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 is HANDS DOWN THE BEST PUMPKIN BREAD EVER! I just made this and once cooled, I couldn’t help myself I had to try it. It’s moist, sweet and perfectly spiced. So glad I found it. I will be saving this recipe for sure and making more for the freezer.
I have made this multiple times and it is always a hit! Today I am making a double batch to send as little gifts to my kid’s teachers at school!
You would have to double the recipe for it to make two loaves as large as the ones shown.
Hi Ann, The loaf pans used in this recipe are small – 8×4 inches; if you’re using large loaf pans, the loaves won’t be quite as high.
This recipe is incredible. 10/10. I love it so much. It makes for the perfect gift, desert, or breakfast.
This recipe is incredible. 10/10
I made this recipe for the first time this evening, exactly as written. It was delicious, and I thought the cloves were perfect as is. I wouldn’t change a thing.
Wow….I am so impressed. I can’t believe how delicious this is. I halved the recipe because I don’t have two bread pans. When I tell you this is the absolute best pumpkin bread I have ever tried. I added some cinnamon, brown sugar and chopped pecans on top for a nice top. Thank you for this recipe. My bread only needed 50 minutes!
So yummy! I was attempting to recreate the pumpkin bread from Sprouts and this was a close tie! I halfed the recipe (only had one bread pan), and used half brown sugar and half white sugar instead of just white and 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract. Next time (because there will certainly be one!), I wanted to add a little bit of maple syrup.
I have made many pumpkin bread recipes over the years but this is by far my favorite. It’s so tender. Even the loaves I have defrosted and eaten later. Yum!!
This loaf is good. A little overpowering on the cloves for my taste. Maybe 1/2 tsp only next time.
I’m not going to lie. I was quite skeptical to try this out and I didn’t know if this was the recipe I should try, just since there are so many to choose from! But when I tell you I’ve never tasted, made or tried a pumpkin bread/loaf better than this, I’m not lying. It was the perfect texture. Had all the perfect flavours and it was so dense and moist and pleasing to eat. I’m not even kidding when I say I could fully finish both pans if I wanted to. The only thing I didn’t like with this loaf was the fact that it’s so hard to stop eating!!!! I love love love it and am definitely saving to keep for the future and I will be making this again for thanksgiving.