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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LOVED this! I followed others advice and reduced cloves to 1/2 tsp, and I added 1/2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice. I used 1c white sugar and 3/4 c brown sugar, still very sweet 🙂 I put most in 1 loaf pan and then had enough for 6 muffins; baked loaf for 65 min and came out perfect!
I’ve made this DOZENS of times and I love it so much. Seems many people in the comments are overwhelmed by the clove, I’m also not a fan so I just leave it out??? Problem solved!
I’ve made it into one large cake, muffins, mini muffins etc and it always turns out perfect!
Thank you Jenn for sharing this recipe, I so look forward to my first batch every year.
DO NOT USE APPLESAUCE INSTEAD OF BUTTER… there i warned you. We were out of butter so I used applesauce as I’ve read that be substituted 1:1 for butter in baking recipe…Big mistake… came out tasting totally different and mostly applesauce subtle flavor and texture was wrecked .. I read later recipes that call for melted butter it could be ok to swap some of the butter then for applesauce but not when a recipe calls for softened butter or room temperature as it needs to be butter to cream with the sugar- applesauce can’t do that… lesson learned
Can I sub with regular salted butter? Will it make the bread too salty?
Hi Sam, It’s fine just cut the salt in the recipe in half. Enjoy!
I just want to say this is the best pumpkin bread!! I once made it years ago when I was in 3rd grade(I’m now 24) everyone in my classroom loved it including my family. A couple years later I was so sad i couldn’t find the recipe I looked and looked and finally found it and ever since then I make it every year now, we all love it. If you want to do pumpkin bread and impress people MAKE THIS ONE!!!
Very moist and delicious pumpkin bread. I only had 1 loaf pan so I decided to turn the rest of the batter into muffins. Both turned out amazing!
What temp and how long did you bake the muffins? Thanks!
I have made this bread countless times over the last two years. Everyone begs me to make it around this time of year. It is absolutely amazing and by far one of my most favorites! My entire family enjoys it.. including my kids. Thanks for sharing such a great recipe with us!
Too much spice and no pumpkin taste. Cloves overpowered everything else. I think 1 t cinnamon, 1/4 t cloves and 1/2 nutmeg. Otherwise texture was fine.
This is amazing and moist. I make it every year. I make sure to get every drop of pumpkin from the can. I feel like that makes it extra moist .so good. I change nothing in the recipe
Family loves it too
Seriously, the best pumpkin bread ever, and I have tried a lot of recipes. I did sub canola oil for the butter, and used 1 cup white sugar and 1 cup light brown sugar. I found that I only needed 50 minutes at 325F for it to be perfectly done, but perfect, it was. I can’t believe how moist and flavorful it was. Thanks for sharing a great recipe!
Hi, how much canola oil is the right amount?
Love this loaf! I have passed this recipe onto friends and family. I use half the sugar and it is still as sweet and as yummy.
I wold cut back the ground clove to 1/2 tsp next time as 1 tsp was a bit too strong for my taste. Enjoyed the result otherwise.