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.
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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This bread is perfect! The spice-to-pumpkin ratio is great (I suggest grinding the spices fresh, it adds to the flavor). It works well with canned or fresh pumpkin, and it comes out dense and very moist. My only critique is that I didn’t seem to have enough batter for two loaf pans–I made one loaf and 6 muffins.
This is a new family favorite, thank you for sharing!!
I cut the recipe in half since I only have 1 loaf pan. Made it exactly as written otherwise. I found that my bread didn’t rise as much as the bread in the picture. It’s not flat, but definitely could’ve rose a little more. Could it be because it’s really rainy and muggy here today…and I have a window in a nearby room open? I have a gas oven with a hanging thermometer so I can get the baking temp right (oven not calibrated properly). This was a tad too sweet for me. Overall, I like it and I’m glad it doesn’t have 1/2c of oil like some other recipes suggest.
Hi, This bread is more like a cake and doesn’t rise a ton. That said, if your kitchen was really humid, that may have had a minor impact.
I made this for the folks at work and they’re head over heels for it! Thanks for sharing!
I made this recipe today but used 3 tsp pumpkin pie spice and 1 tsp cinnamon instead of the individual spices. It was amazing. I will be making this again very soon since I know it won’t last long!
MMM this is some of the best pumpkin bread I have had ever. I did cut the amount of cloves by half and added vanilla extract, had to use a different pan size—otherwise stayed true to the recipe. So delicious moist and pumpkin-y. Even better the next day!
Best pumpkin bread ever!!
Hi Jen,
My daughter and I saw you at Politics and Prose and just love your new book! I was wondering if you could suggest a substitution for the eggs in this recipe as I would like to make it for my grandson who has an egg allergy.
Thanks!
Laurie
Thanks for coming out to support me at Politics and Prose, Laurie! 🙂 A number of my readers that avoid eggs have mentioned that they use flax eggs when baking. I would assume many baking recipes would also work with some kind of egg substitute. Hope that helps!
Use chia seeds in water 1 TBSP chia in 3TBsp water = 1 egg let chia sit for 15 min….
Could I pour all the batter into a 4” tall bundt pan? How would I adjust the time/temp? I only have one loaf pan at the moment.
Hi Allison, I’d actually suggest the Glazed Pumpkin Pound Cake (from my cookbook) if you’d like to use a bundt pan. Hope you enjoy if you make it! 🙂
This recipie is better with added walnuts and raisins. Also I use fresh pumpkin that I roasted in the oven. So much better. Thank you for the base.
I made this Pumpkin Bread last year and then made it again a few days ago. I had a friend that suggested I put a Streusel Topping on the bread. I did and it was wonderful. I also changed the cooking temperature to 350 degrees since that is the temperature that I cook my Banana Bread. I added 1 tsp. of vanilla and use pumpkin pie spice. This is a wonderful Pumpkin Bread recipe. Everyone that has tried it loves the bread.
It would not let me give it any stars.