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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Making mini loaves. Adjusting time to see what happens. This is by far the best recipe I have found.
The taste of the ground cloves is overpowering everything else. And I only used ¼ of a teaspoon. I will leave that ingredient out next time. Other than that, the bread is juicy with a nice crust. Will make it again. Thank you!
Perfect recipe, used half tsp cloves. Can’t wait to try adding stuff in the future. Perfect size loaves, fell right out of the pans!
This looks great! Do you have any recommendations on how to adjust cook time if we use mini loaf pans to yield six loaves instead of 2?
Hi Carolyn, Are you using the standard mini loaf pan size (5¾” x 3¼”)? If so, while I haven’t tried it, I suspect you’ll only get 3 to 4 loves. If that’s what you’re planning on using, I’d start checking for doneness for about 35 minutes.
I decided on your recipe because it seemed to be the closest to the one me and my mom used to make. (In my memory) Somehow I lost that recipe. Wow! Good decision! Next time, I think I will cut the sugar a little. But this recipe is spot on!! I followed it exactly. Thank you so much for sharing.
Good recipe. I cut the sugar in half. Next time I’ll add some orange zest either to the bread or to an icing. I also used 2 cups fresh pumpkin, and baked the bread in a bunt pan. It only half filled the pan but made for an attractive presentation.
I cut the sugar in half, too…it was plenty sweet.
Hello and Happy Holidays,
I just made this bread and let me tell you, YUM! It was delightfully easy and full of flavor. I did add an extra teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice only because my family REALLY loves spice but I tasted it before that point and thought it was very flavorful. I made mini loaves for gifting from this recipe and the batter filled six very nicely. I swirled homemade cranberry sauce through some of the loaves and put a little cinnamon and sugar coating on the top before baking. I can’t wait to give these beautiful loaves away! Thank you for a recipe I know I will make again and again.
Wow an amazing idea the cranberry swirl!!
This has been by far the best pumpkin bread I have ever made.
This is the best pumpkin recipe I have ever tried. Perfect!
Excellent recipe!!
If made 2 days ahead, should this bread be frozen, or can it be stored in the cupboard, and if so, should it be in a sealed Ziploc bag or loosely wrapped in a bag?
Hi Diane, I store this bread loosely wrapped in foil on the countertop — it keeps well for 3 to 4 days. Enjoy!