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 turned out great! I substituted the eggs for applesauce to make it vegan and added some extra baking powder so it wouldn’t affect the consistency. It was moist and tasted fantastic, big hit at the potluck I brought it to. Will absolutely be making this again!
BEST PUMPKIN BREAD EVER! Thanks for sharing! ❤️
Terrific recipe as-is and I have been making it for several years now. I use roasted and puréed fresh pumpkin. Recent mods are less sugar and more cinnamon, so for those ingredients I now use 1 3/4 cups total sugar (split 1 cup white and 3/4 cup packed brown sugar) and 1 3/4tsp cinnamon. I also split the 2 cups flour evenly between white and whole wheat.
Can you use pumpkin pie spice instead of the individual spices
Yes, you’ll need 1 tablespoon.
Great texture, but the bread didn’t rise much at all and the clove flavor was overwhelming. If I make again I will only do 1/2 teaspoon of ground clove vs the 1 tsp the recipe calls for.
I made this for my family and we all loved it! My kids are pretty picky about food, so I was relieved they kept wanting to eat it 🙂
Hi Ruth, I’m sorry you’re seeing so many ads and it’s impacted your ability to see the recipe — I know it can be really frustrating. If you’d like, you can install an adblocker on whatever browser you use. You still see some unobtrusive ads, but it’s a much better experience. It will also eliminate annoying ads on all websites you visit — not just mine. The only downside is that it blocks the videos too, and unfortunately, there is no way around that.
I added walnuts and raisins. This is the best pumpkin bread recipe I have ever had. Thank you!!!
i really like this recipe but some reasons my bread is very crumbly, can you help me figure out whats wrong? thanks
Hi Jess, sorry found it to be crumbly – are you letting the bread cool completely before slicing it? That’s really important. If it is completely cool, are you using a serrated knife and a “sawing” action to slice?
This is such an amazing recipe. It’s super moist without being too heavy. I’d like to try making it (parve) dairy free. What is your best guess on a butter substitute for this recipe? Thanks for any suggestions you may have,
Randi
Hi Randi, You can make it dairy-free by replacing the butter with (solidified) coconut oil. So glad you like it!
Thanks Jenn,
I finally made it dairy free and it turned out great! Perhaps I even liked it better :). I used mostly coconut oil and added Earths balance and some canola oil to add up to the amount of butter. Thanks for the suggestion!
So glad it came out well — thanks for taking the time to report back!