Pumpkin Bread
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Kids love it, grown-ups love it…this pumpkin bread is hard to beat!
My grandmother clipped this pumpkin bread recipe from a magazine over 50 years ago, and it is my most-cherished family recipe. One of my clearest childhood memories is baking the loaves with my mom and carting them off to every neighborhood potluck and holiday party. Now I bake pumpkin bread with my own kids, and it’s just as wonderful today as it was back then. It’s easy to make — just a bit of mixing and stirring, pop it in the oven, and, in about an hour, you’ll have a house smelling of sweet autumn spices and two scrumptious, pumpkiny loaves.
Above, you can see the original recipe from my grandmother’s recipe box—it’s definitely seen its share of spills! After a bit of research, I discovered that the recipe was first published in the McCalls Cook Book (Random House, 1963). It is a typical sweet quick bread, similar to banana bread or cranberry nut bread, leavened with baking powder and/or baking soda instead of yeast. Quick bread batter can often be used to make muffins, and my pumpkin muffins are nearly identical to this bread, but with the addition of a pecan streusel topping.
Table of Contents
What You’ll Need To Make Pumpkin Bread
How To Make Pumpkin Bread
Begin by combining the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and spices. I like to add everything in neat little piles in case I lose track of what I’ve added.
Whisk well and set aside.
Combine the butter and sugar in a large bowl or in the bowl of an electric mixer.
Beat until just combined. It will look a little crumbly.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Continue beating for a few minutes until light and fluffy.
Add the pumpkin.
Beat until combined. It will look a little curdled or grainy — that’s okay.
Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture.
And beat on low speed until just combined.
Transfer the batter to loaf pans.
Bake for 65 to 75 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.
Let the loaves cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.
That’s all there is to it. Enjoy!
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Video Tutorial
Pumpkin Bread
Kids love it, grown-ups love it…this pumpkin bread is hard to beat!
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1½ sticks (¾ cup) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 (15-oz) can 100% pure pumpkin (I use Libby's)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F and set an oven rack in the middle position. Generously grease two 8 x 4-inch loaf pans with butter and dust with flour (alternatively, use a baking spray with flour in it, such as Pam with Flour or Baker's Joy).
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Whisk until well combined; set aside.
- In a large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until just blended. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Continue beating until very light and fluffy, a few minutes. Beat in the pumpkin. The mixture might look grainy and curdled at this point -- that's okay.
- Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until combined.
- Turn the batter into the prepared pans, dividing evenly, and bake for 65 – 75 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the loaves cool in the pans for about 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Fresh out of the oven, the loaves have a deliciously crisp crust. If they last beyond a day, you can toast individual slices to get the same fresh-baked effect.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The bread can be frozen for up to 3 months. After it is completely cooled, wrap it securely in aluminum foil, freezer wrap or place in a freezer bag. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before serving.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (24 servings)
- Serving size: 1 slice
- Calories: 166
- Fat: 6 g
- Saturated fat: 4 g
- Carbohydrates: 26 g
- Sugar: 17 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Sodium: 117 mg
- Cholesterol: 31 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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I followed recipe exactly,was really pleased with color, moistness and taste! It took 75 minutes of baking.
I am a huge fan of this website and have enjoyed many recipes. But I have to say I am stunned at the amount of sugar in this recipe. I reduced the sugar by 33% and I still found it way too sweet.
I agree. I knew it was too much sugar so I reduced by 1/4 cup. I will make it again but I will only use 1/2-1 cup of sugar. Tastes like candy not pumpkin bread.
Hi Jenn, I made these using beet sugar instead of regular sugar and they came out fantastic. My son is Type1 diabetic and beet sugar measures/bakes & TASTES like regular sugar but does not cause his glucose to spike (yeah!). Question: to make this recipe gluten free, could I just switch out the regular all purpose flour for all purpose Rice flour?
So glad your son was able to enjoy it, Pat! I haven’t tried converting this recipe to gluten-free but other readers have had success using a gluten-free flour blend.
Make yesterday with almond flour blend for a GF friend. Never quite baked thoroughly but flavor amazing. Luckily I can try original for my family this afternoon.
I just made it with gluten-free flour, cup4cup brand from Whole Foods. Tasted good to me!
This recipe is absolutely amazing! I used 9×5 loaf pans and cooked 55 minutes at 350°. I will definitely be making this again!
Best baking recipe I’ve come across. Turns out incredible every time.
I tried the recipe but mine did not rise quite like yours. In addition, the batter was very liquidy, not as thick as yours. I did not have store bought puree so just made my own. I am not sure what may have caused mine to turn out flat though. I used the same baking powder and baking soda earlier in the day to make banana bread and they rose well
Hi Lucrecia, This bread is more like a cake so it doesn’t rise very much. That said, you mentioned that you made your own pumpkin puree. Did you squeeze all the extra liquid out of it before incorporating it into the batter? If the pumpkin is still liquidy, it will definitely make the batter too thin and the bread too moist.
So easy to put together and makes the house smell amazing! I love these heritage type recipes. People did not have time/money to waste ingredients back then so you know the recipe is going to be good 🙂
Tried to make this one work several times but it’s just not a winner for me. Your results may vary! All of my loaves had a dark stripe of gooey, underbaked batter near the bottom, even after baking 15+ minutes over the recommended time (and by then I started getting an unpleasantly chewy crust on the outside). I also found the flavors rather bland…very sweet and dense, but no real kick of pumpkin or spice.
I had one larger loaf pan so ended up putting all batter into it. It baked nicely. I baked at 360 for about 75 minutes. I also used only one cup of sugar. It came out perfect. Thanks, Jenn!
I am so bemused about the baking at 325. I don’t have a new oven, I always bake at 350 and bake many banana bread, zucchini and pumpkin breads – many!! This time I thought I’d try this recipe since there are almost 1500 positive reviews. The ingredients and steps are simple. I was precise. But how on earth are people baking at 325! I had these darn things in the oven almost 3 hours at 325 and it never got cooked in the middle – total disappointment.
I baked for 60 minutes. Probably could have left in 5 more minutes. Mine were fine.