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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I made it two ways. I followed your recipe verbatim. It tasted great. Didn’t rise much. Hubby really likes it. The second time I made it using gluten-free flour and no sugar. I substituted the sugar for half a cup of applesauce and half a cup of honey. It tasted pretty good. Nice & spicy. I put cinnamon & a little turbinado sugar with crushed pecans on top. I also left out the butter because I have high cholesterol and I’m focusing on an anti-inflammatory diet. This will be my fall go to treat with a nice big glass of healthy milk and a cup of hot tea. Thank you
My 7 year old son wanted to make pumpkin bread, and I found this recipe. It turned out fantastic and is simple enough for a kid to help with. He loves cooking and baking lately, and he’s now calling this his “famous pumpkin bread.” The last time we made this, we added about half a cup of crushed walnuts to one of the pans, adding the nuts to the remaining batter after filling the first pan. The bread is fantastic without the walnuts, but even more amazing with them if you like nuts and don’t have the allergy. The sweetness level on the bread is great- not too much at all, and the pumpkin flavor is perfectly balanced with the spices. We’re making the pumpkin bread again today, for the third time in the past month now.
I’ve made this bread at least a dozen times, and get so many compliments. I’ve made it with regular sugar and Monk fruit for my mother, everyone loves it. Thanks!
Absolutely fantastic!!!
Oh my gosh! This recipe is the worst! The minute I took the loaves out of the pans they fell apart! It was way too dry. I followed the recipe and looking at the pictures my dough looked exactly the same. With most other breads I have made the dough is more wet. Anyway its all a crumbled mess. Really disappointing. The taste was just okay.
So sorry to hear you had a problem with this Carolyn! Did you make any adjustments to the recipe?
Hey Carolyn, sounds like you don’t know what you’re doing. This recipe was pretty simple. Good luck next time!
I added a box of French Vanilla Instant Pudding, and upped the cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, and allspice. It came out wonderful. I bet it would be good with some star anise, too!
I added pecans too.
Made this today, exactly as written. Absolutely delicious! Perfect amount of spices. The only thing I did extra was sprinkle some cinnamon sugar on top when it add about 10 minutes left to bake. Will be my go to for pumpkin bread now.
Amazing! I made it yesterday. My husband and I love it! I ended up swapping out the spices for 3/4 teaspoon of “pumpkin pie spice” and also included some cinnamon (1/2-3/4 teaspoon) – and I added chocolate chips to half of one loaf – it was a great addition! Classic bread and recipe – loved it – thank you!
This really is the best pumpkin bread recipe out there! 🙂
4 stars because 400g of sugar seems too much, I used 130g of brown sugar instead and it came out amazing, sweet and delicious, can’t imagine how crazy sweet it would be with 400g of sugar. As well I used my own pumpkin puree. 🙂
Love that you give the option to switch to metric measures.
Made this recipe as is, but used my own pumpkin purée as well. Amazing! But I’m going to lower the sugar next time. Great suggestion!
Made this last night with GF flour mix and added 1/2 tspn of ginger (powder). Really wonderful recipe and made two perfect loaves. No one imagined it was GF as the result was very light and moist. Flavours were great and house smelled delicious.
Thank you for your great recipes (and love the format)
BTW for those interested I baked these at high altitude and needed no changes.
Made this bread today. It is delicious and so easy to make. I can’t wait to share it with my family. Thank you for a great recipe.
Great pumpkin bread recipe. Nice and moist without being soggy.