Pumpkin bread loaves with streusel topping and maple glaze

Hope everyone is enjoying a cozy fall season. It is quite cozy here in the San Francisco Bay Area. As I am writing this, it is a cold and gloomy morning which is my favorite weather for fall! I am surrounded by pumpkins of all kinds and sizes in my kitchen, and the Halloween decors provide a whimsy spooky vibe. I do not do scary. I am more into kids’ Halloween vs gory “Night of the Living Dead” type. 🙂

We also just experienced a much needed storm last weekend which hopefully helps with the drought we are currently in. So, since my outdoor weekend brunch was off, Mr Sweetie and I decided to stay in and have our food delivered. We ordered from our neighborhood “La Calaca Loca” which is decorated with Dia De Los Muertos skeletons year round. (Dia De Los Muertos has nothing to do with Halloween and they should never be considered interchangeably! Dia De Los Muertos is a respected Mexican tradition in celebration of the lives of loved ones who passed on through prayers and rituals. It is NOT a Mexican Halloween! It is also observed in other cultures and other countries. The Philippines has a similar tradition which we call “Todos Los Santos” or All Saints Day.) It has been our yearly tradition to eat at La Calaca Loca as Halloween and Dia De Los Muertos are approaching. Sadly, we haven’t been to in a couple of years because of the pandemic. We ordered our favorites — queso fundido, Baja pescado tacos for me, elote with crema and queso fresco and his carne asada quesadilla. We ate as he let me indulge in kids’ Halloween movies that we found on the Disney Channel which were a mummy movie (Unwrapped) and a vampire one (“My Mother is Dating a Vampire). These satisfied my Halloween movies cravings for the season.

The next day which was Sunday was when the atmospheric river came down upon us. The Bay Area was a mess with cities literally turning into rivers, floodings, toppled trees, etc. Thankfully, we remained safe. My parents told me to not to visit them because of the bad weather condition. After online church, I had the rest of day to myself which I spent cooking and baking. I made a big pot of black bean soup with fall vegetables. I ate them for 3 days and did not get a chance to take any pictures which was unusual for me! I have been itching to bake anything pumpkin this season because fall is pumpkin season. I finally did it! I baked Pumpkin Bread Loaves with Streusel and Maple Glaze. They turned out really good that I baked them again for the second time before the week was over. The pumpkin bread loaves were moist and not very sweet. Mr Sweetie asked to take half of it to work!

Thank you for reading, have a cozy fall season and happy baking!

PUMPKIN BREAD LOAVES WITH STREUSEL AND MAPLE GLAZE

(This recipe makes two loaves)

INGREDIENTS FOR THE PUMPKIN BREAD Loaves

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/ 4 cups granulated sugar
• 1 -15- oz. can pumpkin puree
• ½ cup canola or sunflower oil
• 1 tsp pure vanilla

INGREDIENTS FOR THE STREUSEL

• 3/4 cup  all-purpose flour 
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice*
• 6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

INGREDIENTS FOR THE MAPLE GLAZE

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• 2 tbsp milk or water

INSTRUCTIONS

Prepare the streusel

1. Mix the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and pumpkin pie spice together until combined. Mix in the melted butter until crumbs form using a fork or your fingers and no more flour is visible. (Put in the fridge until ready to use.)

prepare and bake the PUMPKIN BREAD LOAVES

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Spray two 9×5 loaf pan with non-GMO canola oil spray or use butter to grease the loaf pans.
3. Mix together flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.
4. In a separate bowl, mix together the sugar, pumpkin, and oil. Then mix in the eggs and vanilla. 
5. Pour the pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture. Gently fold in just until combined. Do not overmix!
6. Divide the batter between the two greased loaf pans.
7. Sprinkle each with the chilled streusel until the streusel is used up.
8. Bake at 350°F for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Prepare the maple glaze and drizzle the baked LOAVES

1. While the loaves are baking, mix together the powdered sugar, maple syrup and milk or water.
2. With the bread still warm from the oven, pour the glaze on top of the loaf fresh from the oven.
3. Allow the pumpkin bread loaves to cool for about 10 minutes then remove from the pan. Enjoy!

My Notes

1. Pumpkin Spice is available in most major supermarkets in the US. I got mine from Trader Joe’s. Here is a recipe that I found if you want to create your own mix: Pumpkin Spice Recipe

Did you bake Pumpkin Bread Loaves with Streusel and Maple Glaze? Please let me know by leaving a comment below.