Pumpkin Swirl Donut Bread

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Pumpkin Swirl Donut Bread is a sweet cakey loaf with a cinnamon swirl, baked to perfection, and then coated with cinnamon sugar!

Pumpkin Swirl Donut Bread

I’ve done it again. Introducing my Pumpkin Swirl Donut Bread recipe! This is very very similar to my first donut bread recipe but obviously made with pumpkin, swirled with a cinnamon/molasses mixture and baked to perfection. After it’s cooled, you dip the entire loaf in melted butter and cinnamon sugar to get the full donut effect that I am positive will blow your minds.

Main Ingredients Needed

This Pumpkin Swirl Donut Bread recipe takes two different batters and swirls them together for a sinful treat. These ingredients first listed are just to make the base Pumpkin batter.

• Canola Oil – this gives the bread tons of moisture.
• Butter – beautiful buttery flavor.
• Granulated Sugar – for sweetness, of course!
• Eggs – this adds structure and helps the bread rise a bit.
• Vanilla Extract – vanilla compliments pumpkin and cinnamon sugar very well.
• Pumpkin Puree – this is a pumpkin bread recipe so we need pumpkin!
• All-Purpose Flour – this fills out the bread and helps make it bread.
• Baking Powder – for leavening.
• Salt – to balance and compliments all the other flavors.
• Buttermilk – extra moisture comes from this ingredient that creates an extra soft pumpkin bread. If you don’t have buttermilk on hand mix together 1/4 cup of milk and 1/4 teaspoon of white vinegar.

Two Batters

Now from the base pumpkin batter, you can make the second batter. To do so you take 1/2 cup of the original batter and add:

• Cinnamon – a staple spice that goes so well with pumpkin!
• Molasses – thick and sticky but also so so so good in this batter mixture. It pairs super well with the pumpkin and cinnamon.

Voila! Now you are ready to dollop and swirl!

How to Make Pumpkin Swirl Donut Bread

For full details on how to make Pumpkin Swirl Donut Bread, see the recipe card down below 🙂

1. Preheat oven. Grease light colored loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, mix oil, butter, and sugar. Stir in eggs, vanilla, and pumpkin until smooth. Gently stir in dry ingredients and buttermilk until a uniform batter has formed. Scrape sides to ensure no lumps are present.
3. Remove 1/2 cup prepared batter from bowl and place into a separate smaller bowl. To that small amount of batter, stir in cinnamon and molasses.
4. Pour half of the prepared batter into the bottom of the loaf pan. Spoon half of the cinnamon batter in small dollops over top the batter. Pour remaining plain batter over the top. Dot the top with the remaining cinnamon batter. Using a butter knife, swirl two batters together.
5. Bake until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs.

Tips and Tricks for Perfect Pumpkin Swirl Donut Bread

• Don’t Over Mix. Overmixing produced gluten in the flour and ruins the soft texture of the pumpkin bread. So mix well but not too well.
• Mini Loaves. This recipe is also super delicious as mini loaves. Use mini loaf pans or even a cupcake tin! You are going to want to change baking times. They are done when a toothpick comes out clean with maybe a crumb.
• Mix-Ins. You can also mix in different ingredients to customize your pumpkin bread recipe. Try different varieties of nuts. If you are looking to mix in chocolate chips check out my Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread!

Swirling is Optional

My swirls weren’t the best as you can see in these pictures and you can most definitely skip that step and add the molasses and cinnamon directly into the batter instead of dividing it out, but man, it’s sure fun to do 🙂 I just went back and forth, up and down with a butter knife a few times. Again, an optional step that doesn’t make any difference for taste.

Your texture should be relatively cakey as long as you don’t mix it too vigorously (keep that gluten at bay!) and as long as you don’t over bake. The butter that you coat the entire loaf with will take care of any crispy edges and the cinnamon and sugar coating takes it over the top.

Coating Ingredients

This coating takes this Pumpkin Swirl Donut Bread recipe over the top! The ingredient list is short and sweet so let’s get into it.

• Melted Butter – this is used as a soak! This helps the other goodies stick to the outside of the loaf.
• Cinnamon, Granulated Sugar, and Brown Sugar – this mixture sticks to the outside and covers any imperfections in the bread. Basically, this cinnamon sugar mixture IS perfection. I mean there are a ton of other amazing treats with a mixture like this, like churros, and elephant ears to name a few.

Cinnamon Sugar Topping

1. While the loaf is baking, get coating ready. Pour melted butter into a large shallow dish. Stir sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon together in a separate large shallow dish.
2. Cool the loaf before loosening edges and removing loaf from pan. It should be very warm, but cool enough to handle with your hands.
3. Dip each side of the loaf into melted butter until fully coated. Spoon remaining melted butter over the edges that tend to be more crispy. Transfer buttery loaf to the cinnamon-sugar mixture and press into the sides and top until fully coated.
4. Slice into pieces and serve warm or at room temperature.

How Long Does This Last?

Pumpkin Swirl Donut Bread will last 1 to 2 days at room temperature and up to a week stored in the fridge. All in an airtight container of course.

Can You Freeze Pumpkin Swirl Donut Bread?

Yes! This Pumpkin Swirl Donut Bread freezes beautifully!

To freeze, bake and coat accordingly then let cool completely. The key to freezing pumpkin bread is to wrap it tightly in plastic wrap so it is as airtight as possible. Then place in a plastic freezer bag. Freeze for up to 3 months.

To serve, thaw on the counter for several hours. Then slice and enjoy!

Other Pumpkin Bread Recipes

Or if you are looking for other versions of pumpkin bread, try these out:

• Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread – a little more traditional with the addition of chocolate.
• Big Batch Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread – this one makes 5 whole loaves!
• Pumpkin Mini Loaves with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting – so cute and so yummy.
• Pumpkin Pull-Apart Bread – perfect for sharing!
• Pumpkin Monkey Bread Recipe – dough dipped in butter and cinnamon sugar, baked and then topped with a buttery maple glaze.

The recipe card is listed below. A relatively simple recipe with easy to find ingredients. Just follow the directions as best as you can and enjoy the sugar coma that will follow 😉

Have a great day, friends!

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4.81 from 51 votes

Pumpkin Swirl Donut Bread

Pumpkin Swirl Donut Bread is a sweet cakey loaf with a cinnamon swirl, baked to perfection, and then coated with cinnamon sugar!

servings 12 servings

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

• ▢ 1/4 cup canola oil
• ▢ 1/4 cup butter softened
• ▢ 1 cup granulated sugar
• ▢ 2 eggs at room temperature
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
• ▢ 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• ▢ 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1/4 cup buttermilk or 1/4 cup milk + 1/4 teaspoon white vinegar
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon molasses

for the coating-

• ▢ 1/2 cup melted butter
• ▢ 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• ▢ 1/4 cup brown sugar
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease light colored loaf pan (8 1/2" x 4 1/2" x 2 3/4” high) with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
• In a large bowl, mix oil, butter, and sugar until well combined. Stir in eggs, vanilla, and pumpkin until smooth. Gently stir in dry ingredients and buttermilk until a uniform batter has formed. Scrape sides to ensure no lumps are present. Remove 1/2 cup prepared batter from bowl and place into a separate smaller bowl. To that small amount of batter, stir in cinnamon and molasses.
• Pour half of the prepared batter into the bottom of the loaf pan. Spoon half of the cinnamon batter in small dollops overtop the batter. Pour remaining plain batter over the top. Dot the top with remaining cinnamon batter. Using a butter knife, swirl two batters together. Bake 45-50 minutes or until toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs.
• While loaf is baking, get coating ready. Pour melted butter into a large shallow dish. Stir sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon together in a separate large shallow dish.
• Cool 10 minutes before loosening edges and removing loaf from pan. The loaf should be very warm, but cool enough to handle with your hands. Dip each side of loaf into melted butter until fully coated. Spoon remaining melted butter over the edges that tend to be more crispy. Transfer buttery loaf to the cinnamon-sugar mixture and press into the sides and top until fully coated.
• Slice into pieces and serve warm or at room temperature.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 315kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 58mg | Sodium: 216mg | Potassium: 88mg | Sugar: 25g | Vitamin A: 1195IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 35mg | Iron: 1mg

Course: Breakfast, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: pumpkin swirl donut bread