This delicious Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese Frosting is the ultimate fall recipe! It’s light, fluffy, sweet, and full of warm pumpkin spice flavors. Topped off with a cream cheese frosting recipe that’s true perfection, you can’t go wrong with this festive cake loaf recipe!
Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese – SO good!
It’s not fall until you’ve made pumpkin bread! And not just any pumpkin bread, but this next-level Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese Frosting. Each slice is full of cozy, sweet flavors, the texture of the cake is light and fluffy, and the cream cheese frosting on top is unlike any other. Whether you’re making this for a holiday gathering or just a festive fall dessert at home, you’ll love how easy it is to make this pumpkin recipe!
TIP: Pair this recipe with a Maple Pecan Latte for the ultimate cozy vibes!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Flour – All-purpose flour with baking powder, baking soda, and just a little bit of salt are the dry ingredients base for this recipe.
- Pumpkin Spice – Pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon bring this pumpkin bread recipe to life!
- Butter
- Sugar – A mix of granulated sugar and brown sugar sweetens this recipe to perfection.
- Oil – Feel free to use vegetable oil or any type of neutrally flavored oil!
- Pumpkin Puree
- Eggs
- Vanilla
- Milk – Whole milk works best, but regular milk is an option as well.
- Cream Cheese Frosting – Cream cheese, confectioners sugar, heavy whipping cream, and vanilla are all you need for this delicious frosting.
How to Make Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ready to make your house smell amazing? This pumpkin bread recipe smells and tastes like all things fall! While it takes a bit for the bread/cake loaf to bake in the oven, the preparation and the actual making of the recipe are pretty quick and simple. Here’s an overview of how to make Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese Frosting:
- Mix the dry ingredients.
- In a large mixing bowl (preferably using a handheld electric mixer or stand mixer), combine the liquid ingredients.
- Pour the flour mixture into the liquid ingredients and mix just until well combined.
- Pour the batter into a prepared 9×5 inch loaf pan and bake!
- While the pumpkin bread cools, make the cream cheese frosting.
- Add the frosting to the loaf and enjoy!
Tips for Success
- Note on the oil: this recipe calls for vegetable oil, but you can use any flavorless oil such as canola oil, grapeseed oil, or avocado oil.
- This pumpkin bread is made in a 9”x5” loaf pan. If you only have an 8.5”x4.5” pan, you will have some remaining pumpkin bread batter that you can bake into cupcakes. If baking the smaller loaf cake, check on the cake at the 40-minute mark.
- Feel free to use store-bought cream cheese frosting to save time!
How to Store Pumpkin Bread
If possible, it’s best to store homemade pumpkin bread in an airtight container at room temperature, separate from the cream cheese frosting. However, we know that’s not always possible! If the frosting is already on the cake, store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator instead.
This recipe can last for 2-3 days at room temperature and 4-5 days in the refrigerator!
More Fall Desserts & Drinks You’ll Love
- Apple Cider Muffins
- Cookies & Cream Cinnamon Rolls
- Bourbon Pumpkin Cheesecake
- Apple Fritter Cake
- Butterscotch Pecan Pie
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to sign up for our email list to get recipes delivered to your inbox and rate the recipe below!
Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
Pumpkin Bread
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter softened at room temperature
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil or any neutral oil
- 1 15 ounce can pumpkin puree
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup whole milk room temperature
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 ounces cream cheese block softened at room temperature
- 1 cup confectioners sugar
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream cold from the fridge
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
Making the Pumpkin Bread
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Grease a 9”x5” loaf pan with baking spray and line it with parchment paper, allowing excess paper to overhang the sides of the pan so it can easily be lifted out.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a handheld electric mixer (or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment), beat the softened butter with granulated sugar and brown sugar for 3 minutes.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the oil, canned pumpkin puree, eggs, vanilla extract, and whole milk.
- Beat for about 30 seconds or until everything is combined.
- Carefully add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix together on a medium speed (or simply with a rubber spatula), scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Only mix until all the ingredients are just combined; overmixing can result in a dense cake.
- Transfer the pumpkin cake batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth into an even layer.
- Run a knife down the center of the batter to create a line. This will help the loaf cake rise evenly and have a perfect loaf crack down the center, rather than being lopsided and random.
- Bake the cake in the center rack of the oven for 55-65 minutes, making sure a toothpick comes out clean to ensure that it's fully baked.
- Place the cake pan onto a wire cooling rack and allow it to cool for 30 minutes before using the parchment paper overhang to remove the cake from the pan.
- Allow the cake to cool on the wire rack for at least 1-2 hours (if possible) before icing or serving.
Making the Cream Cheese Frosting
- In a large bowl with a handheld electric mixer (or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment), beat the cream cheese and confectioners sugar for about 2 minutes or until well combined.
- Add in the cold heavy whipping cream and vanilla extract and beat for about 3 minutes until thick and creamy (beginning at a medium speed and increasing to high speed). Scrape down the sides of the bowl halfway through and at the end.
Icing the Pumpkin Bread
- Ice the fully cooled pumpkin bread with the cream cheese frosting.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Note on the oil: this recipe calls for vegetable oil, but you can use any flavorless oil such as canola oil, grapeseed oil, or avocado oil.
- This pumpkin bread is made in a 9”x5” loaf pan. If you only have an 8.5”x4.5” pan, you will have some remaining pumpkin bread batter that you can bake into cupcakes. If baking the smaller loaf cake, check on the cake at the 40-minute mark.
- Feel free to use store-bought cream cheese frosting to save time!
The cream cheese frosting pushed this pumpkin bread over the top! It’s fantastic!
Delicious! Easy to make and soft with so much flavor. A must-try!
Wow! What a texture…and the flavour to make. Definitely a must ‘bake again’.
The cream cheese frosting pairs great with this delicious pumpkin bread.
This pumpkin bread is really the best way to enjoy fall! and cream cheese frosting makes it even better!
This is SO yummy, my kids asked me to make it again! It kept nicely on the countertop for a few days without drying out.
This looks perfect for fall!
this pumpkin bread turned out so delicious! so perfect to enjoy this fall!