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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Comments
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I made this exactly to the directions. Did not turn out good, both loaves split horizontally when I tried to remove from pan that I had buttered & floured. I’ve never had that happen to any of my quick breads
Excellent recipe, a huge hit with my husband. Used 1 and 1/3 cups sugar and it was still nicely sweet. Sprinkled crumbled brown sugar over the top of it prior to baking and baked it in a square 9 x 9 pan. Very easy to make!
Hi Jen,
Just made the Pumpkin bread in mini loaves … do they freeze well?
Yes definitely!
This pumpkins bread turned out very good. It was soft, and moist enough and flavorful the same time.
Hello I’m preparing to make this recipe with fresh pumpkin puree. Reading the comments below it looks like readers go between two cups to 2 and 1/2 cups of puree. Can’t wait to make this. Can you please link us to topping suggestions. Like frosting glazes and crumb toppings? Thank you😊
Hi Melanie, these loaves are pretty sweet as is, so you may want to go easy on the frosting/topping, but a couple of options are the glaze from these pumpkin scones, the topping from these pumpkin muffins, or a cream cheese icing like from this carrot cake. Hope that helps!
Thank you!! Happy holidays!
I’ve made this recipe MANY TIMES, but after greasing the pan, instead of flour, I use a mixture of sugar and cinnamon. It sort of glazes the sides and bottom as it cooks and is WONDERFUL!!
I baked eight loafs and follow the instructions exactly. Every loaf stuck to the bottom of the pan. I am so discouraged. First of all, do you have a suggestion? And the other thing is what do I do with broken loaves of pumpkin bread. Is it something I can make? Is there someway to salvage this mess?
Hi Pamela, sorry to hear you had a problem with these sticking! Did you generously treat the pans with butter and flour? If you did, you could try a baking spray with flour like this one by Baker’s Joy. You could also put a piece of parchment paper on the bottom of the pan. If the loaves you made can be used, you can dice them up and use them in a trifle. Hope you have better luck next time!
Wonderful. I made 4 mini loaves from this recipe, and they came out perfect. It has a strong clove presence, so if you are not a fan, i would cut the clove amount.
Amazing! I’m really picky about my baked goods, and this one is so good. The texture is perfect – not too dense, not too fluffy. The flavor is great! I did change the spices, though – I’m not the biggest fan of tons of clove and nutmeg, so I reduced the clove and nutmeg to about 1/4 tsp and added an extra 1/2 tsp of cinnamon. Also reduced the sugar to 3/4 cup, but even with a whole cup it wouldn’t have been too sweet. Love! Will definitely make again.
Hi Jenn! I am thinking about making these loaves for Christmas brunch and am wondering if I can make the batter a day ahead (kept in tightly sealed container) and then next day transfer to pans and bake? And thank you for all your delicious recipes!!
Hi Vivian, I wouldn’t recommend refrigerating the batter — once you combine the ingredients and the baking powder/baking soda get activated, it should be baked. This may not rise well or bake the same way if batter is stored in the fridge. If you’d like, though, you could combine all the dry and wet ingredients and store them separately.
Hi
How would you make this with an actual pumpkin and not from a can. I have never seen pumpkin in a can where I live- England.
Thanks
Hi Ani, You can definitely make this with fresh pumpkin; After you have cooked and cooled the pumpkin, use a towel to squeeze out all of the extra liquid you can (so the bread isn’t too moist). Hope you enjoy!
You can find pumpkin can (the same brand as on the blog) at Waitrose or Ocado. Sometimes at Sainsburys (not local, the bigger one).