Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese Frosting
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!
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!
Nutrition
Calories: 489kcal
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