Pumpkin bread is not a treat just meant for fall. You can enjoy it year-round!
The moist, spiced flavor is great on cold winter mornings, and extra ingredients like chocolate chips make the bread a welcomed inclusion to your spring birthday parties or your summer family reunions.
It is not the season that makes the bread, but the ingredients, though there’s a bit of hullabaloo about whether or not you can use pumpkin pie filling in your homemade pumpkin bread.
You’ are in luck, though, because this pumpkin bread recipe says you can!
The extra flavor of pumpkin pie filling makes your homemade pumpkin bread all the more enjoyable. Your trip to the grocery store will be easier, as well!
This pumpkin bread recipe will provide you with the basic ingredients and methods necessary to make an excellent loaf of bread with as little hassle as possible.
There will also be variations on the recipe provided so you can better treat your friends who need to stay gluten-free, or those who like an extra dose of sweetness or crunch in their loaves.
Let’s get started!
Contents
Pumpkin Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 2 2/3 cups white sugar
- 4 eggs
- One 16 oz can of pumpkin (can use pumpkin pie filling)
- 2/3 cups water
- 3 1/3 cups flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 cup chocolate chips (white, milk, or dark – optional)
- 1 cup walnuts (optional)
Process
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Before mixing the ingredients together, butter or grease two loaf pans, then set aside.
Begin by combining the vegetable oil, sugar, eggs, water, and pumpkin pie filling in a bowl. Stir until the mixture is smooth. Then, mix in the flour, baking soda and powder, salt, pumpkin pie spice, and vanilla.
Continue stirring until a smooth batter has formed. Once the mixture has smoothed out, feel free to add either chocolate chips or walnuts (white chocolate chips add both sweetness and a bite to pumpkin bread; give them a try!).
You’re also welcome to combine your chocolate and nuts, should you want to take your loaf to a new level of deliciousness.
Once you’ve added any treats you like, divide the batter between your two pans. You can cover the tops of the loaves with a light dressing of granulated sugar, if you like, or you can wait to dress them with a flavorful glaze.
Once you’re satisfied with the state of your loaves, place them into the oven and let them bake for up to an hour and fifteen minutes.
Remove the bread from the oven only when, upon inserting a toothpick into the loaf, the toothpick comes away clean.
Remove the bread from the bread pan and let both loaves cool on a counter top. In the meanwhile, you can prepare a glaze, if you so desire.
Pumpkin Bread Glaze
Ingredients
1 and ½ cups powdered sugar
2 ½ teaspoons milk
1 teaspoon melted butter
2 teaspoons of your preferred flavoring – recommended vanilla extract, but could include maple extract or maple syrup, almond extract, etc.
Process
Sift your powdered sugar into a medium bowl. Add the 2 ½ teaspoons of milk individually, mixing the ingredients together as you do. Then, add the melted butter.
If the glaze is not to your preferred consistency, add more milk to thin the mixture, or add more powdered sugar to make it thicker.
Once the glaze had reached your ideal consistency, add your preferred flavoring and stir well. The final mixture should be lump-free.
Once the pumpkin loaves have cooled, spoon yourself some of your glaze and drizzle it over the top of the loaf until you’re satisfied with the loaf’s dressing. Repeat for the second loaf and/or until you’ve run out of glaze.
While delicious as a companion to pumpkin bread, glaze isn’t like brownie batter; you might be tempted to lick the spoon once you’re done, but the taste of glaze is fairly sharp on its own.
Pursue that sugar rush at your own peril!
Substitutions for Pumpkin Bread
If you’re looking for a gluten-free pumpkin bread to share with your friends, substitute the flour in the original recipe for a gluten-free alternative, and check in with your friends to see if they have any dietary restrictions that might keep the chocolate chips or nuts out of your recipe.
Alternatively, you may want to add raisins or other dried fruit for a unique kick in your loaf.
The video below shows a gluten-free pumpkin bread recipe.
If you really want to get fancy, you can even substitute pureed butternut squash for this recipe’s pumpkin; the loaves will be healthier, and the taste will be just as delightful as the original.
If you’re not looking to experiment, though, enjoy the pumpkin chocolate chip bread at your leisure.
Warm pumpkin bread, with or without the trimmings, is a wonderful treat to start off a day with, and it’s delicious all year round.
Indulge a little and make a loaf for yourself.
Do you have any tips for this pumpkin bread recipe?