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
- 1/4 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: 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.
I made these as pumpkin nut muffins with walnuts and they were delicious! Is there anyway to substitute some of the oil and still have them come out moist? They were so greasy that they soaked the cupcake wrappers and your fingers. Thank you!
Best pumpkin bread on the planet…moist and pumpkiny…I used golden raisins and lightly toasted walnuts….so glad I didn’t add chocolate chips because they would have taken away from the pumpkin flavor…it was divine.
This is an excellent recipe. Tried it for the first time this weekend and everyone enjoyed it. Moist, flavorful, and delicious. Sally’s recipes are always easy to follow and they always turn out great.
So delicious and stays moist for days! We absolutely loved this recipe. I left out the chocolate chips and it tasted fabulous. I would definitely make this again.
I love this recipe and have made it several times! Would you happen to know the cab, protein, fat breakdown per slice?
Hi Samantha, We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
I notice there is no baking powder – is that correct?
Yes!
Hi Sally!!! My family doesn’t like when the stuff I make is too sweet, and they generally like when things have a low amount of sugar because it’s a bit healthier that way. Would 3/4 cup sugar in total be enough, or would that make the pumpkin bread taste weird? Thanks!
Hi Lucy, Sugar is used for moisture and texture in baked goods as well as taste. You can certainly try reducing the sugar, but the resulting texture will be different than intended.
Hi Sally
This is one of the best Pumpkin Bread recipes I have made!
A few changes I made
I cut down the salt to 1/2 teaspoon.
I added 1 Tablespoon Orange zest.
I added 1/2 cup chopped walnuts.
I used Dried cranberries instead of Chocolate chips.
The bread is so yummy! I served it at a tea party and all my friends want a recipe.
Thank you so much!
Hi can I substitute pumpkin pie spice instead of the 1/4 tsp each of the nutmeg, cloves & ginger? If so how much pumpkin spice should I use? Thank you!
Hi Mitzi, you can use pumpkin pie spice – see recipe note.
Hi. This was delicious but the top of my center slices were not cooked through. I baked for 65 minutes and I was afraid to bake longer in case the loaf would be too dry. Could it be that I used an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 loaf pan vs. a 9×5?
Hi Mary, your slightly smaller pan size could be part of the reason, as it was a bit thicker and needed just a little more time to cook through. For next time, it’s okay to bake the loaf for a bit longer to ensure the middle is done. If you find that the sides are starting to brown, feel free to tent the edges with aluminum foil to prevent them from burning while allowing the middle to continue baking. Use a toothpick to test for doneness. Hope this helps!
Love this recipe! I’m wondering how to change the ingredient measurements so I can use the whole 15 oz. can of pumpkin to make 2 loaves.
Thanks,
Sheryl
Hi Sheryl! This recipe uses about 1.5 cups of pumpkin, and a can has a little over 2 cups. You could multiply the whole recipe by 1 and 1/3 to use your whole can of pumpkin to make 1 loaf + a few muffins. Otherwise here’s all of our recipes that use pumpkin for the leftovers!
Can we add the crumb topping from your muffin recipe to the pumpkin bread recipe?
Absolutely!
Does anything have to be modified since the bread will be in for 60 minutes, which is longer than the muffins?
Hi Sophia, if you find the top to be browning too quickly, feel free to tent with foil around the half way mark.
I should have read all comments. I have this in the oven right now and hoping my raisins and walnuts won’t wind up on the bottom…maybe it would have been better if recipe said to add these to the dry ingredients or to mix with flour at the very end but of course it didn’t.
Update….raisins and nuts did not sink..this recipe is the best pumpkin breadhave ever made. It’s moist, rich and tastes divine.
I made this yesterday and it was delicious!! I opted for making 12 jumbo cupcakes (cupbreads?) with it and topping them with cream cheese icing.
Can you use a smaller loaf pan then a 9×5? I have the next size smaller then the 9×5. If how long would it need to bake?
Hi Stacy, You can try dividing this batter between two 8×4 inch loaf pans. The baking time will be less but I’m unsure exactly how long they would take. Or you can make this recipe as muffins – see recipe notes.
Thank you for this delicious recipe! Have tried it with and without chocolate chips. Pumpkin flavor is great, even better on day 2 if you can wait.
I can’t wait to try this recipe. What can I Substitute for the Eggs?
Hi Jim, we haven’t tried this recipe with an egg substitution, but let us know if you give anything a try.
Can’t wait to make this. Any adjustments if I use dried craisins? I love the white chocolate chip idea. And thank you for your responses to questions people ask – it really helps.
Hi Ellyn! You can add craisins in the place of some or all of the chocolate chips – they would taste fantastic with the white chocolate chips you mentioned!
This recipe for pumpkin bread is delicious. It has a great flavor and not dry at all.
Next time I make it, I will make muffins. Great recipe.
Oh my! What a delicious recipe! This bread was so moist with the perfect balance of spice! I will definitely make it again and again!
Hi Sally, this is another fantastic recipe, my favorite pumpkin bread. Could I substitute avocado oil for the vegetable or canola oil?
That should be a fine swap!
Every time I make it every one wants the secret to the pumpkin flavor I will never give out the secret of the orange juice and zest
Would it work to substitute measure for measure gluten free flour to make this recipe gluten free?
Hi Misty, we haven’t tested it ourselves, but let us know if you decide to give it a try!
A high quality gluten free flour blend works well with this recipe (recommend Better Batter)
I have a large tray of mini loves (18) that I bought from a craft store. About how long and what temp should I use for the mini loaves?
Hi Sandy, you can bake the mini loaves at the same temperature. We’re unsure of the exact bake time, but keep a close eye on them and use a toothpick to test for doneness.
350 degrees approximately 50-55 min using 5×3 inch mini loaf pans, worked for me
I would like to modify pumpkin recipe to mini loaves. Can you adjust baking time for me? Thank you. I made the pumpkin donuts with brown sugar glaze last week . Absolutely delicious!
Hi Carolyn, you can definitely make this bread as mini loaves — we’re unsure of the exact bake time, as it will vary by the size of your pans. Keep a close eye on them and use a toothpick to test for doneness. Enjoy!
Pumpkin bread is lovely. Pumpkin Banana bread with toasted walnuts and sweet coconut shreds is even better and came out super moist. Ate some; froze the rest and defrosted bread was (maybe) even better than before. And your glazed knots are (or, in truth, were) delicious.
Did you adjust anything or just add banana??
This is a great recipe. But my family doesn’t like pumpkin so I substitute baked pureed sweet potatoes. It turns out delicious. I also had chopped walnuts. It freezes great too.
This recipe turned out fantastic. I let it sit in the fridge overnight before trying any and heated up a slice in the microwave – it’s delicious. The only issue I had is that ALL of my chocolate chips sank to the bottom of the bread. It’s pumpkin bread with a chocolate chip crust on the bottom! It’s still very good, but I’d like them to be suspended throughout the bread next time. I did notice that my batter was a little thinner than the picture on the post – do you think this was because I used fresh pumpkin puree? I followed the recipe exactly except for using buttermilk instead of OJ. Any thoughts would be appreciated as I definitely want to make this bread again!
Hi Olivia, we’re so glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe! The fresh pumpkin puree certainly could have partially been the culprit. Also make sure you’re spooning and leveling your flour to ensure there is enough dry ingredient in the batter to help soak up some of the moisture. For next time, you can also lightly toss your chocolate chips in flour before adding to the batter. That should help with some of the sinking.
I make this every year (my annual baking event)! I modify to either whole wheat or gluten free, lower sugar and fat and it’s still delicious!
I would like to add frozen fresh cranberries to this. Are there any alterations that should be made to accommodate this addition?
Hi Tracy, we recommend 1 heaping cup of frozen (do not thaw) cranberries. You can add them whole or you can chop them. No other changes necessary.
Another amazing recipe from Sally! I made it exactly as written, and made 12 large muffins. Included the chocolate chips and sprinkled some mini chocolate chips on top. Perfect! This would be delicious without the chocolate chips too. Thank you, Sally!