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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Can fresh pureed pumpkin be used?
Sure, Daniel — just make sure to drain it of excess water so that the consistency is similar to that of canned pumpkin. Enjoy!
So delicious, I followed the recipe exactly. I did not have cloves so used 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice instead of cloves and nutmeg. Perfect for us. This bread was so moist ! I was wondering if I could add nuts, has anyone tried that?
So glad you enjoyed, Laurie. And you can definitely add nuts to this. 🙂
Fabulous recipe! The only change I made was I used whole wheat flour, and it came out delicious! I also made it in a cast iron Dutch oven.
Love this recipe. Thank you for sharing the back story especially including a pic of the clipping.
When my kids were little we made pumpkin bread in coffee cans, can’t find them now. We poured the batter to the top line in the can and the loaves would rise perfectly rounded just peeking out the top. After the first slice you just put the lid on the can to store.
Made these for Thanksgiving they were a big hit.. absolutely delicious..Happy holidays!!🦃🍂🍁
How do I modify this recipe for 2 large 9 inch loaf pans?
Hi Kelly, using 9-inch loaf pans for this bread won’t give you a great result. (It will yield very flat loaves.) If you don’t have 8 x 4-inch loaf pans, you could make these into muffins.
Do I double the recipe for 2 large 9 inch loaf pans?
Most pumpkin bread recipes are now made for the larger loaf pans, calling for more flour and more eggs. Just wondering how to work this recipe since it is FANTASTIC, but just not measured for larger loaf pans.
BTW, the bread still turned out tasting perfect in the 2 large pans, but was only half as much volume as should have been.
Can anyone help out with the measurements?
Hi Kelly, Yes you’d need to double the recipe. Enjoy!
Hi Jenn, Would the baking time be the same for muffins?
Hi Mona, Use this recipe as a guide for muffins – it’s almost identical. Enjoy!
Made this with baked pumpkin that I bought for October. Pureed pumpkin with some butter and S&P . Bread turned out very good.
I absolutely loved this!!! It was a total hit in my house, the bread only lasting a day!!! The bread was moist and perfect
What happens if I put extra butter in the receipe, my last batch was a little dried
Hi CC, this recipe makes for a very moist bread, so I’m wondering if perhaps you made a measuring error when you made this. I wouldn’t suggest adding more butter here. Instead, I’d suggest trying the recipe again, as is, and perhaps removing it from the oven just a few minutes earlier. (But before removing it from the oven, check it with a toothpick or cake tester to make sure it comes out clean.
I loved this bread! I used fresh pumpkin from the garden and followed the recipe and it was a hit! The bread was perfectly spiced and was sooooo moist, I highly recommend this recipe!