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 added a splash of vanilla and it’s the best pumpkin bread I’ve ever made. Soft and fluffy and delicious, I will definitely make it again.
Hands down the best pumpkin bread I’ve ever made. Took this to a game night with friends and got a ton of compliments! I did use homemade pumpkin puree from roasted pumpkin so that added a little something as well. I highly recommend!!
We love love, love your pumpkin bread!
My husband has been placed on a low Cholesterol diet. Can I substitute whole wheat flour one for one with the all purpose flour?
Also, can I substitute olive oil for the butter? If so, how much?
So glad you like it! I’d suggest starting by using half whole wheat and half all-purpose to make sure you like the texture. If you do like it, the next time you make this, you can up the ratio of whole wheat to white a bit more. Also, you may want to consider white whole wheat as it’s lighter and milder tasting than regular whole wheat flour (yet just as nutritious). And olive oil won’t work here — you need something solid to cream with the sugar, so if you’d like to use oil, I’d recommend (solidified) coconut oil. I’d love to hear how it turns out if you try it with these tweaks!
Oh my goodness – this recipe is everything I was hoping for! After reading some reviews, I cut back on the sugar by half a cup. I made muffins, rather than loaves (portion control – otherwise I could eat an entire loaf in a day 😳). Using an ice cream scoop, I got 18 muffins, baked at 325 for 25 minutes. This recipe is a keeper. Thank you for posting it!
I’m always trying to find the best recipe and this just might be it! I also hesitate on a lot of nutmeg and cloves but this was the perfect amount! Thank you for sharing!
Excellent!!!! My husband never eats anything like this…but he ate this one!!!!!
Made this on Christmas last year and was AMAZING!! Followed the recipe exactly as wrote and me and my family loved it THANK U <3
Love this pumpkin bread! Could you bake it in a 9×13 pan?
Hi Heather, it could be made in 9 x 13 Pyrex dishes (I think you’ll need 2.) They shouldn’t take as long to bake. I’d start checking for doneness at about 45 minutes.
This is the most Awful recipe ever!! It falls apart coming out of the bread pans and you if you try and cut it, it falls apart!! With cost of food this recipe wasted my money!!! Keep your grandmother recipe at home and PLEASE DON’T SHARE ANY MORE OF THESE RECIPES AGAIN!!!
That’s not very nice.
How incredibly rude. You must be very unhappy. I’ve personally made this recipe a dozen times and it’s consistently moist and delicious. Seems like you made some mistakes.
User error I’d say. Made it many times as everyone loves it. And never falls apart in the least.
I won’t be so rude about it but yes I have made this recipe 3 times and never once has it come out the pan first one 65min Then 70 then 80 an still pasty and sticks flavors is good but sheesh it’s just a mess
Hi Angel, I’m sorry you’ve had a problem with this! Are you by any chance baking all the batter in one pan?
Another AMAZING recipe. This is the best pumpkin bread hands down, along with the banana bread I am constantly asked for the recipe.
Thanks Jenn for another great recipe