This Brown Butter Pumpkin Bread is the best quick bread to make during the fall season. The brown butter adds a rich, caramelly flavor that’ll make your taste buds sing. It’s lightly sweet, packed with cinnamon spice, and it’s extra moist thanks to the Greek yogurt.

I love pumpkin spice everything during the fall. It’s warm, cozy, and makes me want to curl up on the couch with a good book (or movie) and a cup of hot tea.

I find that most pumpkin breads are either bland or full of sugar. I was determined to create the perfect pumpkin bread recipe that was not too sweet and had a nice balance of pumpkin spice flavor.

While I normally make my healthy pumpkin bread that uses whole wheat flour and no added sugar, sometimes it’s nice to have a traditional pumpkin loaf with all-purpose flour and regular sugar.

Even my husband, who is NOT a fan of pumpkin anything, says that this is his favorite pumpkin bread recipe. And he enjoys having a slice for breakfast with a cup of coffee in the morning.

Pumpkin bread is a quick-style loaf, similar to banana bread. It gets its signature color from canned pumpkin puree and flavor from warm spices, like cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger. It’s moist and can be enjoyed as a delicious snack, dessert, or a sweet breakfast treat.

Table of Contents

Brown Butter Pumpkin Bread ingredients

Butter: I use unsalted butter in this recipe to control the amount of salt in this loaf.

I like to brown the butter, which is also known as beurre noisette in French. This means the butter is heated up until the milk solids caramelize, which gives it a nutty and toasty flavor.

If you don’t want to brown the butter, you can use melted butter or make it dairy-free by using a neutral flavored vegetable oil.

Pumpkin Puree: I use canned pumpkin puree for this recipe. It adds moisture and flavor to this loaf. You can use homemade pumpkin puree if desired.

Eggs: Make sure your eggs are room temperature. This helps the eggs mix into the batter more uniformly and help the loaf rise in the oven.

Greek yogurt: This makes the pumpkin bread super moist and improves the texture. The acidity also helps activate the baking soda, which makes the loaf fluffier.

Make sure to use Greek yogurt because it has less water content than regular yogurt.

Vanilla Extract: This gives the pumpkin bread good flavor.

Brown Sugar: A little brown sugar gives this loaf a rich caramel-like flavor due to its molasses content, which pairs nicely with the brown butter.

Granulated Sugar: White sugar helps to sweeten the bread and give it a lighter and fluffier texture.

All-Purpose Flour: I use all-purpose flour for this recipe. I haven’t tested it with gluten-free flour.

If you want to use whole wheat flour, check out my healthy pumpkin bread recipe here.

Baking soda and baking powder: These are leavening agents that helps the bread rise and results in a light, fluffy loaf.

Fine Sea Salt: This helps balance the sweetness and enhances the flavor of the other ingredients.

Spices: I use a combination of ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground cloves, and ground ginger. These are the spices traditionally found in pumpkin pie spice blends. They complement and enhance the pumpkin flavor.

If you don’t have these spices, you can substitute with 1 tablespoon of store-bought pumpkin spice OR 1 teaspoon of pumpkin spice and 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon.

How to make Brown Butter Pumpkin Bread

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Adjust the oven rack to the lower third position of the oven and preheat to 350°F. Line an 8.5″ x 4.5″ light gray metal loaf pan with parchment paper and grease the inside of the pan to prevent sticking.

Brown the butter. Cut the butter into equal-sized pieces. This will help it melt more evenly.

Add the butter to a light-colored saucepan or skillet over medium heat. Use a rubber spatula or whisk to stir the butter constantly to keep it moving. The butter will begin to bubble as the milk solids move to the surface.

In about 5 minutes from when you started, the butter will foam up a bit, then subside. You’ll begin to see the butter turn golden brown and it will smell toasty and nutty.

Keep stirring constantly and once the foam starts to subside, immediately remove the pan from the heat and pour the butter into a heatproof bowl to stop the cooking process.

DO NOT leave the butter in the pan or it could burn. Let the brown butter cool slightly before using.

Combine the wet ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, add the cooled brown butter (or vegetable oil if using), pumpkin puree, eggs, Greek yogurt, and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth. Then add the brown sugar and granulated sugar. Whisk again until smooth.

Combine the dry ingredients. In a medium mixing bowl, add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground cloves, and ground ginger. Whisk until combined.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Stir the dry and wet ingredients together just until combined. DO NOT overmix. The batter will be thick.

Bake for 55-65 minutes. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake in the preheated oven for 55-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean with only a few moist crumbs.

Every oven is different, so keep an eye on your bread. If the top of the loaf is starting to get too brown, you can cover it with foil for the remaining bake time to prevent it from getting browner. I usually check on the loaf at the 40-minute mark.

Allow the loaf to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Then remove the pumpkin bread from the pan and let cool completely on a wire rack before serving. Once cooled, slice, serve, and enjoy.

How to store and freeze Brown Butter Pumpkin Bread

To Store: Let the pumpkin bread cool completely, then wrap it in plastic wrap or keep it in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.

To Freeze: Let the pumpkin bread cool completely, then wrap the entire loaf or individual slices in plastic wrap or aluminum foil.

Place the wrapped bread in a freezer-safe bag or container, making sure to remove as much air as possible and store it in the freezer for up to 3 to 4 months.

How to thaw frozen pumpkin bread: Remove the pumpkin bread from the bag, leaving it wrapped in plastic wrap or foil.

Leave the bread on the kitchen counter at room temperature to thaw. It will take around 4 hours for a loaf to thaw completely or 1 hour for individual slices.

Please let me know how you like this brown butter pumpkin bread recipe in the comments below! Your feedback and review encourages me to keep creating new and yummy recipes. I hope you love this pumpkin bread as much as I do.