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Best Easy Brown Butter Pumpkin Bread with Streusel Topping

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This brown butter pumpkin bread with streusel topping is incredibly moist and flavorful, featuring nutty browned butter and warm spices. It’s the ultimate fall bake that comes together in under an hour and tastes even better the next day.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the pan
  • 1 can (15 ounces) canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • ½ cup packed brown sugar (dark brown sugar recommended)
  • 2 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • For the streusel topping:
  • ½ cup all-purpose flour
  • ¼ cup packed brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
  • ¼ cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan with butter or line it with parchment paper, leaving some overhang on the sides for easy removal.
  2. Brown the butter: Place 1 cup of unsalted butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir occasionally as it melts. The butter will foam, then start to crackle. Keep stirring. After about 5-7 minutes, you’ll see brown specks forming at the bottom and the butter will smell nutty and toasty. Remove it from the heat immediately and pour it into a heatproof bowl to stop the cooking. Let it cool for 10 minutes.
  3. Mix the wet ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together the cooled brown butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until well combined. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla extract and the pumpkin puree until smooth. The mixture should be thick and glossy.
  4. Combine the dry ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon. Make sure there are no lumps.
  5. Fold the batter together: Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Use a rubber spatula to fold gently until just combined. A few streaks of flour are okay — overmixing will make the bread tough. The batter should be thick and slightly lumpy.
  6. Make the streusel topping: In a small bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and cinnamon. Add the cold cubed butter and use a pastry cutter or your fingers to work it into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the chopped nuts if using. Set aside.
  7. Assemble the loaf: Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and spread it evenly. Sprinkle the streusel topping generously over the top, pressing it gently into the batter so it sticks during baking.
  8. Bake: Place the pan on the middle rack and bake for 50-60 minutes. The bread is done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs. If the top is browning too quickly, tent it loosely with foil after 40 minutes.
  9. Cool: Let the bread cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely. This step is important — cutting too early will make the bread crumble.

Notes

Don’t rush the browning of the butter; it goes from golden to burnt in seconds. Use room temperature eggs to prevent the brown butter from seizing. Measure flour correctly by spooning and leveling to avoid dry bread. For best results, let the bread cool completely before slicing. The bread tastes even better on day two as flavors meld. If streusel sinks into batter, add an extra tablespoon of flour to wet ingredients next time.

Nutrition

Keywords: brown butter pumpkin bread, pumpkin bread with streusel, easy pumpkin bread, fall baking, pumpkin recipe, streusel topping

Find it online: https://sparklechew.com/best-easy-brown-butter-pumpkin-bread-with-streusel-topping/