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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The best recipe for pumpkin bread I have ever used. Made exactly as written except I used pumpkin pie spice instead of the spices separately. I usually don’t write many reviews but I had to let everyone know how wonderfully good this bread is. It is so moist and perfectly spiced. This is my new go to recipe and next time I may add pecans and a handful of chocolate chips. Heavenly just the way it is though.
I love this recipe. I am not a huge pumpkin fan. This recipe smelled so good, I had to taste it. Yummm! I originally made this for my teenage girls so they might stop spending their $ on pumpkin bread from that large coffee place ;). I made 3 batches last year and am making my 1st batch this year. Can’t wait for it to come out of the oven!!
This recipe gets a five-star rating from the house of uteri! We ushered in the fall today with some pumpkin bread, and I’m glad we decided on this recipe.
Perfectly moist and pumkin-y, yummy top crust, and totally flavourful.
So easy to make too! Will definitely save this recipe for later.
This recipe didn’t particularly stand out over others I found, but the fact that it used an entire can of pumpkin and had great reviews were enough reasons to try it. Even though I have stand and hand mixers, I made the batter by hand with my dough whisk. I substituted coconut sugar for the regular (1:1), added a cup of toasted chopped walnuts, and poured all the batter into a greased bundt cake pan. It was ready in 55 minutes and it was SO delicious! Definitely a keeper!
I make this pumpkin bread in 5x 9 pans because that’s all I had. The bread is very moist and perfectly spicy…yummy! So delicious. Going to order some smaller pans online to achieve perfection! 😉
Made this bread, and it’s out of this world fantastic!! Ended up using some of the batter to make muffins to take to my daughter and her roommates. I told her they were fall muffins so they woudn’t turn up their noses to pumpkin! They were a huge hit with them as well. My question is, when you say to increase the batter by 1.5 for a larger loaf pan, what exactly do you mean? I have no clue what size loaf pan I used, and wasn’t too concerend since I was only making one loaf and the extra batter would be made into muffins. Oh, and I only used one stick of margarine, but it still turned out great. Thanks again for sharing this great recipe!
Hi Mel, so glad to hear this was a hit! Because the recipe calls for two 8 x 4“ loaf pans, if you use two 9 x 5“ loaf pans you’ll need more batter and so you’ll need to multiply all the ingredients by 1 & 1/2. Hope that clarifies!
I bake this bread often at all times of the year. It’s always a hit. I usually add Dark Chocolate chips and occasionally use Espresso chips. Thank you for a wonderful family favorite all year long.
Hi, My option for baking bread are 9×5 loaf pan or the mini loaf pans that have 8 molds in it? Please share detail process of time and temperature change.
Hi Bri, If you have two 9 x 5 loaf pans, I’d make 1-1/2 times the recipe and split the batter between those. The bake time may be just a bit longer for those. For the other pan, it’s had to say how long they’ll take as I’ve never used one of those, but I’d start checking them at about 30 minutes. (And I’d keep the oven temp the same.). Hope that helps!
Hi! All I can have and can find at stores around me are 9″ by 5″ pans. How would I adjust the cooking time? Thanks!
Hi Madison, I’d increase the batter by 1.5 and bake in two of them. Bake time may be a touch longer so keep a close eye on them. Hope that helps and that you enjoy!
This pumpkin bread has become a household favorite. My daughter and I make it quite often together and on Mother’s Day she knew I would be thrilled to wake up to the house smelling so happy, warm and delicious from this pumpkin bread, fresh from the oven. Thank you for this amazing recipe. It’s a winner!