Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bread with Brown Butter

I use my two-flour blend, a full can of pumpkin, and cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and allspice.

Brown butter makes it. Two loaves in every batch.

Sliced gluten-free pumpkin bread with a moist orange-brown crumb, served on a cooling rack beside the remaining loaf.

Real Talk

This started with a recipe a friend shared with me. I'd never made it before, and I was already changing it as we measured the spices. I made this version with my daughters, using browned butter and my gluten-free flour blend.

When I asked about brown butter, the first guess was brown sugar and butter. Fair question. But this is about cooking the butter until the milk solids toast, not adding anything to make it brown.

The detail I kept coming back to was the bottom of the pot. Stirring the surface isn't the point. Keep the milk solids moving so they don't stay in one spot and burn.

Why This Recipe Works

Brown butter, including the browned bits. The toasted milk solids go into the batter along with the butter. Don't leave them behind in the saucepan.
Two flours on purpose. I prefer Bob's Red Mill for flavor and Cup4Cup for lift and airiness. This recipe uses the two-to-one combination I like.
Individual spices. I use the spices separately so I can keep cinnamon and nutmeg up front, with smaller amounts of cloves, ginger, and allspice.

Ingredients

Flour & Leavening

1⅓ cups Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour
⅔ cup Cup4Cup Multipurpose Flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder

Spices

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground allspice

Wet Ingredients

¾ cup unsalted butter (1½ sticks or 12 tablespoons), measured before browning
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (15-ounce) can plain pumpkin purée

For the Pans

Gluten-free nonstick cooking spray

Ingredients for gluten-free pumpkin bread, including flour, pumpkin puree, brown and white sugar, butter, eggs, spices, vanilla, and baking powder.

My Gluten-Free Flour Blend

For the 2 cups of flour in this recipe, use 1⅓ cups Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour and ⅔ cup Cup4Cup Multipurpose Flour. That is two parts Bob's to one part Cup4Cup.

I like the flavor of Bob's, but I prefer the lift and airiness I get from Cup4Cup. Combining them is my way of getting some of each.

How I Measure Gluten-Free Flour

Instead of digging the measuring cup through the flour, I tip the bag so the flour settles to one side, hold the cup underneath, and let the flour fall into it. It keeps me from packing extra flour into the cup. Too much gluten-free flour can push the texture toward gummy.

Butter, Sugars, Eggs, and Vanilla

Start with ¾ cup unsalted butter, which is 1½ sticks or 12 tablespoons, measured before browning. Let it cool to room temperature before mixing, and keep the toasted bits.

Use 1 cup granulated sugar and 1 cup brown sugar. I lightly pack the brown sugar rather than forcing as much as possible into the cup. The two large eggs should be at room temperature. The vanilla goes in after the eggs, before the pumpkin.

Pumpkin, Spices, and Leavening

Use one 15-ounce can of plain pumpkin purée. No particular brand is required. This is not a recipe for sweetened, spiced pumpkin pie mix.

The cinnamon and nutmeg lead here, with smaller amounts of cloves, ginger, and allspice. The full amounts are listed above and in the recipe card.

The leavening is already included: 1 teaspoon baking powder and 1 teaspoon baking soda for the whole batch. Don't add another teaspoon of baking powder per cup of flour on top of the written recipe.

Libby's vs. Great Value: Is One “Real Pumpkin”?

You may have heard that Great Value is real pumpkin while Libby's is squash. That sets up a distinction that doesn't hold up. Libby's explains that pumpkins are types of squash and that its pumpkin variety was bred from Dickinson pumpkins. Not looking like a carving pumpkin doesn't make it fake.

There is a labeling wrinkle, too. FDA guidance on canned pumpkin allows the pumpkin designation for certain golden-fleshed, sweet squash. A “100% pure pumpkin” label does not, by itself, identify the exact variety or prove one brand is more authentic.

That does not establish that the brands are identical in flavor or consistency. It does mean “pumpkin versus squash” isn't a sound reason to choose between them. For this bread, buy plain pumpkin purée, not pumpkin pie mix, which already contains sugar and spices.

Check Your Loaf Pan Size

Both sizes bake at 325°F, but they have different baking times:

Two 9 × 4-inch loaf pans: 60–70 minutes.
Two long pans, approximately 12 × 4½ inches, as shown in the photos: 50–60 minutes.

Test the center of each loaf with a toothpick or cake tester. It should come out clean. Start checking at the beginning of the range for your pans.

How to Make Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bread

Step 1: Brown the butter and let it cool

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. It will bubble as it cooks. Sweep a spatula across the bottom to keep the milk solids from sitting in one spot.

Melted butter bubbling in a stainless steel saucepan before browning.

The butter will begin to foam. Keep watching the solids underneath: they can be darker than the foam looks. Don't wait for all the foam to turn dark brown.

A layer of pale foam covering the butter as it cooks in a stainless steel saucepan.

When golden-brown specks form on the bottom, take the pan off the heat and transfer the butter to a bowl. Scrape in the browned bits, too.

Amber-colored browned butter with a ring of foam in a mixing bowl.

Cool to room temperature before mixing with the sugars and eggs. I speed this up with about 20 minutes in the freezer, stirring every 5 minutes. The goal is room-temperature butter, not butter that has frozen solid.

Step 2: Prepare the oven and pans

Set the oven rack in the middle position and preheat to 325°F. Lightly grease two loaf pans with gluten-free nonstick cooking spray, then line them with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang to help lift out the loaves.

Use two 9 × 4-inch pans for the 60–70-minute bake, or the long pans shown here for the 50–60-minute bake.

Step 3: Whisk the dry ingredients

Whisk or sift both flours with the salt, baking soda, baking powder, and all five spices until evenly combined. Set the bowl aside.

Gluten-free flour and spices whisked together in a mixing bowl.

The dry mixture should look evenly speckled with the spices before you move on.

Step 4: Mix the butter, sugars, and eggs

Using an electric mixer on medium speed, cream the cooled browned butter and both sugars until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition.

An egg added to the browned butter and sugar mixture in a stand mixer bowl.

Continue beating for 2 minutes until light and airy, then mix in the vanilla. Scrape down the bowl as needed.

Browned butter, sugar, and eggs beaten together into a pale mixture in a stand mixer bowl.

At this point, the mixture should look lighter and airy before the pumpkin goes in.

Step 5: Mix in the pumpkin

Add the canned pumpkin and mix it in.

Pumpkin puree added to the browned butter, sugar, and egg mixture in a stand mixer bowl.

If the mixture looks slightly split or curdled at this point, that's normal. Continue with the measured dry ingredients rather than adding extra flour.

Step 6: Add the dry ingredients and finish by hand

Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until just incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and gently fold by hand to finish mixing.

Gluten-free flour and spice mixture added to the pumpkin batter before mixing.

Stop once the dry ingredients are incorporated, then finish the last few folds by hand.

Step 7: Divide, bake, and cool

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared loaf pans.

Pumpkin bread batter divided between two parchment-lined loaf pans before baking.

Bake at 325°F for 60–70 minutes in two 9 × 4-inch pans, or 50–60 minutes in two long pans approximately 12 × 4½ inches. A toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center of each loaf should come out clean.

Let the loaves cool in their pans for 10 minutes, then lift them out using the parchment and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

A slice of gluten-free pumpkin bread on a plate with additional loaves cooling on a rack in the background.

Once fully cooled, the loaf should slice cleanly with a soft, even crumb.

Expert Tips

Watch the solids, not just the foam. The milk solids underneath can burn before the foam looks dark. Keep sweeping the bottom and take the butter out of the hot saucepan when it's ready.
Scrape in the browned bits. They belong in the batter, not left in the pan or cooling bowl.
Let the butter cool first. The freezer is a shortcut for cooling, not a reason to mix hot butter into the eggs.
Lay the butter sticks flat. Put the sticks flat in the saucepan so more surface area is hitting the heat as the butter melts.

FAQs

Do I add extra baking powder for the gluten-free flour?

No extra baking powder goes on top of the written amounts. This recipe uses 1 teaspoon baking powder and 1 teaspoon baking soda total for its 2 cups of flour.

Do I need a stand mixer?

No. A stand mixer works well, but a hand mixer is fine too. Use medium speed for the browned butter, sugars, and eggs, then low speed when adding the dry ingredients. Finish folding by hand.

Is a slightly curdled-looking mixture a problem?

No. The mixture can look slightly split after adding the pumpkin. Continue with the measured dry ingredients rather than adding extra flour to change how the wet mixture looks.

Why use two gluten-free flours?

I prefer the flavor of Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour, but Cup4Cup gives me more lift and airiness. Using two parts Bob's to one part Cup4Cup gives me some of what I like about each.

More Gluten-Free Baking

For another baking project, try my Gluten-Free Red Velvet Cake or Gluten-Free Key Lime Bars.

Did you make this Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bread?

Please leave a star rating and tell me how it turned out!