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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EXCELLENT. We’ve made it twice. So. Good.
OMG!!!!!!!!! Soooooooooooooooooooo yummy!
If you add half a bag of chocolate chips it tastes EVEN BETTER! I rated it 5 stars but instead I should rate it infinite stars!!!
Avoid this recipe: too much sugar, bake is too slow, crust is poor. This is a recipe for pumpkin cake – not pumpkin bread. Just look at the author’s recipe for pumpkin cake. It’s almost exactly the same, save for the cream cheese frosting. We ate this with zero-sugar whipped cream and it was bearable. Otherwise it tastes like a sugar bomb from a donut shop, and we made it with fresh cooking pumpkin puree. And no vanilla? Come on. Halve the sugar, pump up the temp by 25F (350ish), add a tsp vanilla, reduce the butter to one stick, and you might have a pumpkin bread recipe. I’d probably also go full soda and ditch the BP. The pumpkin has plenty of acid to compensate. This recipe was relegated to the annals of a housewife magazine for a reason. No way this should be popping off as a top pumpkin bread recipe.
Dude, with all due respect, that was rude!
I find cakes with veggies – Zucchini Bread fo example- taste like cake, which is great in my opinion.
Wow…seriously, Dude? This was so tasty (I did add an extra egg and vanilla, but measured everything else exactly). Maybe some of your ingredients were expired. Overkill on the critique, me thinks.
I wish I had seen your review —- it is cake. I was in a hurry and should have looked closer. Way too sweet – I’ll continue my search – I love good pumpkin bread. I’ll use the extra spices.
How can I modify this to make cupcakes?
Hi Tricia, If you want to make cupcakes, I’d suggest this recipe. Because they have a streusel topping, the muffins themselves contain less sugar (which would be good if you will be icing them). You can skip the streusel and ice them instead.
I need to make this recipe dairy free. Csn I use oil or shortening instead of the butter? Thanks.
Hi Kathy, I’m not sure how shortening would work, but a number of readers have successfully substituted the butter with coconut oil. Hope that helps and that you enjoy if you try it!
How much coconut oil did they use?
Hi Cid, I believe it’s a 1:1 ratio, so you’d need 3/4 cup. 🙂
I love this recipe! It’s almost exactly my Grandma’s. She used allspice instead of cinnamon and included a 1/2 tsp of cardamom. You can also switch ou the walnuts for pecans. YUMMY! Thanks for sharing.
Oh my goodness, thank you so much for this recipe. Like many others who are stuck at home; baking has become a favorite past time. I used 1 cup of brown sugar instead of 2 cups granulated sugar (since we don’t have any). I also scaled back on the cloves, and it still came out great. It’s so moist and delicious. I will be freezing the other loaf for later. Thank you again for the yummy recipe.
It should not be separated in to 2 pans, there isn’t enough batter. It didn’t rise one bit and it has a very raw like texture.
I think you did something wrong.
Mine rose beautifully. This calls for both baking soda and baking powder. I double checked to make sure I put both in.
Good recipe, I added chopped walnuts.
I absolutely love this recipe! My pumpkin loafs came out so good. Thank you so much!
This is the best pumpkin bread I have ever eaten. My college age boys ask me to make it all year long. Just this morning they waited for it to come out of the oven so they could take it with them for the weekend.