Pumpkin Bread
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy.
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!
You May Also Like
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
Powered by 
- 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.
See more recipes:
Comments
Add a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Very tasty but the texture was loose like cake…did not look dense like picture.
Measurements for baking powder and baking soda are backwards. Baking powder to baking soda should be 2:1 especially in a loaf with pumpkin purée.
I made it! It’s so simple and tasty. I added a bit of molasses, ginger and a sprinkle of cardamom because I need those flavors in my fall baking. But it was SO EASY. I love a simple recipe and I’ll keep this one forever.
Excellent!!
Thanks for sharing!
Best pumpkin bread recipe! I also made this recipe with a sprinkling of Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate chips—added calories but worth it!
I love this recipe! So delicious. Thank you Grandmother.
I just made this with my granddaughter. It is the best homemade pumpkin bread I’ve ever made. So very moist. And the spices are perfect. I will be making more next week!
Where has this recipe been all my life??? I’ve been searching for this for years and had almost given up having tried multiple recipes from many others. They were always too heavy or wet, and just didn’t look or taste like this. This is a perfect recipe just as is or if you want to add in chocolate chips, it’s amazing that way too. All my family is in love with this bread and I have made it several times in the last month for friends and family… it’s a keeper. Thank you for sharing
Super delicious! Don’t change a thing.
I have made this several times including making it for others and we all love it. Ir would be helpful to have the printed recipe as your grandmother’s original is lovely but hard to read. I don’t have the patience to watch a video.
Hi Linda, Glad you like it! You don’t have to rely on that version of the recipe though If you scroll down a bit to under all the step-by-step pictures, you’ll find the full recipe. Alternatively, at the very top of the page, to the right of the recipe name, you’ll see an orange/red button that says Jump to Recipe – if you click on that, it will take you directly to the recipe. Hope that clarifies!
I changed this recipe a lot but only so I could eat it with my restrictions. It turned out great so I thought I’d pass my changes on:
I used equal amount of applesauce instead of butter
2/3 cup monk fruit in place of 2 cups of sugar
4 Tblsp flour and the rest almond flour to equal 2 cups
Separated the eggs and whipped the whites plus one addition egg white
Then folded that into the batter at the very end.
Added a few dark chocolate chips
Used 4 mini pans and cooked for 45 minutes.
I don’t like changing recipes and I wouldn’t if I didn’t have restrictions. It’s nice to be able to enjoy a good recipe with modifications.
Thank you Jen. You ROCK!
Wow!!! First of all, I’m sure everyone’s made pumpkin bread before. It’s a standard classic right? And I feel like even for the most inexperienced baker a quick bread is something you can’t quite mess up. And everyone has the best recipe right be right? Wrong… This hands down has to be the best pumpkin bread recipe I’ve ever made!!! I cannot believe how light and fluffy the batter was! it was so fluffy that it was almost like mousse ! I did make a few changes however, I added vanilla and chocolate chips. Also because cinnamon is my favorite spice I added a good tablespoon and a 1/2. I also made them into d muffins instead of a loaf. The taste was unbelievable the bread was so light :v fluffy but still really filling at the same time which I don’t understand ( in a good way!) I don’tdefinitely gets 2 thumbs up and if I had a 3rd I’d put up the 3rd one too!