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’ve made this recipe and I love it. Make it every year. I was wondering if this would adapt into cupcakes well?
Sure, Melissa – you might reduce the sugar by 1/4 cup if you plan to frost them. I would start checking for doneness around 20 min.
This is bread is delicious!! I don’t think I can express into words how much I love this recipe and bread. It was a huge hit with my family the two times I baked and one even asked me to make this for her birthday. I do think the cloves slightly overpowered the other flavors so the second time I added a little less, but that’s just personal preference. I never expected this recipe and bread to be as good as it was!!
I reserve some of the butter and cinnamon/sugar, then brush it on top when out of oven. Big hit with kids. I also add crushed walnut on request.
My mom asked me for pumpkin bread once. I found your recipe. I have since become the go-to person for pumpkin bread! I make multiple batches during holidays, for out-of-state family visits, and on request from friends.
I have a sweet aversion, and have never actually tried it, but from the number of repeat requests, this is a true hit! Thank you!
First and foremost, the texture of this bread is fabulous! So moist yet light and airy – not oily or dense. I only took off a star because the spices are too strong for my liking. I’m not sure if it’s the clove or the nutmeg, but I’ll try reducing these next time. I’ll definitely make it again and play with the spices!
Hi—I really enjoyed this recipe. It was easy to follow, and the ingredients were easily available. I used a pumpkin from my garden. I just boiled it, cut the skin off, and mashed it. I used 500 grams for your recipe. Two wonderful loaves! It smelt great cooking.
This was such a great recipe ! I made one big loaf and reduced the sugar by 1/2 a cup, which was a perfect amount of sweetness for me. The cloves seemed to slightly overpower the pumpkin flavour so next time I would add a little less, but that’s just personal preference 🙂
Can I use pumpkin pie spice mix, in place of the individual spices? if so, how much? thanks!
Sure – you’ll need 1 tablespoon. Hope you enjoy!
Great thinking!
Excellent recipe that I have already made 4 times in 2021! Made exactly as outlined with the following exceptions: I used salted butter so I cut back the salt to 1/4 tsp, I used 3 heaping tsps of pumpkin pie spice in lieu of 1 tsp each of cloves, cinnamon and ginger, I cut back on the sugar to 1 1/2 cups as 2 cups of sugar was a tad too sweet for us, added 1 cup of softened Sultana raisins to the batter for more moistness and topped with chopped walnuts prior to baking. The recipe comes out simply perfect every single time!! Thank you so much for sharing this super good and treasured old time recipe.
Pumpkin bread isn’t really part of our baking culture in South Africa. I tried making it once before and it was disastrous, but i had loads of pumpkin that needed to be used up so i decided to give your recipe a try. WELL we made it 3 times in 2 weeks! Sooo good. I also liked that this didn’t call for pumpkin spice which is also not readily available here. Thank you