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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This pumpkin bread was delicious! even the non-pumpkin lovers in the family enjoyed this bread! I cut the recipe in half because I only have one loaf pan and this worked brilliantly
Can you use fresh pumpkin with this recipe and is it still 2 cups.
While I’ve never prepared it with fresh pumpkin and worried about there being too much moisture, a number of other readers have prepared it successfully with fresh pumpkin so you could certainly give it a try. One helpful comment from a reader suggests this: Once your pumpkin is roasted use a towel and squeeze out all of the extra liquid you can and then use it as you would canned pumpkin. Hope that helps!
I just made this with fresh pumpkin and oh my gosh sooooooo delicious
Can I cut the recipe in half to make one loaf?
Yes, definitely!
These were a delicious blessing from your grandmother.How wonderful that you have these treasured memories. .This is now my go to site for recipes. You have answered the call in sharing your time and talent with us all. Thank you.
I made this with home canned pumpkin that I pureed before adding to the mixture.
Also, I didn’t have a beater so I did it by hand. It still came out absolutely delicious and the loaves didn’t last more than a day at my house! I’m going to make this again right now 🙂
Oh my! I made this pumpkin bread last night and it is delicious! I mean, delicious! FYI, I made it with freshly milled flour and the loaves came out perfectly
Oh, and I used glass loaf pans that were slightly larger than the recipe called for. Also, it took a little less time than the suggested cook time.
Good starter batter. I found this recipe to be a little dry and not as spicy as I would like – second pass I added a teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice in addition to the regular ones; also added dried cranberries and chocolate chips. Very delicious!
I just found this recipe and it looks good. I plan to make mini loaves to give out to members at a luncheon – how would that affect the cooking time – and I will be making them in the rubbery type pan.
You can make them in small loaf pans and decrease the cooking time. I would start checking them after around 35 – 40 minutes. They may take a little longer in silicone baking pans, so make sure to check them for doneness.
The pumpkin bread recipe produced perfect results. The bread is moist yet light. This recipe is simple and great for beginners and experienced cooks alike. I added finely chopped pecans and chopped raisins (add a bit of flour to raisins so they don’t clump).
This is an excellent recipe. The loaves were nicely spiced and very moist. As others have noted, the butter needs to be soft when you do the creaming of the sugar and butter. Very good – my baby grandsons loved it!
This is the best pumpkin bread recipe I’ve ever made. To find the best recipes, I usually Google “the best X (recipe)” and then read the reviews. I’m so glad I stumbled upon this blog- the recipe was perfect. Other than one slight modification listed below, I made the recipe as is.
A few tips:
-Recipe calls for butter instead of vegetable oil. I personally prefer to use butter rather than a processed oil whenever possible. Since you’re creaming the butter with sugar, you’ll want room temp (read: softened) butter to start. For the best result leave the butter out on the counter for an hour rather than using the microwave, because microwaving butter results in a greasier baked good.
-Let your eggs come to room temperature before using as well. They emulsify more easily with the other ingredients (30-60 minutes on the counter should do).
I made one loaf of bread which I filled about halfway full of batter. It rose a little but not significantly, so I would recommend filling your bread pan more than 1/3 full. I added chocolate chips to the remaining batter and made 8 pumpkin muffins (cupcake size) which turned out fantastic! The addition of the chocolate chips was great. It’s sweet, but I think pumpkin bread should be spiced and sweet.
Overall, this bread is extremely good. It’s heavily spiced and very moist…I will be making this again.
Oh…one more thing. My butter wasn’t quite as soft as it should have been to start, so if you’re in the same boat I would recommend creaming the butter ALONE first THEN adding the sugar. Otherwise, you’ll end up with sugar spraying out in the sink 🙂