Pumpkin Bread
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My family’s treasured pumpkin bread recipe is incredibly moist, perfectly spiced, and easy to make with canned pumpkin. It’s been a reader favorite for years—and for good reason.
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). The batter can also often be used to make muffins—my pumpkin muffins are nearly identical to this bread, but with the addition of a pecan streusel topping.
“This will be my family’s only pumpkin bread recipe from here on out. Thank you!”
What You’ll Need To Make Pumpkin Bread
- All-purpose flour: Be sure to spoon the flour into your measuring cup and level it off with a knife. Scooping directly from the bag can pack in too much flour, resulting in dry, dense bread.
- Baking soda, baking powder, and salt: The baking soda and baking powder work together to give the bread a nice rise, while the salt balances the sweetness.
- Ground cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg: This classic blend gives the bread its signature cozy pumpkin spice flavor. If your spices have been sitting in the pantry for a few years, it’s worth replacing them—fresh spices make a noticeable difference.
- Unsalted butter: Softened butter creams more easily with the sugar, creating a light, tender crumb. It should give slightly when pressed but still hold its shape.
- Sugar: Besides sweetening the bread, sugar helps keep it moist and contributes to its beautifully golden crust.
- Large Eggs: Bind the batter together and add richness and structure to the finished loaf.
- 100% pure pumpkin purée: Be sure to use pure pumpkin purée, not pumpkin pie filling, which contains added sugar and spices. I always use Libby’s because it has a consistent texture and rich pumpkin flavor.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
How To Make Pumpkin Bread
Step 1: Mix the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg until well combined. Whisking the dry ingredients first distributes everything evenly and helps prevent overmixing later, so every slice bakes up light, tender, and perfectly spiced.
Step 2: Cream the butter and sugar. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until just combined. Don’t worry if the mixture looks a little sandy or crumbly at this stage—that’s completely normal.
Step 3: Add the eggs. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then continue mixing until the mixture is light, pale, and fluffy. This extra mixing incorporates air into the batter, giving the finished bread a tender, delicate crumb.
Step 4: Add the pumpkin. Mix in the pumpkin purée until combined. The batter may look slightly curdled at this point, but don’t worry—it will come together once the dry ingredients are added.
Step 5: Add the dry ingredients. Mix on low speed just until the flour disappears into the batter. Be careful not to overmix, or the bread can become tough instead of soft and tender.
Step 6: Fill the loaf pans. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared loaf pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula, offset spatula, or even the back of a spoon. This helps the loaves rise evenly as they bake.
Step 7: Bake. Bake until the loaves are beautifully domed and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs attached. Your kitchen will smell amazing long before they’re done!
Step 8: Cool and serve. Let the loaves cool in the pans for about 10 minutes before turning them out onto a wire rack to cool completely. They continue to set up as they cool, making them easier to slice without crumbling. If you’re lucky enough to have leftovers, simply cover with aluminum foil or store in a cake keeper at room temperature for up to 3 days. You can also freeze them for longer storage.
Looking for more pumpkin recipes? If you’re in the mood for more fall baking, be sure to try my pumpkin pie, pumpkin cake, and pumpkin scones. They’re all reader favorites and perfect for pumpkin season.
More Pumpkin Recipes You’ll Love
Video Tutorial
Pumpkin Bread
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
- ¾ cup (1½ sticks) 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 (165°C )and set an oven rack in the middle position. Generously grease two 8 x 4-in (20 x 10-cm) 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 to 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. Once completely cooled, cover the loaf with aluminum foil or store it in a cake keeper and keep it at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Notes
- 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.
- Freezing 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
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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Omgosh!! This is delicious!! Husband loves it! I now make this once a week. Making it as we speak for my parents who are coming over for dinner tonight! Highly recommend! Best pumpkin bread recipe ever!! Love!
It was an amazing recipe, huge hit in my house. I loved the different spices. Something I did was add a vanilla glaze, and it just accentuates the already incredible flavor!
For some reason, my bread turned out to be only 1.5 inches high. I added the leavening agents as instructed, so I can’t figure out what went wrong. I also didn’t get the volume of mixture you see in these pictures. When divided into two pans, the mixture covered the bottom third. The loaves also cooked in 45 minutes.
Hi Leen, These don’t rise very much, but the timing sounds off — did you use 8 x 4-inch loaf pans?
Yes
Hi Lucy, it’s a bit of a head-scratcher for me as this is a pretty predictable recipe. Is there any chance you made a measuring error?
Mine were short too, although tasted very good. I don’t have the smaller pans I only have the 6×9 pans. Can I do it in just one 6×9 pan?
Hi Anne, These don’t rise a ton (they’re more like a cake than a bread), but using the 9 x 6 inch pans would’ve given you an even shorter finished bread. If you want to use those pans, I’d make 1.5 times the recipe. Hope that helps!
Why use unsalted butter? Is regular butter OK?
Thanks, Sue
Hi Susan, The primary reason is that the amount of salt in salted butter varies by brand. This makes it harder to calibrate the rest of your seasoning in the recipe. Most salted butter has approximately 1/4 tsp. salt per stick, so you can use the salted butter if that’s all you have on hand and reduce the salt in the recipe as needed. Hope that helps!
Absolutely delicious and so moist; hard to keep the family from devouring right out of the oven
I’ve been making this for years and have always enjoyed it. Like some of the others I cut the sugar to 1.5 cups and it works great. I’m going to make it again but only have bread flour and cake/pastry flour on hand. Help! Should i do a 50/50 blend of my two flours?
Hi Lisa, I haven’t tried it this way so I can’t say for sure, but I think it should work. Enjoy!
I can always trust your recipes and this was no different – INCREDIBLE! Easy to make and delicious. Thank you.
One tip, as a former professional baker, I was taught to never send a product out without an embellishment. In this case, I adjusted my usual banana bread topping – 1 T sugar 1-1/2 T brown sugar and swapped 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice for my usual cinnamon. Not sure why but this topping is a HUGE hit. I suggest you try it 🙂
Do you add that on at the end of the baking process?
Curious if substituting honey for some of the sugar would work. I do see several people have cut sugar down successfully. Also, would you simply cut the recipe in half if you only want one loaf? I assume so but didn’t know if the cooking time would be adjusted at all.
Hi Ellene, for the best results, I’d stick with the sugar. If you replace any of the sugar with honey, I’d keep it at a minimum. And, yes, if you halve the recipe, you’d simply halve the ingredients. The bake time should be the same. Hope you enjoy!
First time making pumpkin bread and it tastes amazing! Very moist and easy to make. Will definitely keep this recipe and plan to make it again and share a few loaves.
I made this recipe twice, first time I used a little more pumpkin and added a little more of the spices. It was delicious and more like a cake. The next time I followed your recipe with 2 cups of pumpkin (I used E.D Smith pumpkin for both). Equally it turned out great but this was more of a bread. I’ll try and upload a photo.
Followed the recipe but bread came out raw. Even put it in the oven for an extra 30 minutes. Still raw on the inside. Nothing like the pictures.
The bread has a nice texture and was pretty easy to make. I wish I would have used 1/4 the amount of cloves because it really overpowers the pumpkin flavor.