Incredibly moist pumpkin bread with a rich maple flavor balanced by warm pumpkin spices. It will retain its tender crumb for a few days as the flavors deepen, meaning you can indulge in this quintessentially fall treat for days!

Pumpkin or apple? Apple or pumpkin?

The whole country is agonizing (or fighting 🙄) over the election and I’m over here fretting over which dessert I should bake next. Honestly, I wanna bake all the things, but there’s only so much time in the day and only so many calories I can consume.

So, I decided to try a pumpkin bread that bakes relatively flat. Why? Because I have this ADORABLE fall loaf pan that I’ve been wanting to use for a year now.

The only issue is that most loaf bread/cake recipes bake up with a rounded top. Most of the time it’s my favorite part of the slice. But it’s inconvenient when you want to turn the whole thing upside down to showcase these adorable pumpkins and acorns. It kinda defeats the purpose if your loaf is tilting to the side or falling over. 😂

I scoured all the pumpkin recipes out there and settled on this one because 1) maple syrup is the best and 2) maple syrup doesn’t cause as much rise as sugar or even brown sugar. I also decided to split the difference and do half butter and half oil. Butter creates a lovely crumb while oil retains moisture longer. I’m really happy with the result of using both. It’s tender but doesn’t crumble. And it tastes even better the second day!

My favorite part is that I used quite a bit of fall spice. You can cut it all in half if you want a more traditional pumpkin taste, but if you want a true “maple spice” taste, bake it as-is. Because who doesn’t need extra pumpkin spice in their life?!?!

How to make maple spice pumpkin bread

This is a fairly simple, two-bowl recipe. Sift then whisk together all the dry ingredients. You don't necessarily have to sift them, but I like like to do it to help ensure I won’t over mix my batter.

Mix all the wet ingredients (except the eggs) and the brown sugar (not pictured because I forgot it until the last second 🤦‍♀️) together until smooth.

Then, mix in the eggs until very smooth and no lumps. Saving the eggs for the end is also an unnecessary precaution that I like because it guarantees your melted butter can’t scramble the eggs.

Mix it all together gently. I folded it in to ensure it mixed gently, but I’ve found folding might be a confusing process if no one’s ever shown you. Basically, you use a rubber spatula and scrape along the side of the bowl until you’ve run it completely around the bowl, angling the spatula so that the batter gently falls into the middle onto itself. If that doesn’t make any sense, this might help. Or watch just about any baking show.

It should be slightly thick, where you have to scoop it into the pan and spread it flat. If it’s so loose that it will just pour right into the pan, add 2 more tablespoons of flour.

Bake for 45-55 minutes, until set and a toothpick comes out clean. Mine baked a little faster, about 40 minutes, because the of the shaped pan.

Cool for at least 10 minutes in the pan.

You can either leave it in the pan or remove it for the next part. Melt butter and maple syrup together then brush on the still-warm bread.

Sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar mixture, as liberally or lightly as you’d like.

Enjoy! Cover or seal leftovers well to preserve the freshness.

Tips for this recipe

Increase the flour if your pumpkin is loose

I actually just bought a baking pumpkin to (hopefully) bake and share with you the simple process. I think that’s the best kind of pumpkin puree to bake with! But it’s just important that you use plain pumpkin. Anything else will have a different flavor profile, sugar content, and even water content, altering the finished product.

A note on this: different brands of pumpkin have different water content. I used Libby’s, because it was what Costco had. It’s pretty dense, like pumpkin butter. However, I usually use Trader Joe’s, and their pumpkin is much, much looser, like applesauce. I wrote the recipe for a middle-of-the-road pumpkin, like Trader Joe’s. If your batter is still loose and not spreadable, add more flour like the recipe says.

Sub the maple syrup

If you don’t have maple syrup or don’t like it, you can sub honey, agave, or even more brown sugar. I wouldn’t recommend corn syrup or molasses, even though some search results say it works. Whatever you sub for the maple syrup will alter the taste of the final bread, which is why I recommend honey or brown sugar the most. If subbing brown sugar, reduce the flour by 1/4 cup (you may end up adding some of it back in the end, but it’s best to leave it out until you know if you need it).

Don’t over mix the batter

This is important to create a tender crumb that isn’t chewy or dense. There’s this rubbery texture you can get if you stir it too long. It’s okay if you have some small flour lumps, those will dissolve in the baking.

Increase by 50% if using a larger pan

This will make a medium-height loaf if you use an 8x4 pan. If you are using a 9x5 pan or want a tall, rise-past-the-top loaf, you can multiply everything by 1.5, which will give you 50% more batter.

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Maple Spice Pumpkin Bread

prep time: 10 minutes

cook time: 45-55 minutes

total time: 1 hour, 5 minutes

Servings: 12

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups flour, sifted (see note)

2 teaspoons baking powder, sifted

½ teaspoon baking soda, sifted

½ teaspoon sea salt

½ teaspoon ground ginger

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

¼ teaspoon ground allspice

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

½ to 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, to taste

1 cup pumpkin puree

½ cup pure maple syrup (see not for substitutes)

½ cup packed brown sugar

¼ cup avocado oil (grapeseed or vegetable will work, too)

¼ cup melted butter

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs, room temperature

for the cinnamon sugar topping:

1 tablespoon butter

1 teaspoon maple syrup

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease and flour a loaf pan. I used an 8x4, but a 9x5 will work, too.

Sift and whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together pumpkin, maple syrup, brown sugar, oil, melted butter, and vanilla. Stir until smooth. Add the eggs (adding at this point helps prevent any scrambling from the melted butter).

Gently stir or fold the dry ingredients into the wet. Mix just until smooth. Spread into your prepared pan and bake for 45-55 minutes, until the center is set and a toothpick comes out clean. Check early if using a novelty pan like I did.

Cool in the pan for 10 minutes then make the sugar topping. First, whisk together the cinnamon and sugar. Then, melt the butter and maple syrup. Use a pastry brush to brush a thin layer of the butter mixture over the top of the loaf. You can do this in the pan or remove it to a platter. Next, sprinkle the sugar mixture over the top, as lightly or as generously as you’d like. If you have extra cinnamon sugar, save it for sprinkling on some toast in the morning!

Enjoy!

Leftovers will last 3-5 days at room temperature and up to a week in the fridge, if sealed tightly.