Description
This Cinnamon Swirl Pumpkin Bread Mini Loaves recipe delivers moist, flavorful pumpkin bread with a delightful cinnamon sugar swirl topping. Perfect for fall breakfasts or snacks, these mini loaves are seasoned with warming pumpkin pie spices and have a crunchy cinnamon crust. Easily adaptable into muffins, mini loaves, or a larger loaf, this small batch recipe is quick to prepare and bakes to perfection in just 30 minutes.
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar, light or dark
- ½ cup pure canned pumpkin (any size, with leftovers)
- ¼ cup canola oil or any neutral oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Dry Ingredients
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Cinnamon Sugar Swirl
- 2 to 3 tablespoons cinnamon sugar (3/4 teaspoon cinnamon for every 1 tablespoon sugar)
Instructions
- Preheat Oven and Prepare Pans: Preheat the oven to 350°F and set the oven rack to the middle position. Lightly grease your mini loaf pans and line them with parchment paper hanging over the sides to create a sling for easy bread removal. If using a brownie pan, line 5 wells with 1-inch parchment strips hanging over the sides.
- Mix Wet Ingredients: In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the egg, granulated sugar, brown sugar, pumpkin puree, canola oil, and vanilla extract until the mixture is smooth and fully combined.
- Add Dry Ingredients: Sift or sprinkle the flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt evenly over the wet mixture. Whisk gently until no dry streaks remain, ensuring a smooth batter.
- Fill Pans and Add Cinnamon Swirl: Scoop the batter evenly into the prepared pans. Sprinkle a generous amount of cinnamon sugar over the top of the batter and use a toothpick or knife to gently swirl it just on the surface of the batter.
- Bake: Bake depending on your pan choice: 20-23 minutes in a brownie pan or muffin pan, 28-30 minutes in mini loaf pans, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean.
- Cool: Allow the bread to cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10-15 minutes. Use the parchment sling to lift the bread out of the pan and let cool completely on the wire rack before slicing and serving.
Notes
- This small batch recipe can be doubled and baked in a standard 9x5-inch loaf pan; start checking doneness at 50 minutes.
- Other pans options include muffin pans (5-6 muffins, bake 20-23 minutes) and non-stick brownie pans (5 individual loaves, bake 20-23 minutes).
- For extra spice, add an additional ¼ to ½ teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon to the batter before baking.
- Use pure canned pumpkin (also labeled as pumpkin puree or 100% pumpkin), not pumpkin pie filling.
- Leftover canned pumpkin can be used in other recipes; this recipe only uses half a cup.
- Store covered pumpkin bread at room temperature for 5 to 7 days to maintain moistness.
- Baked and cooled pumpkin bread can be frozen for up to 3 months, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and placed in a freezer bag. Thaw at room temperature before serving.
