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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What can I use instead of cloves and nutmeg? Can I just add extra cinnamon? How much do I add?
Hi Katherine, do you happen to have pumpkin pie spice? That would make a good substitute for the cloves and nutmeg.
Found this recipe through a google search. It’s incredible. I only had 1.5 cups of sugar in the house and it still tasted great.
same here! I don’t always have what I need but once upon a chef always comes through! today I made my pumpkin bread in multiple loaves, it was great! I just love this recipe!
💓
I made this today and it was wonderful! Love the spices and the moistness of the bread! Thank you!
I just wanted to say thank you for this recipe — I’ve used it literally dozens of times over the past 5 years, and I’ve never thanked you for posting this. It’s perfect every time and I’m literally famous amongst my friends for it 😀 Thank you!!!
I made this bread tonight & have already eaten 1/2 the loaf!! Absolutely the best pumpkin bread I’ve ever had. It’s almost like cake! So moist. Thank you for sharing the recipe!!!
Can I make this recipe using mini loaf pans and how many would I need? Im baking for a bake sale. Thank you
Hi Nancy, I haven’t made mini loaves with this recipe but I would estimate that you could make about 4 mini loaves with the batter. I’d start checking them at 35 – 40 minutes. Hope everyone enjoys!
I used King Arthur Gluten Free Baking Mix…halved the salt, baking soda and powder, as the mix contains some already. I didn’t have the individual spices, so I used 3tsp pumpkin pie spice…I added 1tsp vanilla, instead of butter used virgin coconut oil (melted). 2 cups sugar seemed like way too much, so I used half cup honey and half cup maple syrup for my sweetener of choice…plenty sweet! I added in Chico chips and my bread was done in 55m. This turned out to be so moist and yummy; definitely the best pumpkin bread recipe yet! Thank you!
Sounds yummy! What are chico chips?
My guess is Danielle intended to write choco chips (but I’ll let her weigh in if I’m wrong)!
Amazing!!! I added some pumpkin seeds on top for a bit of crunch.
This bread was absolutely fabulous! I enjoy baking for my family and friends, and needless to say, everyone in my family loved it. Nothing was wrong with the recipe, but I did forget to let the loafs cool (they were very soft), I didn’t have an electric mixer (I beat everything by hand), and I didn’t have cloves (I used pumpkin spice with extra cinnamon and nutmeg). This recipe was beyond perfect! Thank you so much.
This bread is pretty much perfect! I don’t have any critiques; it smells great, tastes great, and is great. The only thing I would add to make this recipe better? Chocolate chips.