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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Absolutely wonderful when baked correctly, according to the recipe. This recipe will be placed in my “favorites” recipe book, to be passed on to my kids!
love it. I tried adding vanilla too.
Thanks!
Very disappointed with this! To begin with, it didn’t rise! Secondly, because it is called “bread” I assumed wrongly that it would pop easily out of the pan. Turns out it’s more like cake and needs to be cool before turning out. A little heads up about that would have been nice. The whole thing went in the garbage, which is sad because I wasted a can of pumpkin which is hard to find where I live! (Norway) It had a nice taste though, but no one wanted to eat from a plate of crumbs and chunks. I give this 2 stars for the taste. Would definitely not make again!
Sounds like its the way you made it not the recipe itself
The directions are quite clear about cooling in the pans. A shame you tossed it. When I’ve had a crumbly disaster I freeze the crumbs and use them for pudding and ice cream toppings. Makes something simple a little fancier and tastier.
If that ever happens again with a sweet bread or cake, you can always make a trifle with the chunks. Just layer it with whipcream. No need to throw it out! Freezes well too.
I’m going to marry this recipe and we will live happily ever after. Thank you very much. It’s wonderful. The best!
I’m going to marry this recipe a we will live happily ever after. Thanks you very much. It’s wonderful. The best!
🙂
Hello , are your serving slices per loaf? The information says 24 slices but I wasn’t sure if that was just for one loaf. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Marlene, That’s for 2 loaves (so each loaf is the equivalent of 12 slices). Enjoy!
Has anyone ever used coconut flour with this recipe?
No I haven’t, but I think it would be great! Love coconut flour.
I halved the recipe for this to make just 1 loaf and it didnt turn out too great, it didn’t rise! I didn’t use canned cause they don’t sell them in Australia so I’m wondering whether too much moisture in the mix had something to do with it? Do you think this could be it? If so, how should I drain/prepare the pumpkin better?
I took off a star because it didn’t rise for me but otherwise it was still delicious!
Hi Suzana, This bread doesn’t really dome because it is more like cake than bread. That said, if you felt there was an issue with it rising, it could’ve been too much moisture from the pumpkin. If you’re using fresh pumpkin, once you’ve roasted it, use a towel and squeeze out all of the extra liquid you can. Hope that helps!
Can I use fresh, mashed pumpkin in this recipe?
Hi Dianne, I’ve never prepared it with fresh pumpkin because I thought there would be too much moisture, but other readers have prepared it this way with good results. One helpful reader suggested: Once your pumpkin is roasted use a towel and squeeze out all of the extra liquid you can and then use it as you would canned pumpkin. Hope that helps!
Made it with boiled mashed pumpkin well drained and they turned out delicious.
They where a hit.
Thank you.
Happy to hear that Dianne — thanks for reporting back!
Hey, I made this for my moms work and it was absolutely spectacular I had so much fun making and serving the wonderful and outstanding pumpkin loaf