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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Need to bring this long distance and it would be great if I can freeze it. Any thoughts?
Yes, Elaine, it freezes nicely!
I added a few chocolate chips and pecans.
Very moist and delicious! !
Made this with Gluten Free flour,turned out fantastic!!! Will definitely make it again.
This bread has great taste but barely rose at all! The first batch I made I thought maybe I had goofed and put baking powder instead of baking soda, so I made a second batch and even though it rose a bit more than the first, it’s maybe two inches tall.
I also replaced all of the spices with pumpkin pie spice since I had all but the ground cloves and it came out very tasty. Just wish it had risen. Could the fact that I used a 9×5 pan really have caused it to be so thin?
Hi Sarah, Yes the issue is definitely the 9×5 pan – I’ve tried it and it comes out flat and dense that way. Two 8×4 loaf pans will give you the best results.
Totally yum. Made this twice (in a bundt pan as the loaf pans have been packed for an upcoming move) and have to say that the temp setting matters! The first time I set it to 160 C and it was amazing, so moist. Second time I was lazy and said “ahh, close enough” and set it to more like 170 C which resulted in a dryer cake. Still yummy but next time I’ll obey the instructions completely. Thanks again Jenn!
Hi, I like the recipe but for some reason my bread was soggy. It appeared not cooked but the tester came out clean. I baked at 325F for 70 minutes. I’d appreciate any ideas on this matter.
Thanks
Hi, in addition, the bread sunk after I took it out.
Hi Lucy, Sorry to hear you had a problem with it! This bread is pretty predictable so I suspect something must’ve gone wrong. Is there a chance you made a mistake with measuring? Or could you oven need adjusting?
Oh my! This is the best pumpkin bread I have ever baked. It tastes gourmet, moist and fluffy. I used five mini loaf pans and adjusted the cooking time starting with 35 minutes and adding five minutes at a time until a toothpick came out clean but not overcooked. Thanks for sharing the recipe! 🙂
What was your total baking time for the mini loaves?
So good. Our loaf pan was filled too much and came out very moist but still amazingly good.
Loved this and would like to try without eggs. Would vegetable oil work in its place?
Hi Rachel, glad you liked it! I’m not confident that substituting vegetable oil would work as a substitute for the eggs, but if you’re trying to avoid eggs, several readers have commented that they’ve used flax eggs here and have been happy with the results.
I work as a chef for a senior living facility and made the recipe as is for my residents as a lunch dessert and everyone absolutely LOVED it.
I made another batch as muffins at home, and instead of the spices in the recipe, I subbed 2 1/2 tsp all spice and 1/2 tsp ginger and added chopped pecans on top. They came out absolutely amazing. For my next batch I plan to try using canned sweet potato purée and see how that bakes up.
Overall, this has pretty much become my go to recipe for the autumn season, thank you so much for sharing!