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My family’s treasured pumpkin bread recipe is incredibly moist, perfectly spiced, and easy to make with canned pumpkin. It’s been a reader favorite for years—and for good reason.
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). The batter can also often be used to make muffins—my pumpkin muffins are nearly identical to this bread, but with the addition of a pecan streusel topping.
“This will be my family’s only pumpkin bread recipe from here on out. Thank you!”
What You’ll Need To Make Pumpkin Bread
- All-purpose flour: Be sure to spoon the flour into your measuring cup and level it off with a knife. Scooping directly from the bag can pack in too much flour, resulting in dry, dense bread.
- Baking soda, baking powder, and salt: The baking soda and baking powder work together to give the bread a nice rise, while the salt balances the sweetness.
- Ground cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg: This classic blend gives the bread its signature cozy pumpkin spice flavor. If your spices have been sitting in the pantry for a few years, it’s worth replacing them—fresh spices make a noticeable difference.
- Unsalted butter: Softened butter creams more easily with the sugar, creating a light, tender crumb. It should give slightly when pressed but still hold its shape.
- Sugar: Besides sweetening the bread, sugar helps keep it moist and contributes to its beautifully golden crust.
- Large Eggs: Bind the batter together and add richness and structure to the finished loaf.
- 100% pure pumpkin purée: Be sure to use pure pumpkin purée, not pumpkin pie filling, which contains added sugar and spices. I always use Libby’s because it has a consistent texture and rich pumpkin flavor.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
How To Make Pumpkin Bread
Step 1: Mix the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg until well combined. Whisking the dry ingredients first distributes everything evenly and helps prevent overmixing later, so every slice bakes up light, tender, and perfectly spiced.
Step 2: Cream the butter and sugar. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until just combined. Don’t worry if the mixture looks a little sandy or crumbly at this stage—that’s completely normal.
Step 3: Add the eggs. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then continue mixing until the mixture is light, pale, and fluffy. This extra mixing incorporates air into the batter, giving the finished bread a tender, delicate crumb.
Step 4: Add the pumpkin. Mix in the pumpkin purée until combined. The batter may look slightly curdled at this point, but don’t worry—it will come together once the dry ingredients are added.
Step 5: Add the dry ingredients. Mix on low speed just until the flour disappears into the batter. Be careful not to overmix, or the bread can become tough instead of soft and tender.
Step 6: Fill the loaf pans. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared loaf pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula, offset spatula, or even the back of a spoon. This helps the loaves rise evenly as they bake.
Step 7: Bake. Bake until the loaves are beautifully domed and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs attached. Your kitchen will smell amazing long before they’re done!
Step 8: Cool and serve. Let the loaves cool in the pans for about 10 minutes before turning them out onto a wire rack to cool completely. They continue to set up as they cool, making them easier to slice without crumbling.
Storage & Freezing
If you’re lucky enough to have leftovers, cover the bread loosely with aluminum foil or store it in a cake keeper at room temperature for up to 3 days. To freeze, let the bread cool completely, then wrap it securely in aluminum foil or freezer wrap, or place it in a freezer bag. Freeze for up to 3 months and thaw overnight in the refrigerator before serving.
The bread has a deliciously crisp crust when freshly baked. After the first day, simply toast individual slices for that fresh-baked effect.
Video Tutorial
Pumpkin Bread
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
- ¾ cup (1½ sticks) 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 (165°C )and set an oven rack in the middle position. Generously grease two 8 x 4-in (20 x 10-cm) 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 to 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.
Nutrition Information
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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Can you substitute oil for the butter?
You need something solid to cream with the sugar, so the one oil that will work is (solidified) coconut oil.
I made this recipe by steaming and pureeing a Hokkaido pumpkin myself. I had to reduce the sugar by a third because the pumpkin itself is so sweet. I also added chopped dark chocolate and walnuts. Baking this is going to be my new Halloween tradition; I’m getting loads of compliments for it!
I absolutely love the taste and texture of the bread however, my bread didn’t rise while baking if that makes any sense. All of my ingredients are up to date, I was wondering if you would know why it didn’t rise? The bread isn’t dense, its actually fluffy. I was just wondering if it’s not supposed to rise? Any tips help! I’m new to baking so I could’ve done something wrong by mistake!
Hi Jayla, this bread is more like a cake and doesn’t actually rise a ton, so it sounds like you didn’t do anything wrong. Hope that reassures you! 😊
My family loves this pumpkin bread . it is truly delicious , simple and wholesome ❤️We tried some other recipies from you such as Chicken Tikka Masala … it’s a staple at our house …. So thank you for sharing your knowledge. I do have a question about substituting almond/ coconut flour plus sugar substitute for diabetic person …? Could it work as far as taste with that recipe?
Hi Agnes, so glad this has been a hit with your family! Unfortunately, I don’t think the bread will translate well to replacing all the flour with almond or coconut flour, although you may be able to swap a small portion of it. Regarding sugar substitutes, a number of readers have commented that they’ve used sugar substitutes here (like stevia or monk fruit sweetener) with success.
Made this last night. Used 3/4 of the recipe and it was perfect in 1 9×5 loaf. So incredibly moist and perfect. I am not a huge fan of nutmeg or cloves so I used just the cinnamon and added a bit of ginger and it was SO PERFECT. Thanks!