Pumpkin Chai Bread
This pumpkin chai bread recipe is loaded with lots of chai spices like cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, clove, and nutmeg! These warming spices complement the pumpkin bread, resulting in a baked good that is neither too spicy or sweet. To top it off, the pumpkin bread is finished with a generous sprinkling of sugar to make its signature, crunchy sugar crust!
For more delicious and unique bread recipes on Hummingbird High, check out the site’s Loaf Cake Recipes archive! Popular recipes include this Incredibly Soft and Moist Snickerdoodle Bread and Moist Banana Bread With Sour Cream.
This recipe is based on the “Choose-Your-Own Pumpkin Spice Bread” recipe in my cookbook! The recipe is one of the most popular recipes in the book, with many readers sharing their take on the recipe on Instagram.
Ingredients and Substitutions
Now that I’ve convinced you to make this recipe, here’s everything you need for it:
Shopping List For Pumpkin Chai Bread
Be sure to scroll down to the recipe card for the exact ingredient quantities:
- all-purpose flour
- cardamom (preferably ground)
- cinnamon (preferably ground)
- ginger (preferably ground)
- cloves (preferably ground)
- baking powder
- baking soda
- kosher salt
- canned pumpkin puree
- canola oil
- pure vanilla extract
- granulated sugar
- large eggs
I can’t get canned pumpkin puree where I live. What can I use instead?
According to my international readers, canned pumpkin puree can be difficult to get outside of the United States. But no worries! You can make your own pumpkin puree at home. Simply process a pumpkin or the yellow or orange squash of your choice (my favorite is butternut squash) by peeling its skin, slicing it in half, and carving out the pumpkin/squash seeds. Cut the pumpkin/squash into 1-inch chunks and place the chunks on an aluminum foil-lined sheet pan. Toss with 1 Tablespoon neutral oil. Bake at 400°F for 20 to 25 minutes, or until fork-tender. Then, use a food processor to puree the pumpkin/squash. Use the puree immediately, or refrigerate in a ziptop bag or an airtight container for up to 3 days. After that, freeze for up to 3 months.
If you plan on using homemade pumpkin puree to make this recipe, bring the pumpkin puree to room temperature. Using pumpkin puree that’s too cold will result in a lumpy cake batter that’s hard to whisk together. Alternatively, using a pumpkin puree that’s too hot could potentially scramble the eggs in the batter.
How To Make The Recipe
Here are the basic steps to make pumpkin chai bread from scratch:
- Prep all the ingredients for the loaf cake. (Prep Time: 5 minutes)
Unless you’re making the pumpkin puree from scratch and grinding your own spices, prep for this recipe is fairly easy! All you need to do is measure out the ingredients to have them on hand. - Make the pumpkin chai bread batter. (Work Time: 10 minutes)
The batter comes together easily. All you need to do is prep the dry ingredients by whisking together the flour, spices, leaveners, and salt. Then, whisk together the pumpkin, oil, vanilla, sugar, and eggs. Gradually add the dry ingredients, mixing them into the batter by hand. - Assemble the bread. (Work Time: <5 minutes)
Pour the batter into a parchment lined 9 x 5-inch loaf pan. If necessary, use an offset spatula to smooth its top. Now, make it pretty! Garnish the top with 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar. - Bake the bread. (Bake Time: 60 minutes)
This recipe bakes for 1 hour. However, check for doneness at the 50 minute mark. If the top of the loaf cake and its edges look too brown, loosely cover it with aluminum foil until done baking. Check out the baker’s tips below for more tips and tricks!
Recipe Troubleshooting and FAQ
Do I have to use pre-ground cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves? Can I grind my own spices instead?
Absolutely! If you want to score the extra credit points and end up with an even tastier baked good, grind whole cardamom pods, cinnamon sticks, nutmeg, and cloves to use in this recipe. Grind them right before making the batter, too. Doing so will ensure that the spices are at their strongest and most aromatic, infusing the bread with lots of flavor.
Can you freeze pumpkin chai bread?
Yes, but I don’t recommend it. Why? The sugar garnish gives this loaf cake a crispy, flaky, sugary top. After freezing and thawing for reserving, this sugar top never recovers its crispiness. It’s best to serve this pumpkin chai bread as fresh as possible.
But if you insist, you can tightly wrap the entire cake or any leftover slices of cake in plastic wrap. Freeze for up to 3 months. To serve, transfer to the refrigerator overnight to thaw. The, let stand at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours before serving. Alternatively, rewarm individual slices in the microwave or toaster oven.
Best Recipe Tips
The Bake Time for this recipe is listed at 60 minutes. However, start checking for doneness at 50 minutes. The best way to test for doneness is to use a wooden skewer and stick it in the direct center of the loaf. The skewer should come out with few crumbs.
If you find that the skewer is plenty wet with batter but the top of the bread looks too browned to keep on baking, don’t panic! Simply cover the whole thing with a VERY loose sheet of aluminum foil. The aluminum foil will help prevent the top of the bread from browning further.
Get the Recipe: Pumpkin Chai Bread Recipe
Ingredients
For the Pumpkin Chai Bread
- 1 ¾ cup plus 1 Tablespoon (8.15 ounces or 231 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1 Tablespoon ground cardamom
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons (9 ounces or 255 grams) canned pumpkin puree
- 1 cup (8 ounces or 227 grams) canola oil
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 ⅓ cups (9.35 ounces or 265 grams) granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
For Garnish
- 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
Equipment
- a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan
Instructions
For the Pumpkin Chai Bread
- Prep your oven and pan. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray and line it with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on the long sides. Spray the parchment, too.
- Whisk the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Whisk the wet ingredients. In another medium bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, oil, vanilla, sugar, and eggs.
- Make the muffin batter. Gradually mix in the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined.
- Assemble the loaf cake. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and use an offset spatula to smooth the top. Sprinkle with the remaining sugar for the garnish.
- Bake the loaf cake. Set the loaf pan on a sheet pan and bake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out with a few crumbs attached. There will still be patches of sugar on top, but that’s totally okay, I promise! In fact, that’s the look you want. Cool on a wire rack.
- Serve and store. Serve warm or at room temperature. The cake can be stored at room temperature, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, for up to 3 days.
Did you make this recipe?
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Weeknight Baking:
Recipes to Fit your Schedule
Over the past several years of running Hummingbird High, I kept a crucial aspect of my life hidden from my readers: I had a full-time, extremely demanding job in the tech world. In my debut cookbook, Weeknight Baking, I finally reveal the secrets to baking delicious desserts on a tight schedule.
This looks great! Planning to make it in the next week
I made this tonight. Added in candied dates into the batter and rum raisins. I changed out the 1 1/3 sugar for 1/3 dark brown sugar and 1 cup granulated.
Topped it with homemade butter cream frosting that had cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, orange extract.
Let it rest on baker’s cooling rack for 30 minutes.
This recipie was fire and I’m happy I made a few changes. Tastes so good
Oh. My. Goodness. This bread is amazing. This recipe caught my eye because of the idea of the chai spice and it blew me away. After tasting the batter, I threw some of it in a mini muffin tin because I just didn’t want to wait for a whole loaf to finish baking and HOLY WOW. I really love how the flavors continue to develop on the palate. Can’t wait to enjoy this with a cup of pumpkin spice chai!
I made this recipe as mini loaves and it was *so good. The texture is perfect and the spices are well balanced. I am (personally) obsessed with cardamom and may experiment with adding more, but it was definitely good as is. I used the same ingredient amounts and they divided pretty perfectly into 5 mini loaves (size 14.5cm x 8.4cm x 4.7cm). Cook time was 35 min (give or take——I tested with a toothpick for doneness after 30 min).
My husband said this was one of the best breads I’ve ever made! Love the amount of spices that goes into it. It’s definitely a perfect baked good for the Fall.
Here are some changes I made with this recipe:
-I used 1/2 oil and the other half Greek yogurt
-Added 3/4 cups shredded carrot (leftover from another recipe)
-I believe I used ~240 g sugar
It was still very moist and delicious with added protein and some veggies.
I also made this in a 8×4 inch loaf and it came out ready in ~65 minutes. Had a sheet pan underneath but did not spill over :).
Thanks so much for this recipe!
Fantastic flavor. A nice alternative to pumpkin bread. I substituted allspice for cardamom (didn’t have it) – probably gave it a bit more of a clove flavor but it’s delicious. It’s a bit too sweet for me so I’ll reduce sugar to 1 cup. Otherwise this will definitely be on an annual fall rotation!
Made this almost exactly as listed. The sugar on the top hardened before the loaf was finished rising, so it had a bit of a crag on top as it lifted the crust up so mine wasn’t quite as pretty. Came out at exactly 60 minutes.
I was afraid of the 1T of cardamom, so I ended up putting 1T of whole cardamom in a spice grinder (also the cloves and some cinnamon bark). So I probably had 80% of the 1T, but that turned out lovely.
Can you use chai tea bags instead of chai spice mix?
Yes you can!
I made this yesterday and it tastes delicious! Although, it took mine 25 more minutes to cook and it is extremely crumbly. I followed the instructions completely and even measured down to the grams on my scale, so I’m not sure why? I’m wondering if I should try less oil next time? I love that it’s not super dense like most other recipes – it’s moist, but lighter and fluffier. I think I’ll add more spices next time to give it even more flavor.
Hmm, crumblyness is usually a sign of overbaking. When doing the toothpick test with the cake, it’s okay for it to come out with a few crumbs on the toothpick as opposed to completely clean! You can also use a meat thermometer. If the center of the cake reads between 200-205 F, you can pull it out of the oven!
I’ve spent this holiday season looking for the perfect pumpkin bread recipe… and this is it! A month ago, I made a double batch, ate the first batch, and froze the second. I’m just now eating the thawed, second batch and it is as delicious as the first! So flavorful, soft, and moist… a winner!