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 bread is so good. 😍😍😍
I live in a high altitude area in Montana around 5500 ft do I need to make adjustments?
Hi Julie, I don’t have any experience with baking at high altitudes, but these tips may help. Hope you enjoy the bread!
Another point, cover the bread 30minutes into baking. I just finished my second batch and I covered those right from the beginning and the centers sunk…
Hey Julie, I am from Idaho close to the Montana boarder. I just made the bread and learned that it is best to cover the bread with tin foil or they get really dark! Also it only took about 50-55 minutes to bake.
Do you have any suggestions for making the outer part of the bread hard and crunchier while keeping the inside soft? I love having that first bite of crunch in a dish.
Hi Jacqueline, this is really more cake-like than bread, so getting the crispy texture on the outside isn’t realistic. You can toast slices of the bread before eating to achieve a little bit of a crispy crust.
Hi, Jacqueline.
I know what you mean about the extra crunch…If you don’t mind just a bit more sugar, when prepping the loaf pans, after greasing them try “dusting” them with granulated sugar instead of flour. It adds a slight crunch to the bottom and sides of these magnificent loaves but is not overpoweringly sweet at all.
Hi! I haven’t tried this recipe yet but I was just wondering if the same amount of batter made would work in one 8.5 inch round pan? I don’t have a loaf pan and I’m not sure if I should use the whole recipe or half of it.
Hi Khushi, I think you’d need to halve the recipe to prepare this in a round pan. (And the baking time will be a bit different too, so keep an eye on it!)
Hi Jenn, This Pumpkin Bread is delicious! My family loved it. It was moist and fluffy. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe with us. Definitely a keeper!
Hi Jenn. This sounds delicious. I was wondering if adding chocolate chips would be okay in this recipe, and if so, how much you recommend? Also, I saw in one comment you said it could be baked in two 9 X 5 pans without any adjustments, but in another you said to increase by 1.5. Just wondering which you recommend? Thanks.
Hi Jennifer, I’d definitely increase by 1.5 – and it’s fine to add chocolate chips if you like that flavor combo. I’d probably use 1-1/2 cups, give or take depending on how chocolatey you want it :).
As an Aussie, we don’t often come across pumpkin in anything but in a roast or something with our steaks. I made my own puree (no such thing as tinned pumpkin here ) with butternut pumpkin I found this to be the sweetest available. I halved and baked in oven then scooped out the flesh. I LOVED this recipe. I didn’t share with family, as I couldn’t stop eating it myself. Thank you for opening my heart to pumpkin in a very unique way for an Australian. Making again and will share this time.
So glad you enjoyed it Netty! (I won’t tell your family that you didn’t offer them any ;))
Best pumpkin bread recipe! I did not have unsalted butter, so I used salted butter and just left out the salt that was in recipe. The butter really makes the difference. I also did not have ground cloves, so I used Allspice.
Because my husband cannot have butter,
I would like to try either canola or
vegtable oil. Any thoughts on the amount
of oil to use? Would that change the baking time? Or should I forget it and
use my old recipe which uses oil? Your
recipe sounds tastier! Thanks so much,
Jen, for all the wonderful recipes!
Hi Mary, Unfortunately, oil won’t work in this recipe– sorry!
Could one use shortening instead of butter? I have a Nutiva brand made from red palm and coconut oils. It’s solid at room temp. Just curious. Thanks.
Hi Smile, I’ve never prepared the bread with anything like this, so I can’t say for sure, but if it’s got a similar texture to coconut oil, I suspect it should work. I’d love to know how it turns out!
Delicious, love the Autumn spice flavor and the fact that it makes 2 loaves. I added pumpkin seeds for added crunch.