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 is my favorite pumpkin bread recipe. It’s perfect. Moist, right sweetness, and very tasty! I added some raisins and walnuts. Perfect!!!
I’ve made this recipe several times now, and it’s always a hit. Today I decided to make 1 loaf and 12 muffins. I cooked the muffins for 25 minutes. I’ve also used Becel dairy-free butter and it works just as well. Thank you for the recipe!
I’ve made this recipe so many times and it’s so good! So simple and so moist.
I just wish there was also a vegan version without eggs so I could make this for my other friends. I’m so curious if just using flax eggs would work.
Glad you like it! I’ve never made this with flax eggs, so I can’t say for sure, but I think it’s worth a try. Also, two of the best substitutes I’ve heard about (I haven’t personally tried either of them) are a combination of water, oil, and baking powder, and carbonated water. The Kitchn website has a great article that details a variety of substitutes they tried. For more information about their favorites, take a peek at that. Once you’re on The Kitchn site, search for “The Best Egg Substitutes for Any Recipe.” I would assume this would also work with some kind of store-bought egg substitute. Hope that helps!
Hi Jane! I have made this and subbed the eggs for 2 ripe mashed bananas- I cut back a bit on the sugar of course, but this turns out amazing even with that!
Amazing. I did one half normal flour, a fourth buckwheat, a fourth oat. Double the salt. A tbsp or 2 of collagen powder. 60% coconut sugar and the rest granulated but only did about 80% the amount of sugar overall. Added a cream cheese frosting. It was surprisingly extremely good.
This pumpkin bread was phenomenal!!! A friend gave me a pumpkin so I baked it then scooped out the pulp and used fresh pumpkin instead of canned. I also accidentally put in salted butter but that didn’t seem to hurt anything. I think the cloves really added a lot of flavor. My family ate one loaf and it was great having another loaf to share with friends.
This was my first time making any specialty type bread. The recipe was very simple to follow. The only thing that I had to change was the cooking time based off my oven cooks a little hotter than normal. So 50 minutes was just enough but came out excellent and will be using this for the foreseeable future. Wish I could show pictures to show the finished product. Thank you for a great recipe
Have made this recipe so many times and it’s the best pumpkin bread ever! I use mini bread loaf pans and often give them as gifts and everyone loves them!!!
Made this so many times I can’t count and so remiss I’m not taking a moment to tell you (a Siegel Also spelled different!) so. It’s outstanding! And most of your recipes I have tried, all are. No ingredients that are nuts, no lofty instructions, just food that is beautifully crafted and delicious with very little fuss!
I LOVE this bread so much!!
I actually used 3/4 cups melted coconut oil instead of butter 😋