Homemade pumpkin bread is a favorite fall recipe packed with cinnamon spice and tons of pumpkin flavor. Extra moist and easy to make, this recipe has been a fan favorite since 2014. You don’t even need a mixer! The days of bland pumpkin bread are behind us.
Reader Laura says: “Wanted to say this bread is really good! And last year when I took some of my farmers markets breads to our county fair, this is one of the breads I entered for judging, got a blue ribbon, 1st place, for it! Very good!”
When September rolls around, I have the sudden urge to make every quick bread recipe under the sun. Some of my favorites are banana bread, apple cinnamon bread, and this orange beauty: the BEST pumpkin bread I’ve ever had. This is a favorite pumpkin bread recipe because each slice is incredibly moist and the process is very straightforward. There are no dry crumbs here! This pumpkin bread is also packed with pumpkin and pumpkin spice flavors. I’m telling you… this is some good stuff.
Perfecting This Pumpkin Bread Recipe
When I was testing this pumpkin bread recipe, it took me about 6 or 7 tries to get it just right. After plenty of sunken, soggy, and flavorless loaves, I finally mastered what ingredients and how much of each to use, and the result is pumpkin perfection. The recipe is a lot like these pumpkin muffins.
Here are the key ingredients you need & why:
- Pumpkin: There’s a lot of pumpkin in this recipe because it not only adds flavor, but moisture as well. I always bake with canned pumpkin, but homemade pumpkin puree works too. If you’re interested, here’s how to make pumpkin puree. Make sure you blot your homemade pumpkin puree to rid some of the moisture (not necessary if using canned pumpkin). Simply measure your homemade pumpkin puree, then squeeze out some of the moisture with a paper towel.
- Oil: Adds incredible moisture and lightens up the crumb. Vegetable oil is best, but you can substitute melted coconut oil instead.
- Favorite Fall Spices: Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves… the gang’s all here! These 4 spices complement the pumpkin flavor wonderfully (and are often found together in pumpkin pie and many other pumpkin recipes). You could also use pumpkin pie spice—see my recipe Note below.
- Orange Juice: I know orange juice seems strange here, but don’t be nervous. This bread will NOT taste like oranges. I use orange juice because a little liquid keeps the bread from tasting too dense. Milk works too if you don’t have orange juice, but the subtle orange flavor is like magic in this bread. It just works.
- Chocolate Chips: Optional, but if you’re a chocolate lover, pumpkin + chocolate is always a good idea.
Here’s the batter and a couple pictures of the bread without chocolate chips:
Why You’ll Love This Pumpkin Bread Recipe:
- Delicious in the fall
- Smells wonderful while it bakes
- Easy to make—no mixer required
- Extra moist
- Tons of pumpkin flavor
- Loaded with warm spices
- Adaptable—studded with chocolate chips, or use chopped pecans, or leave plain
- Similar to banana bread, it tastes even better on day 2 (if it lasts that long!)
I love this pumpkin bread recipe so much that I included it in my first cookbook, Sally’s Baking Addiction. It’s always a hit, especially when pumpkin spice season picks up!
But after 1 taste, you might not want to limit this quick bread to the fall season. 🙂
Another reader, Liz, says: “This is by far the best pumpkin bread recipe I have made… It’s moist and loaded with flavor. I love the orange juice that adds a fresh flavor to it. I add some orange zest that kicks up the orange flavor a bit. It goes well with the chocolate chips too.”
More Perfect Pumpkin Recipes
- Pumpkin Muffins & Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies & Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
- Pumpkin Roll
- Brown Butter Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies
- Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Pumpkin Bundt Cake
- Recipes to Make With Leftover Pumpkin Puree
For even more inspiration, here are my 30+ favorite pumpkin dessert recipes.
PrintMy Best Pumpkin Bread
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
- Yield: 1 loaf
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Homemade pumpkin bread is a favorite fall recipe packed with sweet cinnamon spice, tons of pumpkin flavor, and optional chocolate chips.
Ingredients
- 1 and 3/4 cups (219g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4Â teaspoon ground nutmeg*
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves*
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger*
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup (150g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 and 1/2 cups (340g) pumpkin puree (canned or fresh)
- 1/2 cup (120ml) vegetable oil, canola oil, or melted coconut oil
- 1/4 cup (60ml) orange juice*
- 2/3 cup (120g) semi-sweet chocolate chips*
Instructions
- Adjust the oven rack to the lower third position and preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Lowering the oven rack prevents the top of your bread from browning too much, too soon. Grease a metal 9×5-inch loaf pan with non-stick spray. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and salt together until combined. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together until combined. Whisk in the pumpkin, oil, and orange juice. Pour these wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and gently mix together using a rubber spatula or a wooden spoon. There will be a few lumps. Do not over-mix. Gently fold in the chocolate chips, if including.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 60–65 minutes, making sure to loosely cover the bread with aluminum foil halfway through to prevent the top from getting too brown. The bread is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean with only a few small moist crumbs. This may be before or after 60–65 minutes depending on your oven, so begin checking every 5 minutes around the 55-minute mark.
- Allow the bread to cool completely in the pan on a wire rack before removing and slicing.
- Cover and store leftover pumpkin bread at room temperature for up to 3–4 days, or in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Notes
- Make Ahead Tip:Â Baked pumpkin bread can be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 9×5-inch Loaf Pan | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Cooling Rack
- Spices: You can use 1 teaspoon store-bought or homemade pumpkin pie spice instead of nutmeg, cloves, and ginger. Be sure to still add 2 teaspoons of cinnamon to the batter.
- Oil: Oil is a better choice than melted butter in this recipe. The bread is not as moist and soft if using butter.
- Orange Juice: You can substitute milk (any kind) for orange juice.
- Chocolate Chips: If desired, try using milk chocolate, white chocolate, dark chocolate, or even chopped pecans/walnuts instead of the semi-sweet chocolate chips. You can leave the pumpkin bread plain, too.
- Pumpkin Muffins: This recipe makes 15–18 pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. Bake for about 20 minutes at the same oven temperature, or try this similar pumpkin muffins recipe.
- Bundt Cake: Simply make this pumpkin Bundt cake (pretty much this exact recipe) and leave out the cream cheese filling. Add 1 and 1/2 cups chocolate chips if desired. About 1 hour bake time.
This bread is so delicious! My family loves it. I Had to make some substitutions since I was out of a few items. Avocado oil for the canola, egg whites for the eggs and almond milk for the OJ. It still turned out so good!
Just wondering if there is any nutritional information for this recipe as I’m trying to track what I’m eating.
I just found this recipe in early Oct. and have made this bread 5 times already this month. I bake in a mini loaf pan so I get 8 mini loaves. Send to school with grandkids, lunches, gifts, everyone loves this. I pretty much followed recipe, ( love I dont have to drag mixer out) I was lil heavy handed with spices, used whole 15 oz. Can of the pumpkin, and juice and zest from fresh orange, and sometimes mini choc.chips . Love, Love this recipe.!
Added pumpkin seeds and a mix of white and semi sweet chocolate chips. Made as mini loaves. Cook time was about 30 mins to make 6 mini loaves. Yum! So good!
LOVE!!!! LOVE!!! this recipe i have made it twice this week already lol so delicious yummmmm!!!
I made the recipe the same and did the 1 tea spoon of pumpkin spice and also just by adding in half a tea spoon of baking powder the second time and it was perfect 🙂
thank you so much for this recipe.
This pumpkin bread is INCREDIBLE. I just savored the last slice from this weekend at my desk for breakfast and felt compelled to come here and just say that this was such a delicious, perfectly moist, incredibly flavorful fall breakfast treat that I’ll definitely be making again and again! As a bonus, I made with King Arthur Measure-for-Measure GF flour because my SIL who has an intolerance was staying with us… my husband and I who are gluten gluttons couldn’t tell a difference!
I’ve been having trouble with pumpkin recipes. I made this, as well as the pumpkin cake. Both were delicious, but both had a layer of moist pumpkin on top (near centre). I wonder if I am simply under baking? Any tips?
Thanks 🙂
If the center wasn’t set then yes it sounds like it was just under-baked. Try adding a few minutes to your bake time and you can cover the loaf or cake with aluminum foil about halfway through if the top is getting brown before the center bakes.
This is amazing pumpkin chocolate chip bread! This is now my go-to recipe for pumpkin chocolate chip bread during anytime of the year. It’s incredibly flavorful, moist, and holds shape. Nice work! God bless!
I made this recipe this weekend for my celiac/dairy free daughter using 1 3/4 cups Bob’s Red Mill gluten free flour. I also used 4 eggs but everything else I followed exactly. You could not tell it was gluten free, it is an excellent pumpkin bread recipe. It is so nice to have a decadent treat that is gf and dairy free, thank you Sally!
I made this last Fall. AMAZING!!!! I usually times 3 all of my bread recipes so I can make more loafs at one time. I leave out the chocolate chips but do you think it would be ok for me to triple the recipe and bake all at once in 3 loafs???
Hi Sally!
Can you tell me the purpose of Orange juice in this recipe. Is it for acidity or flavor? I’m not a huge fan of OJ in foods but I don’t want to sub if it serves a purpose.
Thank you!!
It really just brightens the flavors – but it doesn’t taste like orange at all! You can use milk if you prefer.
I made this at 6 am this morning! Made muffins instead of loaf. Was perfect!
I accidentally bought pumpkin pie filling instead of regular pumpkin purée so perhaps it’s a bit sweeter than intended but still turned out great! The bottom did get a tiny bit burned, however. Maybe a few minutes less in the oven and would’ve been perfect!
Wow ! Just made this with white chocolate chip !!!! oh my !!!!! next level halloween bread for sure !!!! sooooo goooood !!!!
This should best called Best ever pumpkin bread!! This is hands down the best I’ve ever had.Bravo! I used a whole can of pumpkin and dark chocolate chips and walnuts and freshly squeezed orange juice. This is a permanent recipe for me!!
I didn’t change a thing and it was absolutely wonderful!
This pumpkin bread is amazing! The best ever, I am so happy I found your blog!
Hi, if I omit the chocolate chips and add cream cheese frosting do you think it would taste as good? Or do the chocolate chips add the sweetness?
You can leave out the chocolate chips! Any combination will still taste great 🙂
I just made this recipe and it satisfied my intense fall pumpkin cravings! I had some leftover condensed milk from another recipe so I used that instead of the orange juice. I also substituted pure maple syrup for the brown sugar. Will make again! Thank you for the recipe.
Have tried several other pumpkin chocolate chip bread recipes and this is definitely my favorite – thank you!
I made a few small tweaks, like adding a whole 15 oz can of pumpkin and a heaping teaspoon of salt, used pumpkin pie spice instead of the called for spices, and milk instead of OJ, and I got RAVE reviews for this bread! So dense and moist and flavorful! Just the way I like my pumpkin bread!
wow wow wow Just finished making this, cooled and let my roommate sample. She says absolutely delicious and next time wants me to substitute raisins for chocolate chips as the chocolate is beginning to bother her. Only thing I changed was I greased and floured my loaf pan as I do not stock cooking spray in my cupboard. Excellent recipe folks. Thanks much. Katie
I made this recipe and wow is it amazing. Not too sweet, incredibly soft and flavorful, and it tasted even better the next day!
Has anyone made this with bread flour instead of ap flour. What were the difference in density, texture, etc.? Another questions, does anyone taste a difference when they switch out the oj for milk?
Hi Dan, this bread will be pretty dense if you use bread flour instead of all-purpose flour.
Easy and delicious! Seriously, this will now be my go to pumpkin bread. Thank you!
Is this right that there’s no baking powder in the recipe? I’ve got mine in the oven and it doesn’t look like it’s riding correctly. I looked up another pumpkin bread recipe and it list baking powder and baking soda
This recipe is correct as written– with the acid present in the ingredients, use baking soda.
Oh man! I brought this work and 2 loaves just disappeared. This recipe was sooo yummy and crazy easy to make. I love it!! Definitely making this again.
love this recipe! great pumpkin flavor and so moist, it’s become a fall staple for me.
I made this a few weeks ago and my family raved. I love the spices and the pumpkin flavors and my husband couldn’t get enough of the chocolate chips. I also made it for my mom’s birthday dinner. Everyone loved it and a few requested the recipe. I’m making it again for Thanksgiving and our Christmas Open House. A true crowd pleaser!
Great recipe! Thank you so much! It was a hit at our house. I love your page! Thank you.
I made a double batch then I made another double batch of muffins. Would you have recommendation for a frosting to try as a way to mix up the variety?
Thanks again. Love you page!
How about a cream cheese frosting, chai spice buttercream, or chocolate buttercream?! Yum!
Hi! This looks delicious. I have a silicon cake mold that I wanted to try to make this in (a gators pan for a tailgate tomorrow) and I was wondering if it would bake properly in that. Thanks!
Hi Chloe, I have heard from other readers making my recipes in different shape silicon pans with success. But without testing the exact pan you are using I am unsure of the exact amount of batter you will need or the bake time. Let me know if you try it!
I tried it and it came out amazing!! So many compliments. There was the perfect amount of batter, I just cooked it for around 45 min instead of the full hour. Thank you!!