Bread Machine Pumpkin Bread (No Yeast)
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My bread machine pumpkin bread bakes in my husband’s grandmother’s old Panasonic, a 1 lb machine with no quick bread setting at all. Plenty of recipes assume you have that setting, and some say a loaf this size won’t fit a machine that small. I’ve made it in that Panasonic three times. The batter fits the pan just right, because there’s no yeast and no rise to make room for.
My kids are picky about pumpkin, so I didn’t expect much when we had this side by side with my 4-ingredient banana bread. They picked the pumpkin. They couldn’t tell me why. They just liked the flavor better, and from picky eaters, that’s plenty. It’s now the loaf I start in the morning when a friend is coming by that afternoon or the kids are bringing someone home.
We eat it warm with butter or cream cheese, usually as an afternoon snack with a mug of pumpkin spice chai latte or whatever tea is already brewing. For a second fall loaf, I bake spiced applesauce bread. That one goes in the oven, not the machine. Everything else I bake this time of year is in my fall recipes collection.
No quick bread cycle? Use the white bread cycle, never rapid. I once picked the rapid cycle on my Panasonic because I thought it meant quick bread. It doesn’t. Rapid is a fast cycle for yeast dough, and my loaf came out with a cake tester still wet in the center. I finished it in the oven at 350°F for about 30 minutes, still in the machine pan. I was nervous the pan wouldn’t survive it. It did, but I haven’t picked rapid since. The regular white bread cycle takes longer, 3 to 4 hours, because it runs through kneading and rising time this batter doesn’t need. But it bakes the loaf all the way through.
How It Comes Together
Take the pan out of the machine and add the wet ingredients straight to it. Whisk the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, pour them over the top, and let the machine do the mixing from there.
Choose the quick bread or cake cycle. That’s the setting this recipe was tested on. It runs about 2 hours, but the exact time varies by machine, and so does the name. Look for quick bread or cake, and skip anything labeled rapid or express.
If your machine has no quick bread or cake setting, use the basic or white bread cycle, the same one I run for my everyday bread machine bread. It takes 3 to 4 hours depending on the machine, and it still bakes this loaf all the way through. The batter fits a 1 lb pan, so a small machine isn’t a problem. If your machine offers a crust color on that cycle, pick light.
The loaf is done when the sides and top crust are fully set and a cake tester pushed into the center comes out clean. Leave it in the pan about 10 minutes, then turn it out onto a wire rack. Let it cool completely before you slice it.
The printable recipe card below has the full ingredient list, measurements, and step-by-step instructions.
Ingredient Notes
Pumpkin puree. Use plain pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling. Pie filling is already sweetened and spiced. Canned or homemade both work.
Brown sugar. It’s the only sugar in this loaf, and it’s there for its caramel flavor. For me, that caramel flavor is fall’s signature.
Pumpkin pie spice. I’ve bought from Mountain Rose Herbs for 15 years. They’re the experts, and I don’t touch a blend they’ve already perfected.
Add-ins. I like adding ½ cup raisins. Baked raisins plump up and get chewy. It’s the same reason I put them in my applesauce cake. The loaf also takes ½ cup chopped nuts or chocolate chips. Timing is in the recipe card notes.
What I’ve Learned Making This
Start it in the morning. On the quick bread cycle, it’s baked and cooled by afternoon, and afternoon is when it gets eaten at my house. On the white bread cycle, start earlier. That one can run close to 4 hours.
I have never skipped whisking the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, so I can’t tell you what happens without it. I keep doing it because this loaf has never given me trouble. Without a pre-whisk, it’s possible you might get lumpy dough or an uneven distribution of spice.
I turn most leftover bread into French toast. Moist quick breads are the ones that sometimes fall apart in the pan. They don’t look pretty, but they still taste good. I haven’t tried it with this loaf yet. If you do, tell me in the comments how it held up.
Brown Sugar Bread Machine Pumpkin Bread
Equipment
- 1 Bread machine
- 1 Medium mixing bowl
- 1 whisk
- Measuring cups
- Measuring spoons
- wire rack
Ingredients
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 2 large eggs whisked
- ½ cup butter softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 1 ½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Remove the bread pan from the bread machine. Add pumpkin, eggs, butter, and vanilla extract to the bread pan.
- Whisk the flour, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a mixing bowl. Then, pour the dry mixture over the wet ingredients in the bread pan.
- Insert the bread pan into the machine. Turn the machine on and select the QUICK BREAD or CAKE cycle. If your machine offers a crust color, choose light.
- Start the bread machine and let it mix the ingredients into a batter. Leave the machine to complete the cycle.
- Once baked, carefully remove the bread pan and cool it on a wire rack. Leave the bread in the pan for about 10 minutes before tipping it out. Let it cool completely before slicing.
Notes
- Use plain pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling. Canned or homemade both work.
- Bake on the quick bread or cake cycle. Cycle length varies by machine. Rapid and express cycles are for yeast bread and will leave the center underbaked.
- If your machine has no quick bread cycle, use the basic or white bread cycle. It takes about 3 to 4 hours and bakes the loaf through.
- Fits a 1 lb bread machine pan or larger.
- For add-ins, use ½ cup raisins, chopped nuts, or chocolate chips. Add them at the add-in beep. If your machine has no beep, add them once the first mixing has brought the batter together.
- The loaf is done when a cake tester in the center comes out clean.
Nutrition
