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 love this recipe! I use it all the time!
Made about 30 loaves of this last year for all of my friends. They all LOVED it and still rave about it. Making them again this year! They are SO GOOD!
The best pumpkin bread recipe you will ever find. Every time I make this, it turns out perfect. Everyone loves this when I bring it to get togethers. It’s always a hit!
Can you freeze the extra bread?
Definitely — it freezes beautifully!
Soooo good!!!!! I took out half of the sugar and divided the remaining amount between regular and brown sugar. I also added 1tsp of powdered ginger, 1 tsp of vanilla extract and 1 tsp of almond extract. Perfectly balanced flavors! Will definitely be making this long again!
Hello! Loving this recipe. I have a question, can this recipe be used to make muffins instead? Does anything need to change? Same cooking time/temp? Thanks!
Glad you like it, Holly! I actually do have a muffin recipe that’s almost the same. You can check it out here (feel free to omit the topping if you’d like).
Hi!
I tried making this recipe again, and it has always had delicious texture and flavor. My only concern is that I struggle to get the height I am looking for on the loaves. My grandmother used to tell me to always have fresh baking ingredients (flour, sugar, soda, powder, ect.) prior to making something. Could this be what’s causing the lower height? It seems like the leavening agents are not leavening like I would expect them to work.
Hi Kristyn, Happy to help troubleshoot. It’s possible your loaf pans are too large…are they 8×4?
Hi Jenn!
Sorry it took me so long to reply. Ah! I checked my loaf pan sizes and you’re right. They are 9.5″ x 5.5″ so that’s the reason why the height was off. I will order some additional pans that are 8″ x 4″. Thank you very much!
Glad you got to the bottom of it! 🙂
I never write reviews but I had to for this pumpkin bread. This one is AMAZING! The best pumpkin bread you’ll ever have!!! It’s so fluffy and so yummy. You have to make this!
Will salted butter work? That’s all I have.
Sure — While it varies by brand, most salted butter has approximately 1/4 tsp. salt per stick, so you can use the salted butter and reduce the salt in the recipe as needed. Hope that helps!
I found that if I don’t use fresher baking powder, my baked goods don’t rise very well.
Thank you for that advice Eleanor! I will definitely start with a fresh batch of leavening agents when I’m baking again. Thanks!
Like a taste of heaven! Thank you for the recipe.
This is a great recipe. I reduced the sugar by a quarter-cup so it’s a bit less sweet. Comes together very quickly. Def going to make this again
Made this today first time. One loaf I added nuts. Both were good. Nice flavor and moist. Mine were done at 55 minutes but maybe it was my oven…