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 absolutely love this recipe! This is the third year in a row that I’ve been making it in the fall! I must have made it at least five times.
Now I’m actually wondering whether it would be possible to convert it into cupcakes. Do you think that would work? I guess I would need to reduce the cooking time, I was thinking of checking on it at around 40 minutes. What do you think? Any other adjustments I should make, or would you not recommend trying this at all?
So glad you like it! if you want to make cupcakes, I’d recommend using this recipe (you can omit the streusel and replace it with frosting). Hope you enjoy if you make them!
Very moist! I made 2 mini loafs, 24 mini muffins and 1 regular loaf out of this mixture. It was truly a hit! I added some chocolate chips to the mini muffins for my little ones. I did cut some of the clove and sugar as recommended by others. Thank you for this delicious recipe!
This pumpkin bread is the best I’ve ever had or made! It’s a very moist bread, a bit more like a cake; but is so very tasty that my family can’t stay away from it. There’s been a request to serve it this Thanksgiving instead of pumpkin pie. This recipe has such a beautiful taste of pumpkin. I used Trader Joe’s organic pumpkin purée.
Followed exactly and since I don’t have 2 of the same loaf pans, I used the other half recipe with Wilton 4 mini loaf pans (only filled 2) and just played with the time adjustment (did 30 mins and then checked in 5 mins increments). Very moist and taste on point.
Best Pumpkin Bread ever!!! I’ve always made my grandmother’s recipe – But even she would change her mind after tasting your recipe – it is the best! Thanks for another great recipe –
Recipe sucked! No one has those pans in their kitchen!! Middle of load didn’t cook. Wasted good ingredients.
Recipe sucked. Who has these stupid odd pan sizes! Bread did not cook in middle of freaking loaf. Super pissed it was a waste of good ingredients. If I could give less than 1 star I would.
Test with a toothpick before taking out. Make sure it’s clean, then bread is cooked in the center. Just tried this, my pan was narrower so it took longer to bake.
Delicious! I actually made this twice. The first time the aesthetics weren’t right, though flavor was amazing, so I tried again and it was perfect the second time. There are a couple of mistakes that I made the first time around that others may have as well, when it didn’t work for them.
First, you must have an 8×4 loaf pan. I tried using a 9×5, not really thinking too much about it, and ended up with a really flat loaf. I bought new pans, though the best I could do was 8.5 x 4.5, but this resulted in a much higher loaf due to the narrower width.
Second, the word “generously” associated with greasing the pan, should be underlined. I used canola cooking spray with flour the first time and the bread stuck. Loaves would not come out (resulted in a mess). The second time I slathered on shortening only (I used a palm-oil based one) to where it was clearly visible in streaks. The loaves came right out.
Lastly, be sure to really give enough time to make the batter “light and fluffy”. I don’t think I blended it enough the first time. Keep it going for a full 2-3 minutes.
I think this was my problem. Everybody decided to call me while I was making these so I kind of mixed everything then poured it. Ended up with flaky bread that didn’t stick together properly. Still tasty, just more of a thing to eat with a fork.
WoW! That’s all I can say. This was my first pumpkin bread, and it turned out scrumptiously perfect. They look exactly like your picture. At first I was skeptical because I used King Arthur Bread Flour and it looked a bit dense. But honestly, I couldn’t be happier how it turned out. Thank you for your clear and simple recipe. I am confident I can follow your recipes with no problems.
This recipe says it makes 2 loaf, I landed up with two flat loaves. Wish I used only one loaf pan.
My pans measured 8×4 and 3 1/2×7 1/2.
The loaves were mushy in texture.
Must say the aroma was lovely, filled my home.
My husband and I got into a huge fight over this pumpkin bread. It was super easy to make and delicious. I was so excited to have a slice with my Sunday morning breakfast. But when I woke up it was completely gone. My husband loved it so much that he ate the rest of it after I went to bed. Guess I have to go to the grocery store and make it again!
Thank you so much for the amazing and delicious recipe!