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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Jenn, can you substitute whole wheat/white whole wheat in place of all purpose? Wanted to confirm before I make it.
Hi Jennifer, White whole wheat will work nicely here. Please LMK how it turns out!
Delicious, but I will use less clove next time.
I would like to make 4 small loaves and 1 regular size, what is the temperature of the oven and cooking time for small loaves ?
Hi Connie, the oven temp should remain the same but I’d start checking the mini loaves at about 35 minutes.
This is such a good pumpkin bread. I can’t believe that I waited so long to make it. It’s nice that it makes two at one time and tomorrow I will be bringing one to my grandson for him to try! Thanks for the nice recipe.
Amazing recipe! Loved that I could make two loaves with one can of pumpkin.
I had to use allspice instead of cloves and I ended up cooking them for about 50 minutes and it came out perfect. Super moist and the flavors were subtle.
You know its good when everyone who tastes it asks for the recipe. Thanks!
I think this may be the best pumpkin bread recipe I’ve tried. But, it vanishes: I made it two days back and gee, it’s all gone! Yummy as-is, with butter, or with cream cheese spread on it.
It’s delicious, has a great texture(despite my changes*), and the level of moistness is perfect.
*Changes: Leaving a sweet bread recipe alone is, of course, just this side of impossible, but this recipe tolerated my adaptations very well. Because it’s our taste, I used 1 cup white sugar and 1 cup light brown sugar, doubled the cinnamon, halved the cloves, and halved the nutmeg. A tsp of nutmeg is a lot and I use a nutmeg grater so thought it might be too strong. I’ve found that 1950s recipes seem almost always to be based on pre-ground spices. I also stirred 1/2 cup of currants into the dry half of the mix (so they wouldn’t sink in the loaf). I can see lots of different inclusions working well: orange peel, raisins, nuts, dried cranberries, etc. The hard part is not making it again tomorrow because calories, y’know . . .
Thanks for a great recipe! This is a keeper.
I am a super novice baker and made this with no electric mixer, just completely by hand! It came out SO good. Perfect recipe. Perfect for new bakers.
Amazing, it had a nice crispy crust and perfectly moist interior. I used my own fresh pumpkin puree and it was A+.
Hi Jenn, this recipe sounds like a winner. Just wondering if can you add raisins and nuts to the batter?
Sure – hope you enjoy!
I love this recipe, but I made a couple of minor adjustments to suit my taste. First, I cut the salt and used salted butter. I added a teaspoon of allspice in place of the ground cloves called for in the recipe. Lastly, since I prefer a less sweet bread, I used 1-1/2 cups of sugar. I cooked this recipe in a bundt pan for 1 hour and 15 minutes and it was delicious!
I tried this recipe twice and both times it sunk in the middle, either I overbeat the eggs, or 1/2 cup less butter might do the trick.
Hi Myrna, Sorry to hear you had problems with this sinking. Did you use two 8 x 4-inch loaf pans? If so, it sounds like it probably just needs a few more minutes in the oven.
DELICIOUS! Easy to make and even easier to eat 2 pieces at once.
I put the entire batter in one pan. It is huge, but that’s how we like it. Wonderful recipe!