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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Yummers! Could be the best pumpkin bread on the planet! Perfect loaves, texture, and of course taste. The cloves really make this bread come alive. My go to pumpkin recipe from now on-sorry Mom but we think this is better than yours!
This recipe was amazing. Everything came out perfectly!! I did substitute the 2 cups of sugar with 1 1/2 cups of maple syrup. (i forgot i didn’t have any sugar). It was still delicious.
Imperfect results… As Jenn herself has noted in the comments section, it is more of a cake and not a classic quick-bread loaf. I had no issue with the clove, cinnamon and nutmeg ratios (I utilize Penzey’s spices). My two loaves measured barely 1.5 inches in height. Error Analysis: I both weighed and measured my ingredients and all items were fresh…. there should not have been such a stark difference in my results. I used two good quality 8×4 inch loaf pans prepped with Baker’s Joy, which Jenn also recommends. Oven temperature was consistent and accurate. It’s a good thing I set a timer for 50 minutes, because the loaves were done at that time! The crust/rind was crisp and golden, the cake was moist but not soggy or dense. The texture was acceptable, the taste was very sweet, yet well-spiced. Ultimately, I would turn this into a layered spice cake recipe, which could be delicious! I will move on to find a better pumpkin bread recipe which uses far less unrefined sugar, and yields a true loaf which is my preference.
I tried this recipe last weekend, added more spices and baking soda, and it turned out lovely, everyone loves it!
Wow. This turned out perfectly.
Excellent!! I did a one and half recipe. Added 1 cup walnuts and it came of fabulous!!
Thanks so much. It’s now my family recipie go to.
This is #fire. I have made multiple times because my family loves this.
Wanted to share my success last night with a few modifications:
– Replaced all the spices with 4 generous tsps of pumpkin pie spice.
– Added 1/2 a cup of light brown sugar and then used only 1 and 1/2 cups of white sugar.
Hi Jenn
Just wanted to thank you for sharing your recipe I was looking for a pumpkin bread recipe and found yours today I made one this afternoon. First and foremost it was awesome the flavor was great and it was very moist the old recipes are tried and true. I did make one change for the flour I have celiac disease so I cannot use regular flour because of the gluten. I have found a blend from pillsbury that’s gluten free and it works like regular flour and it came out great I didn’t think you can tell the difference. I use it in all my baking and everyone says it’s great again thanks for sharing I will definitely be baking it again.
Alan
So glad it turned out well for you, Alan! 😊
So delicious. I sometimes add a cup of chocolate chips. Everybody loves this!
If using salted butter do I omit the salt?
Thank you,
Sandy
Hi Sandy, While it varies by brand, most salted butter has approximately 1/4 tsp. salt per stick, so you can use the salted butter here and reduce the salt in the recipe as needed. Hope that helps!
Which magazine was that from?
Hi Anony, I believe it was McCall’s.