The Best Cinnamon Pumpkin Swirl Bread Recipe
What is fall without pumpkin cinnamon swirl bread? You’ll find yourself craving this soft, cinnamon-spiced pumpkin bread thanks to the cozy pumpkin and spice. Try this easy pumpkin swirl bread today!
A simple Google search will show that there are a lot of pumpkin bread recipes out there, but there is little doubt that this Cinnamon Swirl Pumpkin Bread reigns as top dog!
This easy bread is deliciously moist and bursting with comforting cinnamon and pumpkin flavors. And the bonus is that it’s not bland or too sweet – it’s perfect. The irresistible cinnamon swirl makes this recipe – it’s my favorite part and what makes this pumpkin swirl bread so special!
This recipe takes my pumpkin bread to the next level!
Pumpkin Swirl Bread Ingredients
- Self-rising flou
- Buttermilk
- Dry yeast
- Pumpkin puree
- Brown sugar
- Spices – cinnamon and nutmeg
- Butter
NOTE: Please refer to the handy printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for more recipe details!
How To Make Pumpkin Swirl Bread
Step 1 – Preheat Oven
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Step 2 – Mix Dry Ingredients
In a medium sized bowl mix dry ingredients together: flour, yeast, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg
Step 3 – Add Wet Ingredients
Add buttermilk and pumpkin puree and mix everything using a spatula until you form a small ball dough. If the dough is to sticky its ok to add a bit more flour.
Step 4 – Rise Pumpkin Swirl Bread Dough
Leave in in warm place for 45 minutes.
When the dough doubled its size, sprinkle it with a flour and using a rolling pin form a dough into a flat rectangle.
Step 5 – Mix Filling Ingredients
In a separate bowl, prepare the filling. Combine butter, pumpkin puree, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg and mix until fully blended.
Spread the mixture on the dough and use a spatula or knife to spread it evenly. Roll the dough into a log.
Step 6 – Braid Dough And Bake
Cut the log of dough in half and braid. Coil the rope like a snake, and coil the other half of the dough in the opposite direction.
Place it into a medium loaf pan and bake for 35-40 minutes.
Enjoy!
Expert Tips For Pumpkin Swirl Bread
- Melt your butter – Using melted butter in recipes that call for a lot of spice contributes rich undertones that gives the bread a more rounded and balanced flavor.
- Avoid over-mixing the batter – The dough is mixed enough once the flour is mostly combined (with a few light streaks). Over-mixing makes your dough more likely to develop gluten, giving it a tougher texture. However, rest assured that in this recipe, over-mixing is mostly likely to develop a dense gummy layer near the bottom.
- Use all of the filling – Don’t skimp on this part because it MAKES the bread special!
- If it browns too quickly while baking, cover with foil –I like to place a piece of foil loosely over the loaf after the first 30 minutes of baking if it is getting too dark on top before it’s done.
Pumpkin Swirl Bread Variations To Try
Change up the spices – I love the simple but richly flavored combination of cinnamon and nutmeg. However, you could easily add some pumpkin pie spice, ginger, or allspice!
Add a crumb topping – A crumbly brown sugar streusel topping adds even more flavor (if that’s even possible!). Combine 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 cup pecan pieces, and a dash of salt in a bowl and blend well. Add 4 Tbsp of butter and cut it into the dry ingredients with a knife, fork, or (my favorite method) pastry cutter until it looks like crumbles. Sprinkle on top of your bread before baking.
Storage And Freezing Tips
Storage – You can store you cinnamon swirl bread in an airtight container on the counter for 2-3 days or in the fridge for up to 7 days.
Freezing – This recipe freezes well! Simply wrap it tightly in a layer of plastic wrap and then a layer of aluminum foil and freeze for up to 3 months. To thaw, take the aluminum foil layer off and let your loaf sit on the counter until it reaches room temperature.
Pumpkin Swirl Bread FAQs
I prefer using canned pumpkin puree in my baking for two reasons.
Consistency – Homemade pumpkin puree varies in moisture content based on how long you cook it, but canned pumpkin is the same every time.
Convenience – preparing fresh pumpkin for baking is fairly time consuming. Using canned pumpkin is much faster, easier, and the quality is great.
Since you don’t use a whole can of pumpkin puree for this recipe, I recommend freezing the leftover pumpkin so you can use it in another recipe. It works great!
Yes, and it’s easy to do! Simply combine ½ teaspoon each of ginger, nutmeg, allspice and clove with 1 ½ teaspoons of ground cinnamon. This will give you 3 ½ teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice.
More Delicious Bread Recipes
- Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Banana Bread
- Lemon Blueberry Zucchini Bread
- Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread
- Lemon Zucchini Bread
- Fresh Strawberry Bread
- Healthy Banana Protein Muffins (or bread)
- No-Fail Healthy Zucchini Muffins
- Pear Apple Streusel Muffins
Pin For Later!
Pumpkin Cinnamon Swirl Bread
You’ll find yourself craving this soft, cinnamon-spiced pumpkin bread thanks to the cozy pumpkin and spice. Try this easy pumpkin swirl bread today!
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cup self-rising flour (and more for sprinkling)
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- 1 tbsp dry yeast
- 1 tbsp pumpkin puree
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp nutmeg
Filling:
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 8 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp pumpkin puree
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp nutmeg
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- In a medium mixing bowl, mix dry ingredients together: flour, yeast, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg
- Add buttermilk and pumpkin puree and mix everything using a spatula until you form a small ball of dough. If the dough is too sticky, add a little bit of flour.
- Leave in in warm place for 45 minutes.
- When the dough has doubled its size, sprinkle it with flour and use a rolling pin to form the dough into a flat rectangle.
- In a separate bowl, prepare the filling. Combine butter, pumpkin puree, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg and mix until fully blended. Spread the mixture on the dough and use a spatula or knife to spread it evenly. Roll the dough into a log.
- Cut the log of dough in half and braid. Coil the rope like a snake, and coil the other half of the dough in the opposite direction.
- Place it into a medium loaf pan and bake for 35-40 minutes.
