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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So amazing!!! However – I thought I had pumpkin to make these but when I went to get it out of the pantry I actually had canned yams!! So I improvised and used canned yams! HOLY MOLY!!! SO GOOD!!
To use canned yams: get two 29-oz cans of yams in light syrup, drain and mash them, fill one can full of the mashed yams. Use 1 can of mashed yams. You can use the remainder of the mashed yams in some spiced up pancake batter or or something else!
I also only had the pre-mixed pumpkin pie spice so I used 3 tsp of that instead of each individual ones.
Instead of bread I made these into muffins – bake at the same temp (325 farenheit) but only for 23-24 minutes.
Have always loved to cook😋😋. I especially like baking I have 4 boys and they love to eat An they are so tall an thin- it never ever turns to fat. Please, Jennifer, don’t stop w/ these award-winning recipes. All outstanding!!!
💗
Soooooo yummy! Crunchy crust and moist inside. I substituted more cinnamon for the cloves and added an extra egg since mine were regular size. Otherwise followed recipe exactly. Will use this as my new favorite go to snack bread.
I baked this tonight for the first time. It blew away my Mother’s pumpkin bread. It’s amazing and delicious. This will be my permanent recipe.
can u tell me what temperature i set the oven for? thank you, terri wache
Hi Terri, the oven gets set to 325°F/165°C. Hope you enjoy!
Loved it, it was the best pumpkin bread I had ever made. If you love chocolate I would recommend adding chocolate chips to the mix.
I was wondering if anyone has tried the recipe with homemade pumpkin puree instead of canned?
Hi Aidam, A lot of readers have commented that they’ve used fresh pumpkin here successfully. Just make sure to drain it of excess water so that the consistency is similar to that of canned pumpkin. Hope you enjoy!
Wondering if this could be altered for use with Pumpkin Pie Mix (Libby’s)? I don’t have pumpkin puree, but have a 30 ounce can of the above. It already has sugar and spices in it (although I would add more spice). Do you think I would need to add sugar, or is there already enough in the 30 ounce mix?
Hi Debra, I wish I could be more helpful but I’m not sure how sweet pumpkin pie mix is. I’m pretty sure you’d still need to add sugar but I can’t say for sure how much. For best results, I’d stick with plain pumpkin purée. Sorry!
That’s is the most delicious pumpkin bread I have had in my life !! Jennifer thank you for sharing with us this wonderful recipe !!
Absolutely amazing. Husband loves it. I’ll make it even in the spring time as dessert. Add a big scoop of vanilla ice cream while it is still warm. Perfect!
Delicious! Didn’t realize we were out of cloves so we increased the other spices slightly and it went well. Will have to try again to compare the outcomes. Made one loaf and did the rest in a muffin tin to freeze for later.