Brown Butter & Sage Pumpkin Bread

One of life’s greatest tricks is making a pumpkin bread that is still perfectly moist, but has a solid, cutable crumb – and let me tell you, the brown butter & sage pumpkin bread does exactly that. This recipe was began as a newspaper clipping my grandma pulled out in the 70’s, and it has since changed and evolved into one of the most special family pumpkin bread recipes.

I have fond memories of my grandma serving this particular pumpkin bread straight from the fridge. And you know if it’s good chilled, that means it is even better fresh from the oven. I took her recipe and adapted it by adding brown butter instead of oil, along with a hint of sage and a bit more brown sugar. The result is a perfectly moist, perfectly sliceable pumpkin bread that belongs on your fall table. No matter what kind of fall feast you are making.

What is the benefit of using brown butter?

Brown butter is an amazing ingredient, especially in baked goods like this banana bread. It adds a rich, deep, caramelized flavor that you can’t get with normal butter, and that’s because we are essentially “toasting” the milk solids in brown butter as we cook it.

What happens when we brown butter, is that the butter separates into water and milk solids. Butter is actually about 22% water and 78% milk solids (baking math, fun!) and the milk solids are what create the dark, rich tones of brown butter.

Ingredients you will need for this sage & brown butter pumpkin bread

The ingredients for this recipe are simple. I’ve left you both the measurements in cups and grams, but when in doubt, I always say use grams for accuracy on this one!

• 1 cup unsalted butter, 2 sticks or 226 grams
• 2 sprigs fresh sage
• 2 cups granulated sugar, 440 grams
• 1 cup brown sugar, 160 grams
• 4 large eggs
• 1 16 oz. can of pumpkin purée
• 3 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 490 grams
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp each cinnamon & nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp each cloves & all spice
• 2/3 cup milk of choice

How to prepare the brown butter for this pumpkin bread

Brown butter seems tricky, but it’s really just a stir-watch-and-wait process. And it’s like riding a bike, once you master it once, it’ll be in your repitorie forever. You might never go back to regular cookies again.

Begin by putting a pan or sauce pot on medium to medium-low heat, you don’t want it to be any higher than that.

Add the butter in a big clump and stir it with a wooden spoon until it melts. This is my favorite part. It’s so supremely satisfying.

Let the butter hang out until it starts slightly fizzing and foaming, I keep stirring it occasionally to prevent it from scorching, the whole process happens quite fast!

You’ll start to see light brown flecks, when that happens begin to stir constantly. When the flecks deepen to a nice golden brown, turn off the heat. Let the butter continue to darken in the pan just a bit, then it’s time to pour into a bowl and begin step #2!

I’ll have all steps listed out below so we don’t need to cover them up here.

Now in this recipe, next up is tempering the brown butter. It’s usually best to let brown butter cool for a while so that it doesn’t curdle any eggs you are cooking with. In this recipe I opt to temper the butter with a splash of milk. This both quickens the process and emuslifies the brown butter into a thick, golden mixture.

What other herbs besides sage can you use in this recipe?

This recipe is a rich, spiced fall recipe, so I’d opt for only warming, autumn herbs in this one. If you don’t have sage on hand, I recommend either using thyme or rosemary as substitutes. Both would make a delicious pumpkin loaf!

How to combine the wet ingredients

The wet ingredients here are not an exact science, but I recommend beating the eggs first, then adding the sugars, brown butter and pumpkin all at once. You’ll want to beat this until it is smooth as possible.

I used to mix the pumpkin in separately, but it just seemed like an unnecessary step. Do what you prefer here, just make sure not to add the milk yet, you’ll use it later!

How to add in the dry ingredients

Noooowww it’s time for the milk. Adding the dry ingredients it a bit of arm work here, since this batter is meant to be thick, not drizzly.

I recommend whisking together the dry ingredients, and then adding them in 4 rounds, alternating with a splash of milk each round.

Fold these ingredients in with a spatula to avoid creating a tough loaf – and you should be all set with your brown butter pumpkin bread batter!

Can you use pumpkin pie spice instead of the individual ground spices?

The quick answer to this is absolutely – this is a highly spiced bread, so I gave you ratios of warming spices so that you get the best possible result, but if pumpkin spice mix is all you have, you’ll still get a very similar result! No need to reinvent the (pumpkin spice) wheel here.

Preparing the loaf pans for baking

My absolute favorite way to bake is with parchment paper. Pre-cut of course, save yourself the headache.

But truly! Not only is it good for packing your pumpkin bread later, it makes the baking process no-mess and no-fuss. I don’t even grease my pans.

Simply cut slits in the edges of the parchment paper that line up with the edges of the pan, and then fold the parchment paper into the pan until it forms a rectangle. And voila!

How to bake this pumpkin bread and maintain as much moisture as possible

Then you’ll want to bake this at 350°F for 60-70 minutes – it’s long, I know. But the low-and-slow baking process will help you maintain as much moisture as possible when you are baking your pumpkin bread.

This also helps create rounded, domed tops that look perfect whenever you are making an autumn dessert. So use patience here and wait for the brown butter pumpkin breads to come out looking gorgeous (or, y’know, whenever you insert a toothpick and it comes out clean).

FAQ

Why is this brown butter pumpkin bread recipe in grams?

Baking, at its core, is always a bit of a science. The only way to ensure complete accuracy is through measuring by weight, and not volume. As much as I wish I could give you multiple ways to measure ingredients, in this recipe measuring by cups might cause some volatility and miss-matched results. I want to ensure you get the best results with this recipe (and I want to keep this recipe fool-proof!) so I highly recommend getting a small affordable kitchen scale if you want to move forward with this loaf recipe!

Looking for more of my favorite fall recipes?

It IS the season – so here are a few of the cozy recipes I love making:

And that’s everything for this brown butter pumpkin loaf! If you make it, please tag me on Pinterest or Instagram so I can see! It’s my favorite thing to scroll through stories and see what you all are making.

And of course feel free to leave any questions, comments or reviews! This is the best place to reach me, and I’d love to hear from you <3