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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Wow, this is most moist pumpkin bread and most flavorful banana bread I’ve ever had! We could not stop eating it. No need to add butter on this bread! I will be making this often! I don’t understand that comments that say “too much (sugar, cloves, etc).” It is the perfectly cakey, fall dessert bread!
Hi I made this recipe exactly as written and it was fantastic! I made one 9 x 5 loaf and one mini 3 x 6 loaf as I don’t have 8 x 4 pans. I wanted to ask can this recipe be doubled successfully? I thought I could probably make 3 9 x 5 if it was doubled…sometimes I know sometimes recipes can’t be doubled so want to ask before attempting. Only thing I did the second time I made it was cut the cloves to 3/4 tsp., although I love cloves, my family didn’t want quite as much, it was perfect…Thank you!
Hi Sharon, Glad you liked it! Yes, it would be fine to double the recipe.
this came out amazing!! so moist , would go great with some vanilla ice cream !
thank you for sharing
Love this ! I have been making a couple of years now… I modify using 11/2 cups of natural sugar, add extra on spices … including ginger… i love spices and i add fresh cranberries … gives a great bite…
Regina have you ever added pumpkin spice to. I made it and it’s delicious. I just would like to taste more pumpkin. I love the cloves and all but it seems like it’s lacking pumpkin flavor. Still really good
Maybe add more pumpkin? Or how’s the pumpkin purée u r using? I have notided a difference if the purée wasn’t as strong or good?
I would skip the cloves next time. Too clovey for my taste but other than that it was good. Will try again.
Hi Jenn, This recipe has been a family favorite for several years. I wanted to do something different and grabbed your first cookbook…decided to try the glazed pumpkin pound cake. It is wonderful!!! and a BIG cake! With the bread I always froze one. Do you think this will freeze well too?
Thank you 🙂
So glad you like this and also enjoyed the pumpkin cake! Yes, the cake can be frozen; just wait until you thaw it to add the glaze.
Thank you!
I’ve made this twice this past weekend- everyone loves it. No tweeks. My son, who isn’t big on compliments , said Mom, that’s really good” slam dunk in my opinion!!
I browned my butter first and put it back in the fridge to get solid again, and used a 11/2 cup sugar instead 1 cup white 1/2 brown. It tastes so delicious. Use brown butter whenever you bake it adds so much more flavor to your dish!
Didn’t like this at all. It never raised and the spices were overwhelming. Did not cook thourghly either
Hey dear! I love the recipe, just wondering how can I use fresh pumpkin instead of canned? To boil it? To bake maybe?
Hi Lela, I’d bake it then puree it. After pureeing it, make sure to squeeze out any excess liquid before incorporating into the recipe.
Cut back on the sugar!
Top was almost burnt and inside was moist and almost too moist… I followed the instructions/recipe to a tea. Still good but verrrrry sweet!
Way too sweet. Sugar could be cut in half. Also didn’t really rise for me and is very dense. Not horrible, but not what I was hoping for.
Hey Naomi! I had similar problems my first time making this recipe, and I realised I was opening the oven way too much, and wasn’t baking long enough. Also, I whip the eggs, sugar, and butter combination until no more air can possibly be encorporated.