One of my favourite things about fall is walking into the kitchen and smelling my pumpkin loaf baking in the oven. I decided to experiment with it this year and create a chai spiced pumpkin loaf with maple pecan streusel. It adds the perfect crunch and complementary flavours.
I won’t waste your time with a long blog post about fall and just jump right to my first recipe on Crows Crossing (thanks for being here for it).
What You’ll Need:
For the Chai Spiced Pumpkin Loaf:
- 1 ¾ cups (220 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp (5 g) baking soda
- ½ tsp (2 g) baking powder
- ½ tsp (3 g) salt
- 1 tsp (3 g) ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp (1 g) ground cardamom
- ½ tsp (1 g) ground ginger
- ¼ tsp (0.5 g) nutmeg
- ¼ tsp (0.5 g) allspice
- 1 cup (240 g) pumpkin purée (not pumpkin pie filling)
- ¾ cup (150 g) light brown sugar, packed
- ½ cup (120 ml) neutral oil (canola or sunflower)
- 2 large eggs (about 100 g total)
- 1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) pure maple syrup
For the Maple Pecan Streusel:
- ½ cup (60 g) chopped pecans
- ¼ cup (30 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp (25 g) light brown sugar
- 2 tbsp (30 g) cold unsalted butter, cubed
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) pure maple syrup
- Pinch of cinnamon
Let’s Get Started:
Preheat & Prepare
Preheat oven to 175 °C / 350 °F.
Grease and line a 9 × 5 in (23 × 13 cm) loaf pan with parchment paper.
Make the Streusel
Mix the pecans, flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl and the butter cubes and mix until crumbly. Drizzle in the maple syrup and mix briefly until small clumps form. Set aside.
Mix the Dry Ingredients
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and all spices.
Mix the Wet Ingredients
Stand Mixer:
Attach the paddle attachment. Add pumpkin purée, brown sugar, oil, eggs, vanilla, and maple syrup. Beat on medium speed for 1 minute until smooth.
By Hand:
In another large bowl, whisk together pumpkin purée, brown sugar, oil, eggs, vanilla, and maple syrup until fully blended and glossy.
Combine Wet & Dry
Stand Mixer:
Reduce the speed to low and add the dry ingredients in two additions. Mix only until no streaks of flour remain; don’t overmix.
By Hand:
Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and fold gently with a spatula or wooden spoon until just combined.
Assemble the Loaf
Pour the pumpkin batter into the prepared loaf pan and sprinkle the maple pecan streusel evenly over the top.
Bake
Bake for 55–65 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean. If the top browns too quickly, tent loosely with foil for the final 15 minutes.
Cool and Serve
Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Let it cool completely before slicing, don’t be like me and dive in when it’s still too warm lol.
Chai Spiced Pumpkin Loaf with Maple Pecan Streusel
Ingredients
Chia Pumpkin Loaf
- 225 g 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- 150 g ¾ cup light brown sugar
- 100 g ½ cup granulated sugar
- 115 g ½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 2 large eggs
- 240 g 1 cup pumpkin purée
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Maple Pecan Streusel:
- 50 g ⅓ cup chopped pecans
- 40 g 3 tbsp brown sugar
- 25 g 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 30 g 2 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cubed
- 1 tbsp pure maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F) and line a 9×5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl, mix the streusel ingredients with a fork until crumbly and sprinkle evenly over the top.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices.
- In a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer), combine the brown sugar, granulated sugar, and melted butter.
- Mix until smooth, then add the eggs one at a time, followed by the pumpkin purée and vanilla, mixing until fully combined.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing on low speed (or by hand) just until no flour remains.
- Pour the batter into a loaf pan and add the maple pecan streusel evenly on top.
- Bake for 55–65 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out mostly clean.
- Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Slice and enjoy once fully cooled.
