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.
Keywords: pumpkin bread
I have 2 metal loaf pans measuring 3½”x7¼”. Could I substitute these 2 pans for the one 9×5” pan? If so, how should I adjust the baking time?
Hi G Henry, that should work just fine, dividing the batter between the 2 loaf pans. We’re unsure of the exact bake time, but keep a close eye on them and use a toothpick to test for doneness.
Recipe tasted wonderful (added raisins and dates), but it falls apart and doesn’t slice at all. What did I do wrong?
★★★
Hi Joanna, does the texture seem dry and crumbly? If so, it could be that the bread was over baked. Be sure to also spoon and level (or use a kitchen scale) to measure your flour to ensure it isn’t over measured, which can also dry out the bread. Hope this helps for next time!
This is, by far, the best pumpkin bread recipe I’ve ever made! I reduced the sugar to equal 1 cup total, otherwise followed the recipe. So moist and delicious! Have a slice with peanut butter, it’s divine! Sally never disappoints!
★★★★★
Any suggestions on doubling the recipe and using a cake pan?
Hi Christy, here’s everything you need to know about cake pan sizes and conversions. Or, here is our pumpkin cake recipe written for a 9×13 pan.
Amazing! For years I made different recipe that was more like cake/bread. Your recipe tops mine for sure. Next time I would probably increase the nutmeg and cloves to match the ratio I’m used to but nonetheless, this recipe is tops.
★★★★★
I didn’t have clove and subbed for allspice. Didn’t have orange juice and subbed for oat milk. IT WAS AMAZING and oh so moist. I’ve never been a fan of pumpkin anything but that may have changed with this recipe. Will try I with the recommended ingredients next time. Thank you!
I’ve been making this for years and it’s ALWAYS my family’s favorite.
I’ve made this 3 times in the last 2 weeks as it is delicious and easy! I follow the recipe as is and really enjoy the orange juice addition. I live a 5300 feet in Colorado and have not needed to make alterations. I do need to put the dough into 2 loaf pans or it would definitely overflow a regular size loaf pan. Thanks so much for sharing!
★★★★★
So great, I added crushed toffee bridle instead of the chi y hips! Gf
★★★★★
I have used this recipe for many, many years, it triples well. I buy the 29 oz. can. I’ve never seen OJ as an ingredient. Intriguing! Always use nuts and dark choc. No fail with friends/family.
Any high altitude adjustments (5300 feet) ?
Hi Jane! I wish we could help, but have no experience baking at high altitude. Some readers have found this chart helpful: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html
Perfect go to recipe. Only thing I change is I use half butter, half oil. Just how I like my quick breads. And I never seem to have any orange juice on hand so I just usually use milk. I really like how the recipe has everything in grams. Makes it easier to double. Which I normally end up doing. I bake pumpkin bread for just about everyone, family, friends and co-workers.
★★★★★
I made this yesterday! Delicious
★★★★★
Love this recipe! The chocolate chips really make it so delicious
★★★★★
Can I add a turbinado/sugar in the raw to the top of this? How would it affect the baking time? Should the aluminum foil still cover the top of the bread halfway through?
Hi Gabby, you certainly can add coarse sugar to the top. Same baking time and directions. Enjoy!
You win! This is the best pumpkin bread I have ever had! Easy, full flavoured and very moist!
My second time making your pumpkin bread in a week. Made it for the bridge club. Everyone loved it. Making it for my grandson who loves anything pumpkin. Added dry cranberries and pecans instead if chocolate. It’s a hit with family and friends. Love your recipes it’s easy to follow directions. Always turn out great your carrot cake is one of our favorite
★★★★★
Wow! Amazingly delicious
★★★★★
Baked beautifully. Didn’t even need any high altitude adjustments. Knew it wouldn’t! So good, thank you.
Glad you enjoyed this!
Mine did not bake evenly and it was raw. I followed the recipe exactly when I took off the foil. I noticed it still seems raw so I actually left it in a little longer. After it completely cooled I cut it and saw it was raw. So heavy and it was raw. I had to throw it out.
Hi Araceli, this is a thick batter that can take quite a while to bake through, so don’t be alarmed if it take a bit longer than stated. Every oven is a bit different. Did your pumpkin puree seem especially wet? While we don’t blot the pumpkin for this recipe so that we keep all the good moisture, if yours seemed really wet then you can try gently blotting out some of that moisture. Be sure not to overmix the batter, as that can cause the loaf to become dense and squat. Hope this is helpful, and thank you for giving our recipe a try!
Hi can I use gluten-free flour for the recipe if so how much would I use
Hi Stephanie, We haven’t tested this one with a 1:1 gluten free flour, and don’t have much experience using it in general to provide guidance on how best to use it. So sorry we cannot be of much help here! However, many readers have reported success using gluten free flour in this bread, so please do let us know if you decide to give it a try!
Very forgiving recipe! I only had 3/4 cup of pumpkin left from making something else. I doubled up on pumpkin pie spice on accident AND I chopped 1/2 an apple to help with what I thought would help with not enough pumpkin!
Bread was very moist – close to being a little too much but it was perfect!! Covered it half way through and checked every 12 minutes for doneness. It was hit!
★★★★★
I made this recipe for the first time and it was awesome! However, curious if I could swap out the sugar amounts for some honey or syrup to make it a little more healthy and maybe wheat flour. Any thoughts on the amounts for this! You rock Sally, as aleays! Thank you!
Hi Cheryl, For the sugar, we don’t recommend it — it would take some recipe testing to determine the right swap, since it would be adding additional liquids to the batter. Best to stick with the recipe as written! You can try using whole wheat flour, but the bread may be more dense. We’d recommend trying 1/2 whole wheat, 1/2 all purpose flour first and then adjusting for future batches.
I love this recipe! I was worried the recipe didn’t call for baking powder but the chef must have understood the science better than me. The orange juice is a must and the chocolate chips add so much pizazz. Make this it’s terrific!
I have made this countless times and it is delicious but never seems to bake evenly. Always looks a bit under done at the bottom. I realized the recipe says to use a metal pan, so I dug out my heavy dark metal loaf pan and used that instead of the Pyrex one I usually use. It came out so much better!
I prefer it with the cinnamon plus a teaspoon of Sally’s pumpkin pie spice mix, as the recipe says you can sub this. He pumpkin pie spice blend is so perfect and I mix up a big batch every fall for all the baking I do over the winter! My kids love everything pumpkin, cinnamon, and spicy. It is good with white chocolate chips too!
★★★★★
What’s the nutritional information?
Hi Nancy, 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
How long would it take to bake them as mini loaves?
Hi Sue, it will depend on the exact size of your mini loaf pan. Keep a close eye on them and use a toothpick to test for doneness.
This bread is amazing! I was curious though if you knew what the measurements for everything would be if I wanted to use two 8 1/2 X 4 1/2 instead of one large one.
Love it so so much. I made yesterday for the first time and everyone loves it.
P/s: i didn’t add so much sugar like in the recipe. I added only 160gr sugar in total. And it was reasonable sweet, not too sweet. Thanks a lot!
★★★★★
Hello Kim Anh! I am similar in that I don’t like my sweets overly sweet. The recipe calls for a total of 250g of sugar, 100 white and 150 brown. How did you manage to reduce it to 160g? How much white and how much brown sugar did you use? 55g white and 105g brown?
Any tips on using Stevia complete as a sugar replacement so I can make a sugar-free batch. Specifically mixing of the sugar alternatives.
Hi Kathy, We’d love to help but we are not trained in baking with sugar substitutes. For best taste and texture (and so you don’t waste your time trying to adapt this recipe since it may not work properly), it may be more useful to find a pumpkin bread recipe that is specifically formulated for sugar substitutes. Thank you!
Hello, I love your recipes! My bread fell out of the oven doesn’t have pretty aeration, any tips on what I did wrong?
Hi Emily, did the bread seem to sink towards the middle? It’s possible it was a bit underbaked and/or overmixed. Overmixing batter can cause breads to become squat and flat. Be sure, too, that you’re using fresh baking soda for optimal rise. We find it starts to lose its power after about 3 months, even if not technically expired. Thank you for giving this one a try!