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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If I could give this recipe more stars, I would. I have made this recipe numerous times and always get the best compliments for it. It’s my favorite recipe. My friends and family ask me to make this for them all the time. Thank you for such a wonderful and easy recipe!
Excellent!!! I made it and it came out perfect.
I make this bread every fall. It’s always a hit with everyone. I personally only use about 3/4 of the sugar recommended and it tastes great. I put a vanilla glaze on top also.
5 stars!! I get rave reviews every time I make this recipe. It honestly beats Starbucks pumpkin bread hands down!
Absolutely moist and delicious. I sprinkle pumpkin seeds on the top too for a little extra touch 🙂
*****
Delicious! Great pumpkin taste, spices just right and not overpowering. As noted, the crust was nice and crispy when first baked. Easy recipe, and I’ll make it again at the holidays. I made it now (in July), because it’s my daughter in law’s favorite……
This recipe is my favorite!! I add my two “secret ingredients” and everyone absolutely loves it!!!!
I just made two loaves in an 8.5 × 4.5 size pans and they turned out beautifully. Once again Jenn your recipes shine through every time. Thanks again!
The recipe was not sufficient to make 2 full sized loaves. I would recommend adding 50% more of the ingredients for 2 loaves, or making just 1 loaf using the existing recipe, subject to time & temperature adjustments.
Same. I thought I was the only one. It was very good but far from enough to make two.
Don’t even bother with any other pumpkin bread recipe. This is the one!
I made this wonderful pumpkin bread yesterday, as it was a cloudy day. It is so good, I don’t understand some of the reviews saying it was “cake like”. It was perfect, as all of Jenn’s recipes are, they never disappoint! Thank you so much for your blog. BTW, my sister and I have both of you fabulous cookbooks. We make a different recipe at least 2 times a week and love them all. I live on Cape Cod, MA and she lives in Little Rock, AR , but when one of us tries a recipe the other has to make it also because of the raves! Our, almost daily, phone calls always include you.
💗
I only have 24 pz of pumpkin. How many cups should I use of that to make it 15 oz?
Hi Kaitlynn, you’ll need about 1-3/4 cups of pumpkin puree. Hope you enjoy!
I used half sugar and half splenda. It didn’t raise very good but tasted delicious. Don’t know if not using all sugar was the problem with raising, but it did taste good.
Hi Janice, This bread is more like a cake than a bread and doesn’t rise very much so I suspect that the Splenda didn’t have an impact. Glad you enjoyed it though!