There’s no better way to start off the fall season than with a recipe for freshly baked high altitude pumpkin bread with crumb topping. You’ll love this moist and easy pumpkin streusel bread recipe, with a perfect balance of spices and lots of sweet buttery crumble piled on top!
Looking for more pumpkin recipes? You’ll love these pumpkin cupcakes, pumpkin bourbon crumble pie, and pumpkin crumb coffee cake.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Easy to Make. You don’t need a mixer to make pumpkin bread, just a bowl and a whisk to bring the batter together quickly and easily.
Standard Pantry Ingredients. There’s no fancy ingredients needed today, just simple items that you likely keep on hand.
Two Loaves. Today’s recipe makes two loaves of bread, so that you can use up a whole can of pumpkin without having leftover pumpkin sitting in the fridge. And since it makes two loaves, I’ll show you how the bread looks both with the crumb topping and without. It’s fantastic either way! For the plain loaf, I like to bake it in my fancy fluted loaf pan, which makes the most beautiful loaves of quick breads and loaf cakes that you’ve ever seen. I like to freeze one loaf for later, or give it away as a gift.
High Altitude Tested. I test and develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. This bread rises so tall and fluffy, with a beautiful crumb that stays moist and soft for days and days.
Perfect for Fall. It’s the season for sweaters and boots, cool crisp air, cozy evenings spent cuddled under soft blankets, crunching around in the leaves, baking with all the fall spices, pumpkin patches and pie making and honking geese and apples and hot soup. And it’s pumpkin everything season! Baking with pumpkin officially kicks off fall as we head into the holiday season.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
Bread
- Pumpkin. Use plain canned pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling.
- Sugar. A combination of granulated sugar and light brown sugar adds sweetness and moisture.
- Oil. Vegetable oil makes the bread so moist.
- Eggs. Adds structure.
- Milk. I used whole milk, but you can use any type of milk you prefer.
- Flour. All-purpose flour adds structure and strength.
- Baking Soda. Leavening agent, making the bread rise with a beautiful domed top as it bakes.
- Salt. Balances the sweetness and adds flavor.
- Spices. A blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, cardamom and vanilla add depth of flavor that perfectly complements the pumpkin.
Crumb Topping
- Flour. All-purpose flour adds structure and strength.
- Spices. A little more cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves in the topping adds more spicy goodness.
- Salt. Balances the sweetness and adds flavor.
- Sugar. Sweetens the topping.
- Butter. Adds moisture to the crumb topping, and helps make it crisp as it bakes.
Instructions
Bread
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven.
- Line two standard-sized loaf pans with a sheet of parchment paper to easily remove the bread after it bakes.
TIP: If using a molded pan, like the fluted loaf pan, do not line it with paper. Simply spray it well with non-stick baking spray. Do not sprinkle crumb topping on this loaf of bread, since you’ll be turning it upside down after baking.
- 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 use a spatula to combine the batter just until moistened. Divide the batter between the pans.
TIP: The crumb topping in the recipe card is enough for both loaves of bread. If you’re only adding crumb topping to one loaf, just make half the amount of crumb topping.
Crumb Topping
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, spices, salt and sugar. 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 loaf pans you used?
This is the Nordic Ware Fluted Loaf Pan and the USA Aluminized Steel 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.
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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 Bread with Crumb Topping
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- 2 Standard-Sized Loaf Pans
Ingredients
Bread
- 1 can (15 oz/425g) pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 1 ½ cups (324g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (80g) light brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1 cup (224g) vegetable oil (you can also use 1/2 cup vegetable oil + 1/2 cup melted unsalted butter)
- 3 (165g) large eggs
- ¾ cup (202ml) whole milk
- 2 tsp (8g) vanilla extract
- 4 cups (520g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 2 tsp (10g) 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
- ¼ tsp ground cardamom
Crumb Topping
- 1 ½ cups (195g) 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 (80g) light brown sugar, lightly packed
- ¼ cup (54g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
Bread
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line two standard-sized loaf pans with a sheet of parchment paper to easily remove the bread after it bakes.Note: if using a molded pan, like the fluted loaf pan, do not line it with paper. Simply spray it well with non-stick baking spray.
- 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 use a spatula to combine the batter just until moistened. Divide the batter between the pans.
Crumb Topping
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, spices, salt and sugar. 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! 🙂
I thought mine was done but then it sank in the middle. Maybe because I used stoneware pans. I’m thinking of replacing them with metal. No matter though, my family loved this bread. Daughter’s friends came in at midnight after Homecoming and demolished a whole loaf, then all raved about it, asking for the recipe in the morning. The 2nd loaf (that only sank a tiny bit) is in the freezer ready to be my husband’s contribution to breakfast on a raft trip next week. I’ll be making another batch this week as I barely got a taste!
I’m so glad your family and friends loved it! I can’t say that I’ve ever used stoneware pans for loaf bread, but that definitely could have been the culprit for the sinking – baked goods can definitely sink if they’re taken out of the oven before the center is fully cooked through. I’d also be curious to know if you’re at a similar altitude as me (5,280 feet), or higher?
7500’ —I do think the stoneware takes longer to heat up and then requires longer baking time. The toothpick test seemed to indicate it was baked though. Flavor is totally 5-star, I’m excited to try again.
Metal pans do conduct heat more efficiently than ceramic. Since you’re 2,000 feet higher than me, you may also want to reduce the baking soda by 1/4-1/2 teaspoon, which will help prevent the center from sinking.
This recipe came out great! I put the second loaf in the freezer and four months later you couldn’t tell it had been frozen.