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–+ servings
Slice of frosted pumpkin bread on a wooden cutting board.

Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese Frosting

Perfectly spiced, moist pumpkin bread gets an upgrade with the addition of cream cheese frosting! This Frosted Pumpkin Bread is an easy one bowl recipe that makes two delicious loaves. Eat one now and freeze the other for later.
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Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Cooling time: 2 hours
Total Time: 3 hours 20 minutes
Servings: 16
Calories: 464kcal

Ingredients
 

  • 3 1/3 cups all purpose flour
  • 3 cups granulated sugar
  • 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 cup vegetable oil (or canola or coconut oil)
  • 4 eggs (lightly beaten)
  • 2/3 cup orange juice (or water)
  • 15 oz can pure pumpkin puree

For the frosting:

  • 4 oz softened cream cheese
  • 3 Tablespoons softened unsalted butter
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/2 Tablespoon milk
  • Splash vanilla extract

Instructions

For the bread:

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2 9 inch bread pans. If desired, line them each with a parchment paper sling for easy removal. Set aside.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt.
  • Add the oil, eggs, water or orange juice, and pumpkin puree. Use a wooden spoon or spatula to gently stir the mixture together until no white streaks remain. This might take 1-2 minutes. It will be gloopy until it starts to come together. At this point, you can stir in any mix-ins, like chocolate chips or chopped nuts, if desired.
  • Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared loaf pans. Bake for 60-70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing and cooling completely on a wire rack.

For the frosting: (See Note 1)

  • While the bread cools, make the cream cheese frosting. Place the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on medium high speed until smooth and creamy, about 1-2 minutes.
  • Add the powdered sugar and beat on medium low speed until well combined. Add the milk and vanilla extract, beating again until the frosting is still quite thick, but spreadable.
  • Spread the frosting over the cooled pumpkin bread and serve immediately or cover and store in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Notes

  • Note 1: This frosting recipe makes enough to very generously frost one loaf or thinly frost two loaves. We often frost one loaf and freeze the other one for later. If you're serving both loaves right away and want a lot of frosting, I recommend doubling the frosting recipe.
  • Storage: Store unfrosted pumpkin bread, tightly wrapped or in an airtight container, at room temperature. Frosted pumpkin bread should be refrigerated. The bread keeps well for 5-6 days.
  • Variations: Feel free to add 3/4 cup per loaf of chopped walnuts, pecans, dried cranberries or chocolate chips. Since this recipe makes two loaves, you can add different mix-ins to each one!

Equipment

Course Breakfast, Quick Breads, Muffins & Scones
Cuisine American
Keyword frosted pumpkin bread, pumpkin bread with cream cheese frosting

Nutrition

Calories: 464kcal | Carbohydrates: 69g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 8g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 54mg | Sodium: 396mg | Potassium: 135mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 47g | Vitamin A: 4379IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 31mg | Iron: 2mg