Cinnamon Sugar Topped Pumpkin Spice Bread 🎃🍁 is an EASY quick bread that bakes up super soft, tender, and moist with plenty of warm fall flavor! The slightly crunchy cinnamon-sugar topping is the best part and adds the perfect contrast to every bite. Made as mini loaves, they bake quickly and are perfect for fall snacking, gifting, or entertaining! Or bake as a single large loaf.
Easy Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Bread Recipe
- Moist, homemade pumpkin bread is such a quintessential fall treat. A slice of freshly baked pumpkin bread with warm coffee or tea in hand is wonderful. And if you can do enjoy it while sitting on the couch curled up with a blanket, even better.
- Rather than making one big loaf, I made three mini loaves. Mini food is my jam. Moist, homemade pumpkin bread is such a quintessential fall treat.
- If you’d rather make one regular loaf, I’ve included instructions for that too, so you can bake it whichever way works best for you.
- The bread is soft, tender, warmly spiced, and full of classic pumpkin flavor. It’s the kind of easy fall baking recipe that makes the whole house smell amazing.
Beth G. said:
This was a hit at Thanksgiving! Vegan and non-vegan enjoyed it! Did I mention that I put pecans on top? They got toasted and so, so good. 😊
Abbey said:
Omg!! This was sooo good. I have accidentally eaten half the tray already. I will definitely be saving this recipe and making it million times haha
Pumpkin Spice Bread Ingredients
- All-purpose flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and salt: These dry ingredients give the bread structure, help it rise, and add classic pumpkin spice flavor. Pumpkin pie spice is usually a blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and other warm spices.
- Granulated sugar, light brown sugar, pumpkin puree, vegetable oil, molasses, and Vanilla extract: These make the bread soft, moist, sweet, and full of rich fall flavor. Use pure pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling, because pie filling is already sweetened and spiced.
- Unsweetened vanilla almond milk: I use Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almondmilk often, but any unsweetened, fairly neutral-flavored milk should work.
- Optional mix-ins: Mini chocolate chips, chopped nuts, or dried fruit would all be great additions. Start with a modest amount, see how the batter looks, and add a little more if needed.
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Pumpkin Spice Bread
- Stir together the wet ingredients in one bowl and the dry ingredients in another.
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients, mixing just until the pumpkin bread batter comes together.
- Divide the batter between mini loaf pans, then sprinkle generously with cinnamon sugar. Tip: If you’d like to top the loaves with a crumble or streusel topping, you can! Use the topping from either my Apple Pie Bread or Pumpkin Crumb Cake. Both toppings will work for this pumpkin bread.
- Bake until the loaves are set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, checking early since mini loaves bake quickly.
Making One Loaf Rather Than Mini Loaves
This cinnamon pumpkin bread can be made as a single loaf instead of three minis. You’d want to use a 9×5-inch loaf pan and it will likely need 55-60-ish minutes in the oven (since the mini loaves need about 40 minutes). Bake until it’s done using the toothpick test, whatever that means on the clock.
Cinnamon Sugar-Topped Pumpkin Spice Bread
Video
Equipment
- 3 5x3x2 mini loaf pans OR
Ingredients
Bread
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
- ¼ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ¾ cup pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil, canola oil, or liquid-state coconut oil (melt in microwave if necessary to liquify)
- ¼ cup Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almondmilk , (or your favorite kind of milk such as 2%, oatmilk, soy, etc.)
- 2 tablespoons mild or medium molasses
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Cinnamon Sugar Topping
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided 3 ways
- 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon, divided 3 ways
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F. Spray three 5x3x2-inch mini loaf pans very well with floured cooking spray or grease and flour the pans; set aside.
- To a large bowl add the flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, salt, and whisk together; set aside.
- To a separate large bowl add the sugars, pumpkin, oil (I used coconut) milk, molasses, vanilla, and whisk until combined.
- Pour the wet pumpkin mixture over the dry ingredients, and stir until just combined; don’t overmix.
- Evenly distribute batter between the 3 prepared pans, filling each about 2/3-full.
- Evenly sprinkle 1 tablespoon sugar over each of the 3 pans.
- Evenly sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon over each of the 3 pans and place pans on a baking sheet (easier than dealing with 3 separate small pans in a hot oven).
- Bake for about 40 to 43 minutes, or until tops are set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter. Baking Tips – Start checking at 30 minutes because all mini pans, ovens, and climates vary. If you think that the top of the loaves are browning a bit too quickly before the centers are setting, loosely drape a large sheet of aluminum foil over the top of all the loaves which will reduce the browning on top.
- Allow bread to cool in pans for about 15 minutes before removing and placing on a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Pumpkin Bread Recipes:
My FAVORITE PUMPKIN RECIPES on my blog!
My cookbook, Cooking With Pumpkin: Recipes That Go Beyond the Pie is my second cookbook and there are over 50 pumpkin recipes including sweets, savory, drinks, and a photo for nearly every recipe. I’d be super grateful if you headed over to Amazon to check it out!
The Best Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread – Super soft, moist, rich pumpkin flavor, and loaded with chocolate chips! Easy, no mixer recipe that’s the BEST!
Cream Cheese-Filled Pumpkin Bread – Pumpkin bread that’s like having cheesecake baked in! Soft, fluffy, easy and tastes ahhhh-mazing!
Mini Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Loaves — Super soft, tender, moist pumpkin bread that’s loaded with chocolate chips!! The mini loaves are EASY, brimming will fall flavors, totally IRRESISTIBLE, and accidentally vegan!!
Pumpkin Nut Bread with Crumble Topping — Super soft, tender, moist pumpkin bread with a pecan crumble topping!! The mini loaves are EASY, brimming will fall flavors, totally IRRESISTIBLE, and perfect for entertaining or gift-giving!!
Vegan Pumpkin Bread with Streusel Topping — Moist pumpkin bread is flavored with five kinds of spices for maximum fall flavor and topped with an irresistible streusel topping!
Pumpkin Banana Bread — This pumpkin banana bread is topped with a homemade browned butter frosting. It’s super moist thanks to the mashed bananas, pumpkin, yogurt, and melted butter in the batter!
Originally posted September 11, 2017 and reposted September 17, 2021 and October 4, 2024 with updated text.
AMAZING Recipe!??❤️
I loved it so much, I’ve made it
four times already in the past year!
Thank you so much!!☺️??
Thanks for making the recipe 4 times already and glad you really love it!
I have a nut allergy. Is it possible to substitute soy milk?
Yes that’s fine.
I have all these roasted sweet potatoes left over. Do you think I can use them in place of pumpkin?
Not sure, I’ve only made it the way the recipe is written.
Can I use a regular size loaf pan?? If so, do I follow the directions? Thank you.
I discussed my thoughts about this in the blog post.
I only have regular, sweetened almond milk. Would you recommend backing off on the sugar any??
Thanks. Excited to make for the family. My daughter is a pumpkin fanatic!
Baking off the sugar in the batter can change it’s consistency and how things bake so I wouldn’t mess with baking chemistry.
You could just go a little lighter with the sprinkle of sugar on top. And know that your bread will be a little sweeter than mine – your daughter will love that :)
Can we see Sourgum instead of molasses?
I’ve only tried with molasses.
Can you make this with Fair LIfe milk. I just could not use enough almond milk in past so I stopped buying it.
You can use regular cow’s milk if that’s what that milk is, I’m not familiar with it.
My 9 yo son made this today, by himself! No eggs make it way easy for me to let him do his own thing, and though I think he addEd too much flour and overstirred, they are still dense little slices of happiness. He can’t wait to take them to his teachers tomorrow!
I love that he made them by himself and despite a little overflouring/overstirring, all is well and he can proudly take them to his teachers tomorrow! Tell him he has my 10 y.o. daughter beat in the baking department!
I have made this twice, once in mini pans and a second time doubling the recipe and making it in 9×5 pans. In neither instance did the bread rise much. I’m almost thinking I need to double it and put in one regular sized loaf pan to get a full size loaf. Is it supposed to rise? It doesn’t rise much above the level of the batter when it’s poured in the pan. Thanks for any assistance. It tastes great and everyone loves it, I’d just like a better looking regular size loaf.
My loaves definitely rose and if you notice at the bottom of the recipe section of the recipe, it’s adapted from 3 other recipes of mine, all very similar with basically no tweaks to major ingredients other than type of baking pan, i.e. muffins, mini muffins and they rise just fine too. I am thinking there is something going on with your baking powder and maybe it needs to be replaced. Sometimes they go bad long before the expiration date.
Also I use King Arthur brand All Purpose flour and swear by it. I would also try that and see if that helps.
Have you tried this with gluten free flour? Any suggestions?
No I have not. You could try a cup for cup style blend and see how it goes but no personal experience.
Charity did you try it w a gf flour? How did it turn out? Newly gf here.
I used Bob’s Red Mill”s 1 to 1. I had to bake it a little longer so it wasn’t as doughy. It tasted really good. I gave it to 2 friends, who are not gluten free, and they ate it all that night, at work. It seemed a little more like a fudge brownie consistency, not sure if that was the gluten free flour, or if I over worked it. Will definitely do it again!
Your Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Bread looks amazing. Can’t wait to try it. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks and enjoy!
I made it and it was delicious. But yours looks so spongy. Mine came put dense. I followed the recipe as yours. I’m wondering, if its really like that.
Dense is easy to diagnose – too much flour and/or overmixing after you added it. Use a lighter hand when scooping it into the measuring cup and once you add it, don’t overmix.
Yes it is spongy when you get the flour down pat. Glad you still found it delish!
Followed your recipe to a T and it came out delicious! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great fory ou!
Any thoughts about using applesauce in lieu of the oil for this recipe? I typically use applesauce instead of oil in my banana bread but not sure how it would work in this recipe.
I would make as written because the extra density/texture and moisture from the applesauce, on top of the pumpkin, worries me a bit. It’s such an awesome recipe, and just 1/3 cup oil in the whole batch, that I wouldn’t try to mess with a good thing, personally.
I tried to make this last night in a 9×5 bread pan And it was a disaster and I don’t know why! I baked the loaf at 350 like another user suggested, but it just would not cook on the inside. Any ideas where I went wrong? The bread ended up burning on the outside and had a pumpkin pie consistency inside . Please help! ☹️
I have made very similar recipes to this one in a 9×5 without any issues but because I have only made this recipe (exactly without any changes) in mini loaves, it’s hard to say.
But that sounds like an oven issue. That your oven maybe is running on the cool side and not fully heating things through, hence the raw center. And then the longer you keep it in, the more burnt the outside becomes. That would be my first guess. And/or you overmeasure the pumpkin/milk/wet ingredients and/or under-measured the flour.
Just some this in the oven. I didn’t have vanilla almond or vanilla, but i vanilla often. I doubled it and put it into 2 normal size loaf pans. It smells great
Wonderful and enjoy!