Pumpkin Spice Bread with Bourbon Glaze

Pumpkin spice bread with a bourbon glaze fairly screams fall flavors and winter holidays. As it bakes the kitchen fills with the aromas of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Grab a cup of coffee and a Victorian Trading Company catalog and pretend you don’t have 500  things to do. Oh wait. That’s me. This post was last updated October 25, 2018 from the original version published March 2008.

For this recipe you’ll need: light vegetable oil (peanut is what I use), brown sugar, sugar, eggs, bourbon, pumpkin puree (just pumpkin no other ingredients), flour, kosher salt, nutmeg, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, chipotle, pecans, confectioner’s sugar

Pumpkin Spice Bread Backstory

All things pumpkin spice are about to be whisked away for another year to be replaced with all things peppermint. I get it. And that’s why I wanted to get this recipe updated before that happened. It’s just too yummy to miss out on for another year.

I am sitting here typing on the last day of October and it is in the 90s in Dallas. I love the idea of curling up on a gray, chilly day with a quilt and some coffee but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen. At least not today. I think that my imagination, much like my dear friend Anne Shirley’s imagination, tends to run away with me. So although I am sitting in a cluttered kitchen in a tank top, in my imagination I’m in a window seat watching the rain ripple down the glass. I’m sipping a hot cup of coffee and watching the chilly breeze pull the remaining leaves off of the trees. Sometimes it all gets so real that I am disappointed when I have to return to reality.

“She came out of her reverie with a deep sigh and looked at him with a dreamy gaze of a soul that had been wandering afar, star-led…” Anne of Green Gables

Today I feel like grabbing October by the edge and pull her backwards. I’m not ready for October to be over and for the year to continue on. I want some time to sit here and relish the moments that I was too distracted and too busy to enjoy when they happened the first time.

And, although I’ll promise myself to do better in November, to take some time to slow down and enjoy my life, I won’t really do it. I’ll be sitting here on the last day of November saying much the same thing.

Recipe History: Circa 1950

This recipe is from one of my vintage cookbooks circa 1950. I love it because it is a beautiful color and the flavor of pumpkin really stands out. I’ve put chipotle in my pumpkin dishes for as long as I can remember but you don’t have to. Omit it if you want. I like it because it adds a smoky, spicy flavor that really pulls the other spices together.

The bourbon glaze is thick and sweet. If you’d prefer not to use bourbon a little vanilla extract will work just fine.

When I first wrote this post on pumpkin spice bread I had made my own pumpkin puree from fresh pumpkins. I used to do a lot of that kind of thing – growing, cooking, and canning – but with some pretty radical changed in my life it just doesn’t happen. You can use fresh pumpkin if you really want to but canned will work fine. Just don’t use the pumpkin pie filling that has all of the sugar and stuff in it. You want pure pumpkin.

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I love giving this spicy pumpkin bread as gifts during the holidays. Rather than wrapping the loaf just bake the pumpkin bread right in these cute disposable loaf pans and just wrap it all up in some pretty cellophane and put a ribbon on it.

Pumpkin Spice Bread Recipe

This pumpkin bread is both beautiful and delicious with its rich gold-brown color and warm flavors. It freezes well so you might want to double or triple the recipe! If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars.

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The Best Pumpkin Pecan Quick Bread

Rich and spicy pumpkin bread with a sweet bourbon glaze - this loaf is perfect for holiday giving AND year round eating! You can substitute 1 teaspoon of vanilla for the bourbon if you like. Just add enough extra liquid (water, cream, milk) to make up the difference.

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time1 hr 10 mins

cool20 mins

Total Time1 hr 20 mins

Course: Breakfast Bread

Cuisine: American - Vintage

Keyword: fall, spicy, sweet

Servings: 20 servings

Calories: 289kcal

Author: Marye

Ingredients

• 1 cup cooking oil
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup bourbon
• 2 cups mashed cooked pumpkin, about 1 15-ounce can
• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 1/2 teaspooons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon chipotle or cayenne, optional
• 1 cup pecans, chopped

Glaze

• 1 cup confecioner's sugar
• 1 tablespoons to 2 bourbon, or enough to make a thick glaze.

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Grease and flour 2 loaf pans.
• Set aside.
• Add the cooking oil, brown sugar, and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer.
• Beat on medium until well mixed and the sugar starts to dissolve.
• Add the eggs, water, and bourbon.
• Beat on medium until very smooth.
• Stir in the pumpkin.
• Set aside.
• Mix dry ingredients.
• Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients quickly, just until blended.
• Fold in the pecans.
• Spoon into the prepared loaf pans and bak for 1 hour 10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
• Glaze while slightly warm.

Glaze

• Mix the bourbon and the confectioner's sugar until smooth, adding the bourbon a little at a time.
• Spoon over pumpkin bread.

Notes

this was made in 8-1/2 x 4-1/2 sized loaf pans.

Nutrition

Calories: 289kcal | Carbohydrates: 56g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 0g | Cholesterol: 0mg | Sodium: 270mg | Potassium: 125mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 38g | Vitamin A: 76.7% | Vitamin C: 1.3% | Calcium: 2.9% | Iron: 9%

If you liked this pumpkin bread recipe you may also like these Restless Chipotle favorites…

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Included in Meal Plan Monday #79