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This simple pumpkin bread recipe is super moist and is the epitome of fall flavor! Serve it up plain with maple butter, or add in your favorite seasonal ingredients like zucchini or apples, or make it fun and kid friendly with chocolate chips.
It's pumpkin season so it's time to share my favorite fall recipe!
For almost my entire marriage my easy pumpkin bread recipe has wowed everyone who has taken a bite or made it themselves. It's an autumn tradition I absolutely adore.
My pumpkin bread is super moist, full of delicious pumpkin flavor, doesn't require a mixer, full of delicious fall spices, and it only gets even more flavorful and delicious by the day...if it lasts more than one day! But that's why this recipe makes 3 pans worth of super moist pumpkin bread.
Another reason? Once upon a time...okay, it's not really that long of a story, but when my husband was in the military he worked in the military hospital and would bring my extra recipes with him to work. The pumpkin bread went so well that one of the nurses snuck around a back door to steal a whole loaf for herself!
When someone has to steal a whole loaf for themselves, you know this is the best pumpkin bread recipe!
Jump to:
How to Make Pumpkin Bread
I love this incredibly simple pumpkin bread recipe. It really all easily comes together and using a mixer is completely optional! I've made this recipe many times just using my trusty whisk and a bowl.
Simply mix all the wet ingredients, in one large bowl, then sift the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, and then add the dry ingredients to the wet. Don't overmix it! You don't want to overwork the batter and cause a bunch of gluten activation.
Just mix until the flour is completely combined and then put it in your prepared loaf pans and right into the oven for about 50-55 minutes. Make sure not to add too much batter, just about half way up the pans. It's done when you use a cake tester in the center of the bread and it only has a few moist crumbs on it.
Oh, and make sure to slather those loaf pans in some Magic Cake Release, I've got a great recipe for it but you can use non-stick spray and parchment paper as well. I promise you won't ever have a broken-up, stuck-on cake or quick bread if you brush on some of that magic cake release before adding the batter to your pan.
Ingredients
Pumpkin purée. Make sure that it's real pumpkin puree and not the pumpkin pie filling, which is full of sugar, spices, and additives, especially since this uses the whole can of pumpkin. Remember, baking is chemistry so anything can knock it off balance.
Vegetable Oil. This pumpkin bread recipe is kept moist because of the pumpkin puree and the vegetable oil. Not only does using oil keep this cake-like quick bread lighter than butter, it also keeps it really really moist, even if you store it in the fridge or freeze it. Butter hardens in the fridge/freezer and can mess with the texture and moistness of your pumpkin bread.
Brown Sugar and Granulated Sugar. Brown sugar has that molasses, which gives us both moistness and flavor that we want! If you can't find brown sugar (or want dark brown sugar) mix in a bit of molasses. I have a DIY Brown Sugar recipe if you need it!
Large Eggs. Make sure they're room temperature. Everything being room temperature makes for even baking!
Vanilla Extract.
Baking Soda. When it comes to a leavener, an ingredient that lifts your baked good, the fresher they are the better! Baking soda has a baking lifespan of about 6 months before it goes downhill and can cause baking issues.
All-Purpose Flour. I know this is a pumpkin 'bread' recipe, but please don't use bread flour! It has more proteins for more gluten-activation, so it'll make it less cake like and more dense, hearty, bread-y like. Make sense?
Sea Salt.
Ground Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Ground Clove, and Ground Ginger. The spices, y'all! For the flavor, for the fall, for that really delicious smell it makes in your house. They are a must. Pro Tip: Use a whole nutmeg and grate it with a microplane!
Canned Pumpkin vs Fresh Pumpkin
If you were gifted homemade pumpkin puree or have some on hand, I say 100% go for it and use it in this recipe instead of the canned pumpkin from the grocery store. But don't think you need to make it for a big flavor difference. But if you are making it, use sugar pumpkins, not the ones you make jack-o-lanterns with!
Pumpkin Bread Variations
So what goes great mixed into homemade pumpkin bread? The answer: so many delicious things.
Take out about a third of the pumpkin puree (so we still have a good wet to dry ratio and don't end up with gummy pumpkin bread!) and add in a mashed ripe banana for pumpkin banana bread. Or add in grated zucchini since we're still in the end of summer and make deliciously spiced pumpkin zucchini bread!
Throw in chocolate chips (which the kids love obvi) and make chocolate chip pumpkin bread so it's even more decadent!
Swirl some room-temperature cream cheese into the batter for a rich, beautifully swirled pumpkin-cream cheese bread!
Tips on Storing
Wrap the pumpkin loaves in plastic wrap or put into an airtight container , and keep on your counter for up to 5 days.
And pumpkin bread freezes really well! To freeze, wrap individual slices in aluminum foil and then put into a freezer-safe zip top bag and keep frozen for up to 3 months. To thaw, leave on the counter overnight!
Tips for the Best Results
If your pumpkin bread seems soggy or sank in the middle, it's because you had too much liquid compare to your dry ingredients. If you add a watery ingredient (like applesauce, bananas, zucchini, etc) you need to remove some other watery ingredients (like some of the pumpkin puree). Remember that for any quick bread recipe!
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The Best Pumpkin Bread Ever
Ingredients
- 1 15 ounce can pumpkin puree, not pie filling
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 2 cups brown sugar
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 4 eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 heaping teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ heaping teaspoon ground ginger
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 2-3 7×3 loaf pans. Set aside.
- Beat eggs in a large bowl then add pumpkin puree and whisk them together well. Add brown sugar and granulated sugar into the bowl whisk in well. Stir in oil and vanilla extract afterward.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour, sea salt, baking soda, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground cloves, and ground ginger.
- Sift the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, a cup or so at a time, and mix together until just blended. Continue until all the dry ingredients are just blended, do not over mix. Pour the batter into the prepared pans.
- Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean with a few crumbs at most.
- To keep your pumpkin bread fresh, wrap it in plastic wrap and keep on the counter. Stays fresh for 5 days.
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