Cinnamon Pumpkin Bread

Pumpkin bread in March? Yes! Thanks to canned pumpkin puree, I bake with pumpkin throughout the year. This recipe is an adaptation of pumpkin pecan streusel bread, simply using miniature cinnamon baking chips instead of pecans and streusel.

I got my mini chips at King Arthur Flour, which offers a great variety of ingredients. My chips melted during baking, as you can see from the photo to the left; they left behind sort of ghost marks of where they’d been, but that didn’t stop their flavor from permeating the loaf. This is an excellent recipe, easy to bake and very tasty when done. You could leave the loaf plain, but I find that the allspice glaze really adds more depth of flavor to this treat.

Ingredients

For the bread

• 1 2/3 cups flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, plus an extra dash if you like
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 8 tablespoons melted butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 3/4 cup miniature cinnamon chips

For the allspice drizzle

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 2-3 teaspoons water

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease an 8 x 4 or 9 x 5 loaf pan or spray with baking spray; I used a 9 x 5 for this recipe.

In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg.

In a separate, medium-sized bowl whisk melted butter, eggs, and pumpkin puree until well-combined.

Add pumpkin mixture to dry mixture and stir to incorporate so that no dry streaks remain, then stir in cinnamon chips.

Pour batter into pan and bake for 45-60 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. You’ll want to check the bread around 35-40 minutes and may want to cover it with a foil tent to prevent over-browning.

Remove from oven and cool in loaf pan for about 30 minutes, then remove from pan and place on a wire rack. Cool another 15 minutes, then make the drizzle: in a small bowl, combine powdered sugar and allspice. Add water 1 teaspoon at a time, stirring until you have a smooth, thick drizzle. Pour drizzle into a medium-sized zip-top bag; snip the corner, then pipe drizzle over top of bread (or just spoon it on if you prefer).

Allow to cool completely before serving; store well-wrapped at room temperature for up to 4 days.