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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Also…been experimenting with using coconut sugar…health reasons..
I noticed in a recent recipe it’s not nearly as sweet…do you think in this it’d work to use 1/2 coconut sugar, and 1/2 regular? That’s what I was thinking of doing.
Tks again! 🙂
Hi Amy, I don’t have any experience with coconut sugar, so I can’t confidently say how it will impact the recipe. I’m sorry I can’t be more helpful, but I’d love to hear how it turns out if you try it!
Followed recipe exactly. The smell while baking permeated the house. Absolutely delicious. Shared on Facebook. Thank you!!
Hello…I think it looks great plain, but bf wants walnuts, so I was going to make one with walnuts…ok to just add nuts?
Probably know the answer here, lol…but asking jic.
Thanks!
Amy
Definitely! Hope you both enjoy. 🙂
Hello. I’m a lover of all things pumpkin and this recipe sounds very good. I’m wondering if it could be made in an 8×8 pan instead of 2 loaf pans. And if I double the recipe, could it be done in a 9×13 pan?
Hi Laura, there would be too much batter for an 8 x 8-inch pan, but 9 x 9 should work. If you want to use a 9 x 13, that should work too. Please LMK how it turns out!
Just made it in an 8×8 glass pan and it turned out great! I was worried it would be too much batter but it was fine. Getting ready to try it now! Been impatiently waiting for it to cool.
Hi. This was the most amazing pumpkin bread I have ever made. Having said that, I need your help on something. My loaves did not rise. I tried checking the baking soda and the powder and they both fizz. The bread was moist and delicious, except for the fact that it is so tiny. Do you have any thoughts/Ideas on what it could be?
Hi Cheryl, Did you use 8 x 4-inch loaf pans? If so, you didn’t do anything wrong. These are more like a cake than a bread and don’t rise very much. Hope that clarifies!
Hi Jen. I am in Canada and it is so hard to get the 8 x 4 pans. I used 9 x 5, but yours look so nice. I was just today able to buy them, so I am going to try it in the new size. Thanks again and keep on sharing your amazing recipes.
My daughter and I make this recipe every few weeks and take a loaf to her teachers at school. It’s a total hit! We use pumpkin pie spice instead of the three spices listed since I didnt have all three of them the first time, and it turned out amazing.
have made this twice and it is unbelievably good. I used kroger pumpkin first Trader Joe organic next as I already had these. Both very good. My pans were 9 x 5 and cooked for 50 minutes when tested with toothpick.
Delicious. very moist.
Another great recipe! It was so easy that my 3 year old toddler helped me whip this up. I didn’t have cloves so I just used 1 tbsp of pumpkin pie spice instead of the ones listed. 65 mins in the oven was perfect and it turned out amazing. So easy and delicious! My picky toddler is enjoying this as part of her lunch today.
Another fabulous recipe that has become a fall tradition in our house. I make several loaves to give to family and friends and have shipped these breads all over the country! I would like to make them into muffins – would you bake at the same temperature and for how long?
So glad you like this enough to send out to others! I have a muffin version of this recipe that you can use (and you can omit the topping if you’d like). Enjoy!
This is a good traditional recipe, my adjustments are for higher altitude and a more savory flavor that we love.
I first made the recipe as is and found the result very moist even after 1 1/2hr in the oven…a bit too moist, not unusual at 4000 ft. My next batch added 2 tbsp of flour and raised temp 15deg. I use a canned organic pumpkin product that makes for a very pumpkiny taste so I increased the spices by a scientific smidgen and added a bit of ground ginger.
Happy Baking