Pecan Praline Pumpkin Bread

Reasons to Love This Moist Praline Pumpkin Bread

• The best combination. This is a moist, tender pumpkin loaf with a crunchy brown sugar pecan praline topping. One bite, and you’ll be totally smitten. If you’re a fan of my cheesecake swirl pumpkin bread, I think you’ll love this praline version.
• Easy enough for beginners. Even if you’re new to baking, you can make this recipe! Praline pumpkin bread is so easy, but fancy enough for the holidays at the same time.
• Versatile. Enjoy this pumpkin bread as a cozy fall breakfast treat or serve it at Thanksgiving or Christmas brunch. Or, in the spirit of the holidays, bake two loaves and gift one to a neighbor!

What You’ll Need

The pecan praline pumpkin bread and crunchy topping is made with kitchen and pantry staples. Scroll down to the recipe card for the specified amounts.

• Dry ingredients – You’ll need all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
• Spices – Cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Feel free to substitute the individual spices with pumpkin pie spice or apple pie spice.
• Butter – Bring this to room temperature.
• Sugar – I use granulated white sugar, but you could use light brown sugar.
• Eggs – You’ll need one full egg and an extra white. It’s easiest to separate the egg while it’s cold from the fridge.
• Pumpkin Puree – Make sure it’s 100% pure pumpkin puree and NOT pumpkin pie filling. Pie filling contains sweeteners and thickeners.
• Icing – I make a simple brown sugar icing with butter, heavy cream, and brown sugar.

Pecan Praline Topping

• Light Brown Sugar – Packed into the measuring cup.
• Heavy Whipping Cream – Full-fat heavy cream will yield an extra-rich praline.
• Unsalted Butter – Bring the butter to room temperature.
• Chopped Pecans – You could also make your praline with chopped walnuts or almonds.

How to Make Pumpkin Bread With Pecan Praline

The collection of the praline layer does make it a little tough to test the bread for doneness, but it’s a tiny price to pay. That melt-in-your-mouth praline on top is my favorite part! Here’s how to make this amazing pecan praline pumpkin bread at home, step by step.

• Prepare for baking. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Meanwhile, generously grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan.
• Mix the dry ingredients. Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and spices together in a medium-sized bowl.
• Combine the wet ingredients. Next, cream the butter and sugar in a large mixer bowl just until combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing until well after each addition. Beat on medium speed until the wet ingredients are light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.

• Add the pumpkin. Now, beat in the pumpkin puree. The mixture may look a little curled and separated, and that’s okay. It’ll come together once we add the dry mixture.
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet batter. Slowly mix in the dry ingredients just until combined. Do not overmix the batter! If you need to stir it a bit more, use a spatula and do it gently by hand. Set the prepared batter aside.

Assemble and Bake

• Prepare the pecan praline. To make your homemade praline, combine the ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. Stir until well combined.
• Start with a layer of batter. To assemble your pumpkin praline bread, spread about half of the pumpkin bread batter evenly into the loaf pan.
• Add praline. Top the first batter layer with a little more than half of the pecan mixture, dropping it evenly over the batter.

• Repeat. Add the remaining batter by dropping spoonfuls over the pecan mixture, then gently spreading it into an even layer. Drop the remaining pecan mixture evenly over the top of the batter.
• Bake the loaf. Bake this praline pumpkin bread at 350ºF for 70-80 minutes. To tell if the bread is done, insert a toothpick just outside of the center of the bread where the pecan topping has gathered. If the toothpick comes out clean, the bread is done. The praline part won’t totally firm up during baking, which is fine, but you want the bread part to be fully baked.

A Note on the Praline Topping

As the pumpkin bread cools, it falls a little in the area where the topping collects to become a “pocket” of soft pecan praline, like you can see in the photos. This is because the loaf naturally rises at the edges before the center bakes, and the praline moves to the middle. I initially tested the loaf several times, trying to get rid of the pocket, but I realized it was almost impossible without leaving off the topping. It would mess up such a good thing! Since that’s pretty much my favorite part, I embraced it.

Cooling, Glazing, and Serving

I love how the smooth brown sugar icing enhances the praline swirled into this pumpkin bread, but you can leave it off if you’d like. Just keep in mind that the top of the loaf might be a little more crumbly when you cut into it. Either way, it’ll be divine.

• Cool the bread completely. Remove the loaf from the oven and allow it to cool to at least room temperature before you remove it from the pan.
• Add the icing. Combine all of the glaze ingredients in a saucepan. Heat the mixture over medium heat until it’s melted and boiling. Let it boil for about 30 seconds, then pour it into a heat-proof bowl so it doesn’t continue cooking. While the icing is still warm, drizzle it onto the pumpkin bread. Slice, and serve!

Baking Tips for a Moist Loaf

Want to make sure your praline pumpkin bread comes out perfect? These helpful tips will light the way.

• Accurately measure the flour. Don’t scoop your measuring cup directly into the flour – this will cause it to over-pack. Instead, spoon it in little by little and level it off at the top, fluffing up the flour before picking up each spoonful. Better yet, use a food scale (like I do) to be sure it’s accurate.
• Grease the loaf pan well. It’s important to grease your loaf pan thoroughly so the finished bread can be removed with ease. I use non-stick baking spray
• Tent the loaf with foil if you need to. If your oven has the tendency to over-brown things, tent the bread loosely with aluminum foil about 30 minutes into the bake time. Make sure the tent leaves room for the bread to rise.
• Let the bread cool. Don’t try to remove your loaf from the pan while it’s still warm! In order to prevent breakage, wait until it fully reaches room temperature.
• Swap the icing. Instead of brown sugar icing, glaze this praline-topped pumpkin bread with homemade caramel sauce.

Storage and Freezing

• Store at room temperature. The best way to store pecan praline pumpkin bread is in an airtight container at room temperature. Enjoy leftovers within 3-4 days. I like to warm up individual slices in the microwave for about 5 seconds.
• Freeze. Without the brown sugar icing on top, this pumpkin bread freezes beautifully. Simply wrap it tightly in a layer of plastic wrap and a layer of foil, then freeze it in a freezer-safe storage bag. Enjoy your pumpkin bread within 2 months of freezing. Thaw the loaf in the fridge overnight before adding the icing (if desired).

More Comforting Pumpkin Recipes

• Pumpkin Pound Cake
• Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars
• Classic Pumpkin Pie
• Pumpkin Layer Cake
• Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies