isn’t right, it probably comes down to an issue with the ingredients.