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.
I usually add walnuts and raisins to my pumpkin breads. Do you think adding them to your recipe will affect the final product? Thanks
Hi Leo, it’s no problem at all to add walnuts and raisins. I hope you enjoy it!
Absolutely perfect!! This is a keeper. Thanks to you and to Grandma:)
This sounds wonderful! I am curious though-if I only have salted butter could I use that for this recipe and would I then completely omit the salt in the recipe? Thank you in advance.
Hi Gigi, I haven’t tried this recipe with salted butter, but I suppose you could try that. While it depends upon the brand, most salted butter has about 1/4 tsp. salt per stick, so I would adjust the added salt accordingly Hope that helps!
I thought *I* had the world’s best pumpkin bread recipe, but I humbly concede. I am in my late 50’s and this is the best pumpkin bread I’ve ever made, ever eaten. Moist, tender, flavorful, absolutely delicious. Mine were ready around 55 minutes. What a wonderful recipe, I’m so glad I tried it!
My family loved this! Very moist and delicious. Finished a loaf in one day. We had to pace ourselves with the second loaf. My two girls brought in their school lunches the next few days. Hubby even asked to bring a loaf to work. Thank you for a great and easy recipe.
Hi Ellyn, I’ve never prepared a combination of the two– sounds yummy though! Let me know how it turns out if you try it!
This pumpkin bread is amazing! It came out moist, flavorful, and delicious. I was really worried while the bread was baking because the smell of cloves was over whelming and I was certain the bread would be over powered by the cloves. I am glad to report that I worried for nothing. The spice balance is perfect and the bread tastes well balanced. This recipe has earned its bookmark on my phone!
I had a can of pumpkin that I had no idea what to do with this Thanksgiving. I Googled and ran across this recipe. I switched the flour to oat flour. Everything else was organic or Non-GMO. Oh.My.Word. This was the best recipe I have tried in a long time. The bread was so moist and reminded me a little of ginger bread, but not as harsh. The spices are perfect. I’ve made two more batches recently. This is my new winter favorite!
Loved this recipie. It tastes awesome but, it was so crumbly. I could not pick it up. It was super moist, it had pulled away from the sides of the pan and the tester pulled out clean. It was just so fragile. So soft I had to push the knife through which broke it a bit. Did I undercook? Over cook? I want to make it again but hope it comes out a little stiffer do you can pick it up without it falling apart. Thanks for the great recipe I’ll keep trying till I get it perfect.
Hi Dennis, Did you let it cool completely before cutting it? Usually that’s the problem.
Made this twice this week and it’s fabulous!