Pumpkin Bread
Nothing screams that the fall season has arrived more than delicious, fresh-baked pumpkin bread. This is a classic, tried-and-true take on pumpkin bread, featuring plenty of silky pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, and all the components of a moist, sweet bread. Enjoy alongside your morning coffee or as a sweet treat for dessert — there’s no wrong way to devour this festive baked good. The best part of this pumpkin bread recipe is that by combining pumpkin puree with Greek yogurt, you’ll never risk the chance of your bread drying out, which is one of the biggest challenges I’ve found with other pumpkin bread recipes. Happy baking!
How do you store pumpkin bread? I recommend storing pumpkin bread on the counter covered in plastic wrap for up to 4 days. If you need to store it longer, for example, if you want to enjoy it for breakfast every morning of the week, keep it covered in plastic wrap in the fridge to preserve its freshness. When you take the pumpkin bread out of the fridge to eat, you can toast the bread and top it with butter for a little extra comforting and decadent touch.
How to make pumpkin bread moist? The key to a moist pumpkin bread is twofold — you have to include a substantial amount of hydrating ingredients in the batter, and you have to take precautions to avoid overbaking the pumpkin bread. This recipe calls for a combination of Greek yogurt and pumpkin puree. The acidity of the Greek yogurt not only helps the baking soda activate so you get a light and fluffy bread, but it also adds to the hydration of the batter and ensures you don’t have a crumbly, dry finished product. Continue reading below for our best tips and tricks for how to have a perfectly baked (not overbaked) pumpkin bread.
What temperature should you bake pumpkin bread at? In this recipe, you bake the pumpkin bread at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 1 hour. This is the perfect temperature to ensure that your bread gets fully baked and also develops a nice, crispy crust on the top. Too high an oven temperature would leave you with a burned but undercooked bread, while too low a temperature would give you a potentially dry bread (from having to cook it longer) with no crispy edges — my favorite part.
How do you tell when pumpkin bread is done? You can tell when pumpkin bread is done baking by a combination of indicators:
There is a nice brown crust on the top of the bread.
The bread has risen and doesn’t look flat, doughy, or gummy.
The true test — when you insert a knife or toothpick into the center of the bread, you don’t see any batter clinging to it. This is a moist bread by design, so you may see a crumb or two attached to the knife, but you do not want to see any thick, gloppy batter stuck to it. In that case, you need to continue cooking the bread and checking it every 5 minutes or so.
Why is my pumpkin bread dry? Pumpkin bread dries out when it’s overbaked or there isn’t enough hydration in the batter to moisten the flour and other dry ingredients. I purposely added a combination of Greek yogurt and pumpkin puree to this recipe to combat any sort of dryness in this recipe — the bane of any good pumpkin bread! To make sure your bread doesn’t dry out, cook it according to directions (350 degrees Farenheight for 1 hour), and check it according to the cues above to ensure it’s baked fully, but not dry or overbaked. Once it’s finished baking, let it cool slightly before you cut into it.
Why is my pumpkin bread gummy? Pumpkin bread is often gummy when it’s underbaked, because the dry ingredients haven’t had a chance to soak up all of the hydration from the wet ingredients, leaving a wet, chewy finished product. To try to combat this, bake the cake for an additional 5-10 minutes, and once it’s finished, test the center of it with a knife to make sure no undercooked batter clings to it.
Can pumpkin bread be made into muffins? Absolutely! You can use this batter recipe to make muffins. Simply make the batter as guided in the recipe, and instead of using a loaf pan, pour it into muffin tins. This recipe makes about 8 muffins. You can continue to bake the muffins at 350 degrees, as this recipe recommends, but check them after 30 minutes to see if they’re finished baking according to the guidelines above.
How to make a delicious pumpkin bread:
Pumpkin Bread
Enjoy this classic, tried-and-true take on one of the best fall desserts, pumpkin bread. This recipe gives you all the tips you need to make the best pumpkin bread you've ever had.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp/1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- ¾ cup maple syrup
- 2 large eggs
- 1/3 cup Greek yogurt
- 1 15-oz can pumpkin puree
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cups AP flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
- Pinch salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare a loaf pan by spraying it with oil to prevent sticking.
- Using a stand mixer or large bowl with a hand mixer, combine the softened butter, maple syrup, eggs, Greek yogurt, pumpkin puree, and vanilla extract. Whip the wet ingredients until they are light and fluffy and thoroughly combined, about 2 minutes.
- In a separate small bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt until all ingredients are evenly distributed.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in the stand mixer, mixing between each addition until you have a smooth, thick batter.
- Add the batter to the loaf pan and bake in the oven for about 1 hour, or until the top of the bread has developed a brown crust and the middle has cooked completely. You can test that the center is fully cooked by inserting a knife into the center of the bread. If batter clings to the knife when it is removed, continue baking the bread until the knife comes out clean.
- Remove the cake from the oven once it’s finished baking and let it cool slightly before serving. Enjoy!
Notes
Do not use pumpkin pie filling for this recipe. Be sure to only use pumpkin pie puree when making this recipe.
