Pumpkin Streusel Bread

Moist and flavored with warm spices, this pumpkin streusel bread has everything to highlight the fall season. So sliced, it is perfect for a breakfast on the go, your lunch box, or as a real treat after dinner.

The fall season is all about pumpkin. So, of course, pumpkin pie is what comes to mind first. But there is so much more you can do with this fruit.

The best way to enjoy the pumpkin flavor of this season is by baking delicious bread.

This pumpkin streusel bread recipe uses pumpkin puree, warm spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice, and is topped with a delicious streusel that will leave you craving for more.

This quick bread takes less than 20 minutes to mix ingredients; the rest is taken care of by the oven.

Easy Thanksgiving DIY gift

This pumpkin bread with streusel is a great edible gift idea for the Thanksgiving holiday.

And if you are looking for other sweet loaves as a gift during the holiday season, these Banana Bread and Carrot Loaf Cake are simple, easy, and delicious!

Decorated with bread wrappers, mini loaves, or a regular sweet loaf becomes a perfect gift for teachers, neighbors, and co-workers.

Find the FREE bread wrappers printable below. Download it, print, and cut it out.

Also, cut a piece of parchment paper of the same size or broader as a wrapper.

Wrap the loaf with parchment followed by a paper-based wrapper, tape the two ends together or tie with a baker’s twine.

Why you should try this recipe

1. This easy pumpkin bread recipe is one of the best pumpkin recipes you could find. It makes a moist pumpkin bread: not crumbly, not dry, just the perfect one!
2. Making it as mini loaves becomes a great baking project to bake with kids. They love to prepare the crumble topping and sprinkle it on top of small cakes.
3. Beautifully wrapped, this moist and crumbly pumpkin bread is a perfect gift during the fall holiday season.
4. Baked just because, it brightnes up the day for anyone.

Ingredients

Here is a quick overview of what ingredients you will need. Find the recipe card below for exact amounts and detailed instructions. I recommend making the recipe as written for the best results.

Butter: the recipe calls for both unsalted butter and salted butter. The first is used to make the bread batter; the second is to make the pumpkin bread streusel (different from other recipes using melted butter to make a crumb topping).

Bring the unsalted butter to the counter 1 to 2 hours before you start. Keep the salted butter in the fridge.

Brown sugar: use golden brown sugar or replace it with the rich in molasses, dark brown sugar, or light brown muscovado sugar. You can also use organic coconut sugar if desired.

Eggs: use large eggs at room temperature.

Flour: the recipe calls for all-purpose flour to make the bread batter and the crumble topping.

Baking powder: use fresh aluminum-free baking powder.

Almond flour: use blanched finely ground almond flour.

Spices: the recipe calls for ground cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and ginger. Substitute these spices with one teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice if desired.

Pumpkin puree: use canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling) or make your own pumpkin puree at home.

Rum: dark rum or cognac brings a boozy note to pumpkin bread. Replace the alcohol with apple juice if you serve the sweet bread to kids.

How to make pumpkin streusel bread

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F/150 degrees C. Butter and flour four porcelain mini loaf pans (9 oz. each).

To make the pumpkin bread batter, place softened unsalted butter and light brown sugar in a large bowl and beat for about 5 minutes, using an electric hand mixer (photo 1).

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and all spices and sift.

Add the dry ingredients, eggs to the butter mixture, and delicately mix with a rubber spatula.

Fold in pumpkin puree. Add rum and mix with a spatula just to combine (photo 2).

Divide the pumpkin batter into the four prepared loaf pans, smooth it out a bit, and refrigerate (photo 3).

To make the crumbly streusel,  in a medium bowl, mix all-purpose flour (4 tbsp/30 g), almond flour, brown sugar, and cold butter (salted) cut into small cubes.

Using your hands or a fork, make the crumbly dough. The streusel mixture will have a sandy texture with distinct moist crumbs (photo 4).

Take the loaf pans from the fridge and sprinkle the buttery crumble on top (photo 5). Bake in the middle rack of the oven for 50-60 minutes.

Check the doneness with a toothpick test. It is ready when a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Take the bread loaves from the oven (photo 6) and cool them in the pans on a wire rack for 10 to 15 minutes.

To remove the bread from the pan, run a butter knife around the edges of the pan.

Work carefully, trying not to cut the bread itself. Once cooled down, wrap the bread in a pan or use a knife to remove the bread from the pan.

Let the bread cool down completely before slicing or wrapping with a bread wrapper.

You can also leave the pumpkin streusel loaf in a mini pan to gift it in such a style. Let it cool down before wrapping it.

Recipe variations

The classic recipe doesn't include a streusel topping for pumpkin bread but adding it on top upgrades the recipe to the next level.

Pumpkin puree is pretty bland on its own; that is why the pumpkin bread is well flavored with spices. You can indeed play with the amount of spices if desired.

You can even replace half of the pumpkin puree with mashed bananas.

To customize this sweet bread recipe, add a bit of chopped toasted pecans, walnuts, or chocolate chips. They will bring a new taste and pleasant crunch.

But adding other ingredients has to be minimal since the amount of pumpkin butter perfectly fits the four mini loaf pans.

You don't want the bread batter to overflow the pans during baking.

If you are a fan of cinnamon, you can make a cinnamon streusel topping by adding a pinch of ground cinnamon to the basic streusel recipe.

I haven’t yet tried this recipe as a regular pumpkin loaf, but that would work perfectly. Bake for longer, about 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes.

Check its readiness with a toothpick if it is inserted in the center comes out clean.

How to store sweet bread

Store bread loaves slightly covered with plastic wrap or a tea towel at room temperature for a couple of days. Or you can refrigerate the bread for up to 5 days.

Can you freeze the pumpkin bread with streusel topping? Yes, absolutely. Wrap each loaf with plastic and place it in a freezer bag. Freeze for up to 3 months.

To thaw, bring the bread to the counter at room temperature for a few hours.

If you want to freeze the individual slices, wrap each piece with plastic film individually.

In this way, you will be able to take one slice at a time and warm it up in the microwave or toaster oven, and enjoy each time you crave the pumpkin bread.

Expert tips

1. To cover loaves with aluminum foil during baking is not nessarily. However, if you feel the bread is browning quicker than you desire, loosely cover the pans with foil and continue baking as directed in the recipe.
2. Replace dark rum with apple juice if you serve the cake to kids.
3. Do not over-mix the bread batter when you add pumkin puree. Gently mix just to combine.
4. Serve with cinnamon ice cream or slabs of salted butter for a real treat.

I hope you enjoy this amazingly delicious pumpkin bread. Also, use these free bread wrappers for gift giving.

Download The Printable Bread Wrappers >>

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Frequently asked questions

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Recipe card

The nutritional information has been calculated using an online recipe nutrition calculator such as Verywellfit.com and is intended for informational purposes only. These figures should be used as a general guideline and not be construed as a guarantee.