Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese Frosting

This wonderful, moist, easy pumpkin bread with cream cheese frosting is the perfect sweet bread for pumpkin season. The fluffy pumpkin loaf has velvety crumbs infused with aromatic Fall spices and a super easy 3-ingredient cream cheese frosting. It's perfectly balanced in sweetness, super moist, and slices perfectly!

This recipe was first shared on the blog back in 2021. Since then, I've updated it with new photos, added helpful baking tips, and included several flavor and ingredient substitution options.

Why this is the best moist pumpkin bread recipe

The perfect level of moisture in this pumpkin bread is built on a few deliberate choices that make the difference.

Then, instead of butter, I use vegetable oil, which keeps the loaf moist and soft for days and stops it from firming up in the fridge. An even split of brown and granulated sugar gives a deeper, caramel-like flavor without making it overly sweet, and whipping the eggs, oil, and sugars until fluffy before folding in the dry ingredients by hand creates a light, cake-like crumb.

It calls for exactly half a can of Libby’s (or thick homemade purée), so the texture comes out consistent every time, not gummy from watery pumpkin.

And my favorite little trick: piping a thin line of butter down the center of the batter before baking, so the loaf splits open neatly along the top instead of cracking randomly.

The frosting is just as considered. It’s made with only three ingredients: cold, full-fat cream cheese, a little mascarpone for extra creaminess and a milder tang, and just a small amount of powdered sugar. Because the dairy is cold and full-fat, it whips up thick and pipeable without loading it with sugar, which is why it balances the spiced bread so well.

This is one of my all-time favorite pumpkin desserts for a reason!

The bread batter comes together easily

Line your loaf pan with parchment paper or grease it with butter and dust with a light coating of all-purpose flour. This will prevent it from sticking! I am using a 9 x 5-inch / 22 x 12 cm, 1-pound loaf pan.

In a large mixing bowl, whip the oil, room-temperature eggs, white sugar, and brown sugar for a few minutes, just until fluffy. Then, fold or mix in the pumpkin puree.

Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin spices into the wet ingredients.

Fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture by hand using a rubber spatula. Do not use the electric mixer at this point. Only fold them until they are just combined into a batter; do not overmix.

Pour the pumpkin cake batter into your prepared loaf pan and use a pastry bag to apply a very thin butter line down the center. This will help the loaf cake to open up nicely and evenly as it bakes in the oven.

Now it is time to bake

Preheat the oven to 175°C / 350°F (conventional, no fan) before you start mixing, so it’s fully heated by the time the batter is ready. Every oven runs a little differently, so an oven thermometer is the best way to make sure you’re baking at the right temperature.

Bake the pumpkin bread on the middle rack for 45–50 minutes at 175°C / 350°F.

Avoid opening the oven door during the first 30 minutes, as the sudden drop in temperature can make the loaf sink. If the top is browning too quickly toward the end, loosely cover it with a sheet of aluminum foil.

The bread is ready when it has risen well, split neatly along the butter line, and springs back when lightly pressed. To check, insert a toothpick into the center at the loaf's highest point; it should come out clean or with a few dry crumbs, but no wet batter. Take it out as soon as it passes the test, because overbaking will make it dry and crumbly.

Let the pumpkin bread rest in the loaf tin for 5 minutes so it can firm up slightly, then lift it out using the parchment paper (or carefully turn it out if you greased the pan) and place it on a wire rack.

Let it cool completely, about 1–2 hours, before frosting. A warm loaf will melt the cream cheese frosting.

Whip up my not-too-sweet, fluffy cream cheese frosting

Sift the powdered sugar into a mixing bowl and whip it together with the cream cheese and mascarpone using an electric hand whisk for 1-2 minutes until fluffy. You can use a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, but this makes it much easier to over-whip, so I do not recommend it.

Move the cream cheese frosting into a piping bag fitted with a round nozzle tip and pipe a row of small mounds of frosting onto the pumpkin bread. Then, gently press a teaspoon onto the piping pattern to create the effect you see in the pictures.

Repeat the process until you have decorated the whole loaf, and then scatter with pumpkin seeds (optional). Alternatively, spread the cream cheese frosting with a spoon.

Then, slice and enjoy it!

Want to store the bread for later?

Any leftover pumpkin bread can be stored in an airtight container either at room temperature or in the fridge for 3-4 days. But it usually disappears much faster than that!

Pumpkin bread freezes so well; I first double-wrap it in plastic wrap and aluminum foil to prevent freezer burn. Do not decorate it until you defrost it. The cream cheese frosting can go grainy after freezing, so I do not recommend it.

There are many delicious flavor variation options

Orange zest is one of my favorite ways to bring extra flavor into this bread. One teaspoon vanilla extract can also work, although the hero ingredients are the pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice.

You can also add some extra texture by adding finely chopped nuts to the pumpkin cake batter before baking. Pecans and walnuts both work so well with pumpkin and other Fall flavors. Or, why not stir in half a cup of chocolate chips?

You can also use a different decoration instead of cream cheese frosting. For a super decadent finish, try my whipped chocolate ganache frosting or homemade caramel.

My butterscotch glaze, coffee glaze, maple glaze, or chocolate glaze recipes will all taste delicious, too. You could even drizzle a spoonful of homemade pecan butter on top! The homemade streusel topping is my other favorite way to bring extra crunchiness to the top.

There are so many ways to adapt this pumpkin loaf bread recipe to suit you once you have mastered it.

If you need to substitute the ingredients, do it wisely

When making substitutions in baking, it is important to consider the ingredient's role and understand that your finished baked goods may have a different taste and texture.

Sadly, I cannot provide substitutes for every allergy or dietary restriction, but you can read my baking guides to see what swaps are possible.

You could, for example, use one of these egg substitutes for an eggless cake. However, remember that pumpkin bread will have a different result than egg products.

Read my flour guide to see what other types of flour you could use, like gluten-free flour. Check out my mascarpone cheese substitute guide in case you have run out or can't find any.

Unsalted butter is the best substitute for oil, but since oil makes the bread moister, I don't recommend replacing it with butter.

You can make your own homemade pumpkin pie spice or use other warm spices instead, such as cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, ginger, or a combination of these. Freshly grated spices are even better.

Some more expert tips

1. Always make sure that your cake ingredients are all at room temperature before you begin for proper emulsification. This might mean taking the eggs out of the refrigerator ahead of time.
2. Only use full-fat ingredients (mascarpone and Philadelphia cream cheese) for the frosting.
3. Do not skip the salt, as it is essential to enhance the flavors and balance the sweetness! While it might seem odd to add salt to a dessert, I promise you it makes sense.
4. Do not overwhip the frosting, or it can become runny. Only whip cream cheese frosting until fluffy, which takes around 1-2 minutes.
5. Either line your baking tin with greaseproof paper or prepare it by greasing it with butter and dusting it with a fine coating of all purpose flour to prevent it from sticking.
6. I find it can help to preheat the oven to +20C / 68F higher than the specified temperature to compensate for the drop in heat when you open the door.
7. Overbaking your pumpkin bread can result in a dry and crumbly texture. Use the toothpick test on the middle part of the cake where it is the highest. It should come out dry. If it still has batter on it, the pumpkin bread needs a little longer in the oven.
8. Wait until the pumpkin bread has completely cooled before decorating, or it can melt the frosting.

What equipment to use

Always measure ingredients by the gram using a digital scale for precision. Baking is a science, and you will get better, more consistent results this way.

I recommend using a large bowl and an electric hand mixer to combine the wet ingredients, then switching to a rubber spatula when incorporating the dry ingredients. Use the electric hand mixer to whip the frosting rather than a stand mixer. Using a stand mixer runs the risk of overmixing!

You will need a 22x12 cm, 9x5 inch loaf pan to bake this easy pumpkin bread recipe. Allow it to cool on a wire rack after baking.

Use a digital oven thermometer to ensure you are baking at the right temperature. Most baking mistakes happen when the oven is too hot or too cold!

Try some of my other pumpkin dessert recipes

If you enjoyed my pumpkin spice bread with cream cheese frosting, try some of these other recipes next.

• Pumpkin pudding
• Pumpkin tiramisu
• Pumpkin banana muffins
• Puff pastry pumpkin turnovers
• Pumpkin pie with sweetened condensed milk
• Pumpkin hand pies

Have you tried this recipe?

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