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 only tried it once, by following the recipe exactly. It turned out great: moist and delicious.
I don’t give it 5 stars because it’s too sweet. Also the bread did not rise. There was barely enough batter for my two tubes with the dimensions 8.5X4.5 and 5.5X3.5.
Finally, I don’t like the trouble of ‘softening’ butter. I kept my butter in the room temp for two hours and it’s still hard. I cut it into cubes before mixing it with sugar. And no matter how long I ran the mixer, there were still chunks of butter the size of peanuts. The mix was just not smooth.
Undoubtedly, butter is the king in cooking. But it is expensive, and high in cholesterol. A dessert is already a big splurge to me. I am trying to make is less sinful. Some commenters asks about replacing butter with oil. The author said it’s not commendable because butter was required to ‘bind’ the ingredients together. I wonder why, since most recipes on the internet uses oil.
I’ll replace 1/2 stick butter with 3 Tsp of Canola oil and cut the sugar by 1/2 C. I wonder how much smaller the output will be sine sugar accounts for part of the volume.
You had chunks because your butter was not at room temperature. Try softening butter on microwave for 10 seconds (to start with) If it’s too sweet, reduced the amount of sugar. I use a
9×5.4 loaf pan instead of 2 loaf pans. I follow the recipe exactly other then loaf pan size and it comes out perfect every time. This is hands down THE BEST pumpkin bread recipe. Always get requests.
This is my go-to pumpkin bread recipe. It’s a hit with everyone I share it with! Super moist and great taste. I’ve made this several times and always get a rise and have beautiful loaves. Thanks for a great recipe! My question is, could this be adapted to a bundt pan? What would be your suggestion if so? (tried looking through comments to see if anyone else had, but too many comments to sift through!)
So glad you like this! I actually have a Bundt version of this. You can find it here. Hope you enjoy it!
Jenn,
I’ve been making this delicious pumpkin bread for many years now. I’m curious to making it as muffins. Have you tried this? Just wondering what I can expect or if I need to adjust recipe at all? I do add chocolate chips for my kiddos.
Hi America, this would work as muffins; I’d use the guidance from this recipe. Hope your kiddos enjoy!
The only pumpkin bread recipe I use. works like a charm every time and fairly forgiving
As we speak, I have two loaves in the oven and the family is excited as always. This recipe is always a hit. Thank you <3
Well, made this recipe twice and both times the loaves came out super dense and did not rise. They’re all in the trashcan and I won’t be bringing pumpkin bread to Thanksgiving dinner.
Not sure what happened. I followed the recipe perfectly and the 2nd attempt I made sure to not over work the batter. Super disappointed.
Hi Cody, I’m so sorry you had a problem with this (twice!). Did you use two 8 x 4″ loaf pans? Did you happen to use homemade pumpkin purée? If so, did you drain all the excess liquid from the pumpkin?
I’m not sure if you bake all the time but too much flour will make your bread dense. Make sure to lightly spoon in your flour into the measuring cup.
You might need a new can of baking powder. That happened to me once.
I feel sad because I wasted perfectly good ingredients and effort on this recipe. As other posters said, this came out wet and mushy, despite following the recipe exactly. Too much butter and pumpkin, I think. The rave reviews (created by AI, perhaps?) are very misleading.
Wow! I’m surprised. This is my go to recipe for pumpkin bread! It has never failed me! Do you weigh your ingredients or just sight measure?
It’s come out fine when I’ve baked it in the past. The recipe is similar to an older family recipe of mine (Nana saying back of the box recipes were hers? No way!) but ours uses a helping of brown sugar. If it’s mushy I’d expect one of a few things happened:
1. too much moisture in the dough
2. it didn’t bake long enough (kinda ties into #1)
3. You’re at a higher altitude and need to take this into account when baking
The easy fix is that it needs to bake more. But you could substitute shortening for the butter and that should help with the moisture content. Should be a 1:1 on the substitution (or close enough).
I don’t think they are created by AI. I’ve made it myself many times—and it always comes out great. I do have to bake it a bit longer in my oven, but only 10 minutes or so. That’s pretty typical in my experience with my oven when it’s something that takes this long.
I’ve made this recipe a dozen times, and it comes out perfect every time. I haven’t left a review, but I’m definitely not AI. You’re doing something horribly wrong. Are you using the correct size pans? It makes a difference.
I made this for 4 years in a row and given to family and friends. It’s always perfect and everyone loves it.
Different ovens and altitudes can affect baking. I always use a wooden toothpick to check that it’s done. It is a softer bread, as is a lot of pumpkin bread, but shouldn’t be wet or mushy. Also, if you slice it while it’s hot and don’t give it time to rest and finish cooking outside the oven it can definitely make it mushier. This recipe has been my go to for years!!
I love to make this recipe. I have been making it for 3 years to give to friends and family for the fall/thanksgiving season and everyone loves it!
can you use salted butter?
Sure. While it varies by brand, most salted butter has approximately 1/4 tsp. salt per stick, so you can use the salted butter and reduce the salt in the recipe as needed. Hope that helps!
Hi, I make a similar recipe but use whole wheat flour. Could I make this recipe with whole wheat flour using the same amount?
Thanks!
Diane
Hi Diane, I’d suggest starting by using half whole wheat and half all-purpose to make sure you like the texture. If you do like it, the next time you make this, you can up the ratio of whole wheat to white a bit more. Also, you may want to consider white whole wheat as it’s lighter and milder tasting than regular whole wheat flour (yet just as nutritious). I’d love to hear how it turns out!
Could I bake this in a cupcake tray as is? Just watch the time?
Yep!
Did I miss something ? Where is the liquid. I have followed the recipe and it’s almost like bread dough- I’m afraid to bake it as is as it looks like it either won’t rise or it will be too dry. Every other recipe I have seen has more liquid.
The two eggs, regular size pumpkin can, and softened butter (not hard!) should make it more like a thick batter than a bread dough. If you didn’t miss those, you could be packing too much flour into the cup. It shouldn’t be packed and compressed, technically it’s best to be measured by weight and sifted in but I just loosely sprinkle from the bag into a cup, vs digging the cup into the bag.