Cranberry Pecan Pumpkin Bread

When I get an urge to make a quick bread, I often turn to banana bread, but this Pumpkin Bread is one I should be making far more often. It’s just as quick as any banana bread and just as delicious too, but with a totally different autumnal flavor profile. It’s moist and pumpkiny but studded with chewy cranberries and crunchy pecans so every bite comes with pumpkin spice, but also a tart burst of flavor. It’s good, friends, real good. Good enough to give away, but good enough that you don’t feel at all guilty keeping it all to yourself. (Luckily this recipe makes two loaves, so you have plenty to go around!)

This is the type of bread that comes together so easily, you really don’t even need a mixer to do the job. It’s just a simple stirring of some flour, baking powder, and spices, and then some pumpkin puree, oil, eggs, brown sugar, and such. The dried cranberries and pecans go in last and the batter gets poured into two loaf pans to bake into some beautiful bread.

With any quick bread, it helps to let it cool completely before you slice it. That keeps it from getting totally crumbly on you.

This bread is so nicely spiced that it’s delicious all on its own, but some butter slathered on a slice wouldn’t hurt things either. And it would be great with some pumpkin or apple butter as well!

Cranberry Pecan Pumpkin Bread

1 hour to prepare 2 loaves

Ingredients

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree
  • 2/3 cup brown sugar
  • 2/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup vegetable or canola oil
  • 3 eggs, room temperature
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup dried cranberries, roughly chopped, if desired
  • 3/4 cup pecans, chopped

Preparation

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F and grease two 8x4-inch loaf pans and line with parchment paper. Set aside.
  2. To a large bowl, add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg and whisk to combine.
  3. In a separate bowl, stir together the pumpkin, brown sugar, granulated sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Add to dry ingredients and mix just until combined.
  4. Fold in pecans and cranberries and pour batter into prepared pans.
  5. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 50-55 minutes.
  6. Cool for 10 minutes in loaf pan before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Slice, serve, and enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Mom On Timeout.