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.
Mine ended up falling instead of rising like classic quick loaf bread. Haven’t eaten any yet so no comments on taste. Any ideas?
Hi Amy, This is pretty low profile, the loaves don’t rise much – they’re more like a cake than a bread in that regard. If they sunk though, it sounds like they were a bit underbaked – if you make these again, I’d leave them in the oven for a few more minutes. Hope they tasted good though. 🙂
The taste was amazing and the bread was completely baked. From what I’ve read, maybe my liquid to dry ratio was off. Either way, making it again this weekend!
By far the BEST pumpkin bread recipe I have ever found! Thanks to your Grandmother and to you for sharing it!
How many cups of mini chocolate chips should o add?
Hi Maggie, I’d add 1/2 to 1 cup. Enjoy!
The recipe makes a moist and tasty pumpkin bread. I find it too sweet, though. I will cut the sugar in half the next time I make this bread.
Hi, do you think I could use margarine for this recipe instead of butter?
Sure, as long as it’s in stick form. 🙂
Made this the other night and OMG so moist and delicious. Planning on making it again tonight but will omit the clove…..and double up on the cinnamon! I find the clove is too much but to each its own!
Hi! I just picked up some Cinnamon Girl pie pumpkins with my local CSA order. Would this recipe work with these if I roast and puree them first instead of the canned pumpkin?
Sure, Tricia, that will work. Just make sure you drain off any excess liquid after pureeing it. Hope you enjoy!
AWESOME!!!
I made this today. It was easy and delicious! I added in a cup of (soaked) raisins and a cup of chopped, toasted pecans and topped with brown sugar before baking.
excellent recipe and delicious!
Made this last night and have already consumed an entire loaf. It’s absolutely go-to perfect with coffee and will be my go to recipe for years to come. I may next time try a bit less sugar for my particular taste, but this is a 10/10 winning recipe, easy to see why its stood the test of time.
Hi, I made this and it was really delicious I would definitely recommend. I’m trying to go on a bit of a diet before the holidays and I was wondering how many grams is in a serving and how many calories it would be?
Hi Andrea! Glad you enjoyed it! While I know that each loaf has 12 servings, I’ve never weighed it so I don’t know how many grams in a slice, but each slice is 166 calories (you can see all the nutritional info immediately under the recipe).
FWIW, I subbed two bananas for the sugar and it worked very well! I may add a bit of honey next time to up the sweetness a bit, but it was perfectly delicious with just banana.
Delicious! Made exactly according to directions, except I cut sugar to 1 & 2/3rd cups. May even cut it to 1 & 1/2 cups next time. My husband loved it. Will definitely make again!
I did the same and it was perfect!