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!
You can make it plain or with crumb topping, add chocolate chips or nuts, vanilla icing, or even add a swirl of frangipane – see the recipe variations section in today’s post for suggestions.
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. This bread rises so tall and fluffy, with a beautiful crumb that stays moist and soft for days and days.
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 topped with pumpkin seeds or pepitas. It’s fantastic either way!
High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.
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.
- 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.
Recipe Variations
Crumb Topping
Note that today’s recipe makes enough crumb topping for two loaves of pumpkin bread. Make half the crumb topping if you only want it on one loaf.
Pepita Topping
Instead of the crumb topping, just sprinkle the batter with pepitas (shelled pumpkin seeds) before baking. For the best flavor, I prefer unsalted seeds that haven’t been roasted in vegetable oil.
Buttercream, Cream Cheese Frosting or Icing Drip
Make a plain loaf of bread and cool completely, then slather the top of the bread with buttercream or cream cheese frosting. Or make a simple powdered sugar vanilla icing and drizzle it over the top while the bread is slightly warm.
Fancy Fluted Loaf Pan
When making a plain loaf of bread without any topping, I sometimes like to bake it in my fluted loaf pan for a really pretty presentation. Note that this pan will give the bread a much darker crust that isn’t quite as soft and moist.
Frangipane Swirl
Pumpkin bread with cream cheese swirl is okay and all, but have you ever tried pumpkin bread with frangipane swirl? I didn’t think so. I had some frangipane filling leftover after making these almond frangipane tarts, swirled into pumpkin bread, and it was simply fantastic.
- Make a batch of frangipane. Use the full recipe for two loaves of bread or half the recipe if only adding it to one loaf of bread.
- Spread half the pumpkin batter into the prepared pans, then dollop with half the almond frangipane. Repeat with the rest of the batter and the rest of the frangipane. Gently swirl together with a knife, then bake as instructed.
Chocolate Chips or Nuts
You can add chocolate chips, chopped pecans or walnuts to this recipe, folding them in after mixing the batter. I also like to sprinkle a few chocolate chips on top before baking. You can see my pumpkin chocolate chip bread in this post.
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
I have a 9×5 loaf pan that I used for the bread with crumb topping, as well as a USA Bread Loaf Pan (1 lb) that measures slightly smaller at 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inches, that I used for the bread topped with pepitas. I’ve also used my Nordic Ware Fluted Loaf Pan.
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.
Stored in an airtight container, it will stay moist for 3-5 days. If it lasts that long!
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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 (9×5 inches)
Ingredients
Bread
- 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, fluffed, 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
- ¼ tsp ground cardamom or allspice
Crumb Topping
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, fluffed, 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 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 (9×5 inches) 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 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 moist, add a little more flour, a tablespoon at a time.
- Sprinkle the crumbs evenly over the batter, and lightly press into the batter.
Bake
- 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 for about an hour 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.
Heather, I have not baked yet but will today. I only have one loaf pan so am wondering about baking it in a bundt pan. Any thoughts? Thank you, Patti
Yes, a 12 cup bundt pan would be big enough for all the batter.
We don’t eat vegetable oil so I’m so I’m wondering if I can use all melted butter instead of the vegetable oil.
It may work, but the oil keeps it much more moist than butter does.
I just made this recipe for the 1st time this morning. We live at just shy of 11,000 ft. so I reduced the baking soda to 1.5 tsp. and baked one regular loaf size for almost 60 min.and the mini loafs for about 40 min. I started checking those for doneness at 20 min. The bread is delicious! I was so happy it did not sink, because I’ve been having lots of issues with that at such a high altitude. I added 1 cup chocolate chips at my son’s request. YUM!!
Excellent recipe for baking in Fort Collins. The whole family loved the recipe and it smelled amazing while it was baking. I don’t see a need to try any other pumpkin bread recipe. This is it for me! I really appreciate that we just go ahead and use the whole can of pumpkin and make two loaves.
I made this today, The topping is throwing me because I can taste the flour and I know I’m mixed it well. I do not like cloves so I only used half of the amount but still taste. I think it could be a little sweeter, but maybe that’s just my sweet tooth.. but I did mess up. I don’t know how I missed it, but I did. I didn’t add vegetable oil, but it turned out just fine. Maybe that’s why I think it should be sweeter.
This is the best pumpkin bread I have ever made, thank you! What adjustments are needed when I make it at my in-laws house in Florida?
I’m so glad you love it! Please see my FAQs for guidelines on adjusting recipes for various altitudes:
https://curlygirlkitchen.com/baking-faqs/
For what it’s worth, I live in Missouri and haven’t had to adjust anything. It’s worth a shot to just give it a go and see what happens! Good luck!
Made your crumb topping on banana bread and delicious! Can’t wait to try this! On another note I’m deathly allergic to all nuts. I would love it if you offered a nut free alternative to your recipes- or- if I can just omit them? Thanks! Love your website
It would depend on the recipe, but sometimes, yes, nuts can just be left out.