Snickerdoodle Pumpkin Bread

A blissful marriage of pumpkin bread and snickerdoodle cookies. This bread is beyond... the loaf itself is a heavenly combination of pumpkin and cinnamon, baked into a quick bread. That would be enough, but there's more. That moist, pumpkiny bread is topped with a crackly, caramelized blend of cinnamon and sugar. It hardly gets more dreamy than that.

So what's a "snickerdoodle"? According to The Joy of Cooking, snickerdoodles are probably German in origin, and the name is likely a corruption of the German word Schneckennudeln, "snail noodles", a kind of pastry. All I know is, the cookie is divine - a buttery dough with hints of vanilla, rolled in cinnamon-sugar. Each bite delivers equal parts chewy cookie and crunchy coating. Now imagine that with this pumpkin bread.

Oh, and it's healthy too! Thanks to the pumpkin, you hardly need any butter or oil. I used just 5 tablespoons of butter in the entire loaf. That means, you can feel great about serving this anytime - breakfast, brunch, midday snacking, and dessert. I stuffed big, thick slices in my boys' lunch boxes today.

And, because this bread is made with pumpkin and cinnamon (and it's all kinds of easy), add this recipe to your holiday baking repertoire - whether it's for your family or as a tempting gift for friends, coworkers, teachers, neighbors...

Snickerdoodle Pumpkin Bread

Cooking spray
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup Greek yogurt
For the topping: 
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat an 8- or 9-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.
In a small bowl, combine the flour, 1 1/2  teaspoons cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix well with a fork to combine. Set aside.
Beat the butter and 1 cup of the sugar together in a mixing bowl until well blended. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Beat in the pumpkin and vanilla.
Beat in half of the flour mixture. Beat in all of the yogurt and then the remaining flour mixture.
Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface.
To make the topping, in a small bowl, combine the 2 tablespoons granulated sugar and 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon. Mix well. Sprinkle the mixture over the bread.
Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until a wooden pick comes out clean or with little moist bits clinging to it.
Cool the bread in the pan, on a rack, before slicing. You don't need to cool the bread completely, it's amazing served warm.

Makes 1 loaf