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.
Wonderful! A new fall favorite. I’ve also been making your strawberry choc chip cookies for years, thank you
I am planning to make this bread this week. I read that one reviewer uses buttermilk in place of the orange juice or milk, and said it worked well. With that substitution in mind, what are your thoughts on using an equivalent amount of sour cream in place of the orange juice or milk?
Hi Missy, sour cream would be a bit too thick.
Just made this PERFECT bread. Oh my word!! Have used your recipes before and have never been dissappointed. Thanks and please keep posting them.
My go to pumpkin loaf recipe. It’s perfect the way it is written. I generally double the recipie so I can make it into muffins AND a loaf. Highly recommend.
Way too much oil! I doubled the recipe so I used 1 cup of vegetable oil. I wish I wouldn’t have added any oil and used banana instead. Can’t even eat it .
This was a big hit.. very yummy.. I didn’t have orange juice so used plain yogurt instead. Came out perfect.. thank you for sharing your recipes!
I made this in muffin form last night (I got a late start and wanted a shorter baking time). So good! This is a keeper!
This recipe is delicious! Very easy to make. It will disappear quickly. Thank you!
This recipe has great intentions. But the execution seems to fail every time.
I’ve used the loaf pan, and made muffins, but the recipe is too moist and the cake comes out dense every time. I think it needs about an additional cup of flour to be light and fluffy
I make this for presents for Doctors offices and assorted other business and friends for the holidays. I have them asking for it now, as I have been making them for a few years. Just out of the blue one of them said last month “It’s getting close to pumpkin bread season, isn’t it?” LOL! This is fantastic every time I make it, and I have a hard time baking enough each year! (I keep a couple for us too! )
The most delicious and moist pumpkin/banana bread I have ever made! It is addicting… I am making a second loaf 🙂 I add about 1/4 cup more chocolate chips than it calls for.
Best pumpkin bread ever! I didn’t have baking soda so I just used 3 tablespoons of baking powder, added about 1/8 teaspoon of molasses and this was such a hit with everyone! The kids added whipped cream cheese on top and the adults opted for a cream cheese frosting spread or whipped cream. But honestly they realized you didn’t need anything extra it was that good! It was so moist and filled with flavor I think the orange juice was what pushed it into nirvana bread land! We can’t wait to make it again. It was gone in 10 minutes but we saved one slice and cut it in half so the kids could have it with their lunch the next day.
I should be leaving this comment on the zucchini bread or banana bread recipes (which I combine and make weekly!) but I just made these pumpkin muffins and I had to let you know that so far, every recipe of yours I have converted to be gf df has turned out amazingly! Thank you!
Delicious recipe! I have made this bread twice in the last three days because everyone in the house is devouring it. Thank you Sally for all of your amazing dishes – always my GO TO for baked goods 🙂
This was delicious even without the clove I didn’t have. The crumb was beautiful and tender with the right amount of fluffiness.
I folded the dry into the wet as instructed because it’s the best way to mix cakes for that tender bite.
Thank you, Sally. I use your site often and this is the first time I’ve ever reviewed and that’s only because your pumpkin pie recipe and now this… delicious.
Oh, one thing… I added black pepper to the bread and it works just as nicely as in the pie.
Hi! Can I substitute mashed bananas for the 1/2 cup of oil? Also, can the sugars be cut down without too much sacrifice on flavor?
Just finished making this bread. Followed the recipe exactly (used milk) and it was so, so good! Best pumpkin bread I’ve ever made. So moist, but not greasy or oily tasting like so many others I’ve tried. Will definitely make this again! Thanks!
I love this recipe, I’m so glad I found it. It’s hard to find a pumpkin bread recipe without a lot of sugar and butter. I appreciated the notes you had in this as well. I was able to substitute milk and pecans from reading your notes. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe!
Oh my goodness! Just made this pumpkin bread with chocolate chips (about an hour ago, followed the recipe as is) and it is delightful!! My husband and son are also raving about it!! Thank you for the recipe!!
This bread is really good! I added some cinnamon chips as well. 10/10!!
I’m delighted to find this recipe and can’t wait to make it this week, just need to pick up a couple of ingredients. About 40 years ago, my son’s Headstart teacher gave me a pumpkin bread recipe that called for orange juice. It was amazing! Everyone loved it! I gave it as Christmas gifts to nearly everyone. But I lost the recipe in a move a few years ago and have been looking for one every fall since then. Finally, you’ve answered my wish! I can’t wait to try this!
My absolute favorite pumpkin bread recipe, I’ve already made it twice this fall and it comes out perfect every time. It’s moist, flavorful and delicious. The best!!
Hi
Can I just use a while can of pumpkin (425 gm)?
Hi Kim, We would recommend using the 340 gm listed and checking out these recipes to make with leftover pumpkin puree.
This is my new favorite pumpkin bread recipe!! I have been making pumpkin bread ever fall for a long time and this is the best one yet! It came out moist, flavorful, and it of course smelled heavenly while baking:) I am planning on making this many more times this fall.
I use this website all the time and I am never disappointed. Everyone go make this right now you won’t regret it!!
Can I use oat flour to make this recipe gluten free?
Hi Brynn, We haven’t tested this recipe with gluten free flour but let us know if you try it!
I followed this recipe except for the chocolate chips and I baked it for 2 hours and it never got done on the inside. What did I do wrong??
Hi Star, are you by chance using a smaller pan such as 8×4 inch or 8.5×4.5 inch?
This looks delicious! If I use mini pans (8×4) instead of the regular loaf pan, how much should I reduce the baking time? I can’t wait to make this – I love pumpkin with chocolate!
Hi Donna, 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.
Whenever I decide to bake something new, I come to your website first! :-). My results, first time out, are always delicious and the additional notes to the recipes are very helpful. So,looking forward to baking this pumpkin bread this afternoon since we have already devoured all of the zucchini bread I made with your recipe. Thanks for a great baking website.
Thank you for your positive feedback, Kathy — we hope you love the pumpkin bread, too!
Can’t wait to make this!
I don’t have orange juice, but I have Oranges. Can I just juice those or does it have to be store-bought juice?
That will work just fine, Melissa. Enjoy!
I like to substitute buttermilk for the orange juice. It blends well, and gives the baking soda the acidity it needs.
This is my favorite pumpkin bread recipe! I’ve needed to omit eggs recently, so this time I subbed 1/2 C applesauce for the 2 eggs and it was delicious!!