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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I’ve been making this the past 4 years for my friends and family – they are all obsessed with this pumpkin bread! Best when not cooked too long so it’s nice an moist! I will continue to bake every year!
Oh wow! Jenn, another great recipe. This pumpkin bread was amazing! Thanks for sharing.
Can we add pecans and dried cranberries? Also, can they be baked in mini loaf pans? If so, how?
Yes and yes. 🙂
You’ll likely get 3 to 4 mini loaves from the recipe. They won’t take as long to bake — I’d start checking them at 35 minutes. Enjoy!
Amazing! I’m not much of a baker but this turned out great. So easy to make and so moist! This will go into my favorite recipes book.
This is the best pumpkin bread I’ve ever made, and I’ve tried dozens of recipes over the years. My family loves it and I make it at least once a week in either loaf or mini muffin form.
The only thing I do differently is use allspice instead of cloves, simply because I don’t have them on hand, and I sub the unsalted butter for salted. I find the little extra salt really brings the flavors out even more and makes it so rich. This is a great recipe and I’m gonna try the muffin/streusel topping recipe next!
My pumpkin bread turned out great! The texture was like a yummy Bundt cake! Next time I might top it with pecans and a drizzle of white chocolate bc I always like to be extra with my sweets:)
Made it last week and family loved it! So, making it AGAIN, but this time added walnuts to JUST ONE loaf (I’m adventurous, but not stupid)….
Tried this tonight and it was wonderful! Can this be made into mini loaves? If so, do you inow the bake time off hand? Thank you!
So glad you liked it! Yes, they can be made into mini loaves; I’d guesstimate this will make 3 to 4 mini loaves, and I’d start checking for doneness around 35 min (they may take longer). Hope that helps!
So incredibly yummy! My family loves the spicyness. It really is super easy to make. The crispy outside and moist inside, it’s almost impossible to resist.
I thought this recipe was great. Very moist and loved the spices. I even tried another comment’s suggestion about 1 cup sugar and 1/4 cup brown sugar. Delicious. But it kinda seems to be lacking a little on the pumpkin flavor. Can you add pumpkin spice also. I love all the other spices. I definitely will make again.
Sure, feel free to add up to a teaspoon of pumpkin spice as well.
Very odd recipe. First and definitely last time I’ll make this. I love pumpkin bread, make it all the time. Decided to try a different recipe and found yours…super not impressed. Way too sweet, not enough pumpkin or flour, definitely dows not make 2 standard loaves. Hard to call this bread also…more of a cake batter. I’ve never seen another pumpkin bread recipe where you cream the sugar and butter first. In fact I’ve never used a pumpkin recipe with butter, it’s usually oil, and I’ll be going back to oil in the future. This was grossly sweet, had a crust which I do not like, and only made 2 half loaves pretty much. Should’ve followed my gut and stuck with my go to recipe.