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 see that this recipe does not add the usual and more traditional vegetable shortening. I’d have a concern about the outcome’s firmness after baking and cooling. I imagine this bread is both healthier and fluffier without it. Have you ever tried adding additional ingredients? In my mind I’m thinking about adding pumpkin seeds, maybe a few chopped up maraschino cherries and/or a bit of grounded orange rind. And I am all nuts for nuts! This blend adds additional spots of flavor without taking away from the spiced pumpkin. I could perhaps add a few carrot shreds as a variation on carrot cake or some apple sauce…but I am sure I would have to add the shortening to firm it all up. What do you think? Anything else you might add to the recipe as a variant? Some kind of topping perhaps? I am all for experimenting as you may have guessed. So please be my guest… Well I understand “simple is purer”. And oh by-the-way, great job on all your photo postings and the orderliness of your recipes. It is much appreciated. Many Thanks, and of course, Bon Appetit, Madame Jenn!
Hi Roy-ale, This bread actually holds up pretty well to add-ins like nuts, chopped up cherries, etc. I’ve never used shortening in this recipe and don’t think it’s necessary. Hope that helps!
That looks and sounds nice Jenn.
It certainly makes a welcome change from boring white and brown bread!!!
I may just try it one day.
Thanks in the mean time for the inspiration!!!
I have made this recipe twice now. My granddaughter loves pumpkin bread from the “coffee store” aka Starbucks. This bread is so delicious, moist, and favorable. I decrease the sugar a bit, because I add a maple glaze to the top. like the “coffee store” per her request.
I have also made Jenn’s pumpkin muffins. They are also awesome!!
This pumpkin bread is absolutely delish!! Hands down the best recipe I’ve used. However, I’m at a high altitude and the bread is always sunken-in in the middle when it’s done. I’ve tried tweaking some of the measurements but can’t seem to get it all to raise. Any suggestions? Thank you!
Hi Samantha, glad to hear you like the bread but I’m sure it’s a bummer that it sinks in the middle. I don’t have any experience with high altitude baking, so don’t have any wisdom to share (sorry!), but perhaps these tips may help a bit.
Hi, I use Hungarian high altitude when I visit family in Denver. You may want to try that for breads. also
Adjustment for 5000 feet:
Reduce baking powder: for each teaspoon, decrease 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon.
Do not omit salt ever at high altitudes
Reduce sugar: for each cup, decrease 0 to 2 tablespoons.
Increase liquid: for each cup, add 2 to 4 tablespoons.
Increase oven temperature by 25 degrees F.
I have a question. Could I use a cake pan instead of the two loaf pans? Thanks!
Hi Rosanna, what size/shape cake pan were you thinking of using?
Hi, is it possible to replace the butter with oil? If so how much oil could be used?
I don’t recommend it for this recipe, Misbah – sorry!
Thank you for your reply. I substituted the flour for gluten free flour and it worked perfect!
What brand/kind of GF flour did you use?
This recipe makes an incredible pumpkin bread! Directions were easy to follow and the smell of the loaves baking was second only to the TASTE of the resulting bread. It was very challenging to stop eating after my second piece of warm pumpkin bread!! Thank you for a wonderful recipe.
I made this recipe last week & brought it to a women’s gathering. They loved it & so did I. It is moist & tasty with just the right amount of spice. Loved it so much I’m making it again today on Easter Sunday. Who says you have to wait until Autumn for pumpkin bread? No mixer, no problem. Just use a fork & a sturdy spoon. That’s what I did. My mixer of 34 years died.
Excellent, awesome. I add bananas, sunflower seeds, Chia seeds and raisins to mine. It was simply DELICIOUS!
Tried this recipe almost as written and it was wonderful. I tweaked it for my personal taste, substituting 1/2 c. Wheat flour for part of the white, 1/4 c. Demerara sugar for part of the white, added half a small baked sweet potato with the canned pumpkin, decreased cloves and nutmeg as suggested by others, cinnamon as written, and added a bit of allspice, ginger, and orange peel. I used the 8” bread pans, buttered and floured, forgot to add the walnuts I meant to use, baked for a total of 58 minutes at 325F. It made two small loaves, came out of the pan beautifully after cooling for an hour, was moist, not crumbly, and tasted great!