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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Hello we have different can sizes, how much pumpkin would we add in cups?
Hi Michelle, you’ll need 1-3/4 cups. Hope you enjoy!
Mine came out crumbly. Way too much baking soda I’m guessing. This to me was the worst pumpkin bread I’ve ever made. I followed the directions to a t.
Little less than 65 mins for me— not sure if it’s because I used glass loaf dishes. Perfection at around 57 mins when the skewer came out clean. Can’t stop eating.
I made this bread and it was delicious. Also, it was pretty simple to make. The only substitution I made was that I used margarine, instead of butter and I cut the recipe in half, to just make 1 loaf, instead of 2. Thank you for sharing!
Absolutely delicious!
Made using King Arthur 1:1 gluten-free flour. I didn’t have cloves so substituted with 1/2 tsp allspice and 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice. Let the batter sit for a few minutes before baking hoping it would help with the gf flour.
Thank you! This recipe was fantastic!!
I love this recipe. The best one
Wow! I never leave reviews…but both my sons said better than Starbucks pumpkins scones. This recipe is a Gem! Thanks SO MUCH for sharing.
What spices are used?
Hi London, You can find the full recipe here. 🙂
‘canned pumpkin’!
have you heard of actually buying real pumpkin?
this must be an American recipe.
wonder they don’t have canned eggs.
sorry to be snarky, but … wth.
Gee who booboo’d in ur cereal? Its just canned pumpkin, the recipe is delicious!
As someone who has tried recipes like this with real pumpkin–meaning buying the pumpkin itself, cutting, seeding, roasting, mashing, pureeing, and seasoning–it is 100% not worth it. In fact, my family preferred goods made with canned pumpkin. I’m not sure where you are located, but “canned pumpkin” in the U.S. is literally just pumpkin… I’m holding a can right now and it says “INGREDIENTS: PUMPKIN.” Maybe canned pumpkin means something different where you are! Either way, I’m sure you could make this recipe using your own homemade pumpkin puree.
could you use the streusel topping from the muffins and add to the loaf??
Yep, but I would reduce the sugar in the bread by 1/4 cup. Please LMK how it turns out if you try it. 🙂
Made this for my friends and it was a huge hit. The crust is amazing and flavors are so good. The only thing is that the loaves are a touch short. When you look at the pictures on the recipe the full loaves look tall but the pictures of slices the loaves look shorter. That’s what mine look like. Aesthetically I’d prefer them to be taller loaves but they taste so good I will make the recipe as is!
I made this recipe today for the first time…. Absolutely delicious.. can’t lose this one!!
I was thinking the same thing! Thanks for the question, and for the reducing sugar response! Can’t wait to try it!!
I was replying to the streusel topping…
Just made a loaf for the first time. It turned out well but I feel like 1 teaspoon of cloves is too much. My bread came out too spicy. My kiddos didn’t like it so I’ll be eating this one alone. I’ll try this recipe again but definitely reduce the amount of cloves next time.
I agree……1 teaspoon of cloves is too much and it over powers the bread