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 have made this pumpkin bread several times and it always turns out very good. If you’re into healthier eating, you need to cut back on the sugar at least 1/2 cup. I use only 1 cup for the whole recipe and it’s plenty sweet for me and my family.
My 14 year old daughter doesn’t like any thing with pumpkin in it and she gobbled this up! It was so moist and fluffy! I’m going to be making this for Thanksgiving dessert instead of pumpkin pie!
Classic and fantastic! I add pecans because i like a nutty sweet bread, but i’m sure it would be just as wonderful without them!
My family loves this pumpkin bread! I do too even though I’m not a big fan of pumpkin. I follow the recipe as is and it is perfect. The last 2 years I have sent a loaf to my daughter in a college care package and she and her friends absolutely love it.
This is an EXCELLENT recipe for pumpkin bread. Very moist and it makes two nice sized loaves.
I have been making this Pumpkin Bread since 2016. It’s my first recipe that I’ve made from this site and have been making it every since. This bread has great flavor and it very moist. The only think I changed was the sugar. I cut back on the amount. I have also made it with fresh pumpkin and canned and both times the bread was delicious. This recipe it easy to make and the house smells so good when baking.
Hi! I wanted to make this with fresh pumpkin instead of out of a can. How much do you put/how did you use it? Did you just do 1 lb like the recipe says? (I’m a beginner Baker, I’ve only ever made banana bread) Thank you!!
Hi Arianna, You can definitely use fresh pumpkin here; You’ll need roast and puree it. Just make sure after it’s pureed, that you squeeze out any liquid after roasting the pumpkin so the bread is not too moist. Hope you enjoy!
I made this pumpkin bread last week and a friend said it was the best pumpkin bread she ever had. It was quite delicious. This appears to be the same as the pumpkin cake recipe except that the cake calls for 2 more eggs and less sugar. Is that because of the size of the pan?
Can I make the two loaves again and just use the frosting recipe for the loaves.
Hi Nina, I use more eggs in the cake to give it a lighter, cakier texture — and less sugar because the frosting is quite sweet. You can definitely make the loaves, reducing the sugar by 1/4 cup, and frost with the icing (but I’d half the icing recipe for the loaves).
I baked the whole recipe in my largest loaf pan lined with parchment at 325. I also added raisins and English walnuts. It baked perfectly, cooled and cut slices. The slices held together.
I followed recipe exactly as shown – no need to mess with perfection. I brought one loaf to a book club meeting. ( rave reviews) It made two fragrant, delicious dense loaves. I did add some chocolate chips at the end of the otecss for a nice burst of sweetness
Easy to make – and will make more times this winter
Excellent!! I made this Pumpkin Bread last night and took it to a get together. Everyone who ate it said it was delicious & moist. I added a 1/4 cup of chopped pecans but otherwise followed the recipe completely. I baked it for 60min but thought it probably could’ve come out at 55 minutes..but my oven runs a little hotter. I will definitely be making this recipe again!
Out of all the cooking blogs and websites, I can trust Jenn’s recipes to be spot on! Thank you for another fabulous recipe! I’m asking Santa for your cookbook this Christmas!! 😘