Perfectly Moist Pumpkin Bread
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This is my mother’s recipe for pumpkin bread (or pumpkin loaf). Using canned pumpkin, it comes together in one bowl in minutes and is nicely spiced and full of fall flavors.
Everyone and their mother has a recipe for pumpkin bread. This happens to be my mother’s recipe — not sure where it originates beyond her — and it is incredibly delicious. Made with oil as opposed to butter, the batter comes together in minutes, and the texture of the finished bread is especially moist. If you don’t have a pumpkin quick bread recipe up your sleeve, this one is a winner.
What’s more? It’s a one-bowl job. No need to pull out the stand mixer for this one either. Grab a bowl and whisk, and you’re off!
Make it Ahead
I like to mix my batter at night, pour it into greased pans in the morning, then send the pans off to the oven. There is nothing like the smell of cinnamon-spiced pumpkin bread baking away on a fall (or winter!) morning.
Give it Away
If you have mini loaf pans, this quick bread makes an excellent gift. Mini loaf pans can be purchased here. Mini disposable loaf pans can be purchased here, too. These are great to use for quick breads year-round, but they are especially great to have on hand around the winter holidays.
PS: The Best Banana Bread
PPS: The Best Zucchini Bread (Award Winning 🎉🎉🎉)
What Spices are Good in Pumpkin Bread?
For simplicity, I use cinnamon and nutmeg in the recipe below. These are the classic “pumpkin pie” spices:
- cinnamon
- nutmeg
- cloves
- allspice
- ginger
Any of the above “warm” spices would complement the pumpkin flavor in the recipe below.
How to Make One-Bowl Pumpkin Bread
Here’s the play-by-play:
Gather your ingredients:
Add them to a mixing bowl as directed in the recipe below. A one-bowl job!
Transfer batter to two standard loaf pans or …
… five mini loaf pans:
Bake for about an hour for standard loaf pans:
Bake for 35-45 minutes for mini loaf pans:
This pumpkin bread makes a great gift!
PrintPerfectly Moist Pumpkin Bread
- Total Time: 60 minutes
- Yield: 2 standard loaf pans
Description
This is my mother’s recipe for pumpkin bread (or pumpkin loaf). Using canned pumpkin, it comes together in one bowl in minutes and is nicely spiced and full of fall flavors.
Loaf Pans: I love this Chicago Metallic 8.5 x 4.5 – inch loaf pan for this recipe. You need two pans for this recipe.
Mini loaf pans can be purchased here. Disposable loaf pans can be purchased here, too.
Canned Pumpkin: Some cans are 15 ounces; others are 16 ounces. It doesn’t matter – use the full can of whichever you purchase.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (424 g) sugar
- 1 cup (215 g) grapeseed oil or organic canola oil or other neutral oil
- 4 eggs
- 15 to 16 ounces (454 g) canned pumpkin (not pie filling), see notes above
- 3/4 cup (177 g) water
- 3 cups (384 g) flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 to 1.5 teaspoon (5 to 7 grams) fine sea salt or kosher salt … I use 1.5 teaspoons salt now
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (or less)
- 1/2 teaspoon cloves (optional… I never use)
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice (optional… I never use)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease 2 standard (8.5 x 4.5-inch) loaf pans (or 4 to 5 mini loaf pans depending on what size you are using — don’t fill pans higher than 2/3 full) with butter or non-stick spray.
- Using a stand mixer or hand mixer or simply a whisk (my preference!) beat sugar and oil together until blended. Add eggs one at a time mixing after each addition. Add pumpkin purée and water and mix until blended.
- Add the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves (if using), and allspice (if using). Whisk only until just incorporated. Pour batter into prepared pans.
- Bake for about an hour (if using standard loaf pans) but start checking for doneness after 45 minutes — the loaves are done when the center springs back when touched. Note: When using the small pans, the loaves should be done in under 45 minutes. Start checking after 30 minutes.
- Let cool 15-20 minutes in pan; then transfer to a cooling rack to continue cooling before cutting and serving.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: Quick Bread
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
498 Comments on “Perfectly Moist Pumpkin Bread”
Thanks so much for the advice. I will be on the lookout for an oven thermometer which I am positive will help me.
Guess I’m just an amateur at this stuff, and I always second-guess myself. The bread was eaten up by the end of the night, so I’m thinking it wasn’t as terrible as I thought it was! So happy about that 🙂
Thanks again for your help, and Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!
Joy — you are so welcome. And you are too nice! Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family as well!
Can you make this with fresh, pureed pumpkin? I have some that I need to use. Thanks!
LW — I have never tried, but I imagine fresh, puréed pumpkin could only improve this bread. Happy Baking!
I made this tonight with part butternut squash and sweet potato. I pureed them together and used in place of the pumpkin. Tasted great and the “squash n sweet potatoe” came out of my garden. Easy recipe and rose nice and high! Thanks. I will use it again!
Wow, amazing! So happy to hear this. Love the idea of making the pumpkin puree from scratch. I’m inspired!
Do you think this could be doubled successfully? I want to make mini loaves for office Christmas gifts and I’d like to have 10 mini loaves instead of 5. Could I just double everything across the board? I just started this job and I don’t want to give out yucky bread!
Dara — definitely! Go for it. Don’t forget to double the water. happy holidays and good luck!
I give breads every year for the holidays and decided to try this one. Oh my…..this is so, so good!
We grew pumpkins for halloween and I decided (for the first time) to save a couple and cook them. I cut, baked, then scooped the pumpkin and pureed it. I then sealed in bags and froze them….until now.
I’ve never cooked with fresh pumpkin before and wasn’t sure how the bread would turn out. It is so moist and has so much flavor. The color is golden and beautiful.
Can’t wait to wrap these and share with my loved ones. Thank you for sharing your mother’s recipe. It will be part of my collection forever.
Tori — so wonderful to hear this. I am inspired. Next year I must do the same. What a treat to have homemade pumpkin purée on hand. Happy Holidays!
Delicious!!! I have never baked a pumpkin bread.Let along had pumpkin pie. After reading the reviews and the recipe I decided to make the pumpkin bread but only one loaf. Oh my, one loaf was a big mistake. It had my kitchen smelling so amazing I couldn’t wait until for the cooling off process so I sample it. Yes I did use my stone. Next time when I bake this amazing bread I will use my four section stone. Recipe was easy to follow. Thanks for sharing this awesome recipe.
Olivia — wonderful to hear this! This is one of my favorites, too. And easy to boot!
I made this today, and it was delicious! Not too sweet but simple and moist. I swapped the canola oil for olive oil for a little depth of flavor, and it worked nicely. I also used a mix of all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, and garbanzo bean flour so this recipe could easily be made healthier/gluten-free if you want!
Monica — awesome to hear this! Do you happen to remember your exact proportions for the gluten-free flour mixture? I think so many people would find that tip helpful, and I would love to make a note in the recipe. No worries if you don’t — it’s just nice to know that it can be made gluten-free.
Well, I didn’t make mine gluten-free, but I’d imagine that rice or oat flour would work well. I just tried a mixture of flours as I am still getting acquainted with alternative flours. I made 1/2 of the total flour amount all purpose, 1/4 whole wheat, and 1/4 chickpea flour. Feel free to experiment, everyone! 🙂
Monica — awesome, thanks so much for these tips!
I have made this bread for years. It came from my mother as well. Befire that it came from the back of a label from Libby’s canned pumpkin. Libbys doesn’t sell canned pumpkin anymore! It is great to see this getting attentuon on Pinterest!
Liz — Does Libby’s really not sell canned pumpkin anymore? I think that’s one of the kinds I buy, no? Or am I totally confused? set me straight 🙂
I made this recipe today. Delicious! I did make a small change. I used a cup of frozen zucchini from last summer with the liquid instead of the water in the receipe and added 1/4 cup of dark chocolate baking chips to make it a little decadent.
Julie — love it! Could you even taste the zucchini? Might be a good way to sneak in some veggies on the kiddos. I happen to love zucchini bread as well. Love the idea, of course, of adding chocolate chips. Yum.
I was mistaken! It was DelMonte! Not Libby! Sorry for the confusion!
Liz — no worries! Thanks so much for clarifying!
I used fresh pumpkin puree from a pumpkin I bought and cooked and pureed, it is so yummy! 1 3/4 cup of pumpkin puree is the same as a 15oz. can of pumpkin. It’s so easy to do and you can freeze it in bags for use during the year.
Thanks of chiming in her, Lori! Great advice/tips 🙂
I will be making this over and over again. Very easy to make, moist, and delish!!! Thank you!
I just baked your pumpkin bread recipe and it was the best! My house smells wonderful! Thank you for posting! 🙂
So happy to hear this! You’re getting me excited for fall!
Growing up, an elderly neighbor had a recipe very similar to this. She baked the bread in metal coffee cans. I thought that was so cool, round bread! Fun and yummy memory.
I’ve seen that before — maybe for Boston brown bread? DYing to try that. Thanks for reminding me 🙂
I don’t have time to scroll through 70 comments, so I apologize if someone already asked this!… Could I use coconut oil in place of canola oil?
Gosh, I don’t know. My very unscientific gut is saying yes, but I would hate to lead you astray. Have you made this substitution in the past?
You can use coconut oil as a substitute in many/most recipes that call for butter, margarine or shortening, and also (melted) in any recipe that calls for “oil”, at least all those that I’ve encountered thus far. This is a straight substitution, 1 cup for 1 cup, etc.
Read more at https://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2009/11/03/faqs-on-coconut-oil-and-how-to-use-it/#c8YSU94DLb2sCQ6j.99
Thanks so much Marjie! This is super helpful.
Yes you can use coconut oil in place of any oil and the same amount. So much better for you and better tasting but you already know this if your using it 🙂
Wow! This recipe is so good! I didn’t have all spice on hand, so I used a little bit of pumpkin pie spice (since that had all spice). I also added a touch of vanilla extract. Mine took the full hour to bake, but wow! So moist and delish! As Rachel Ray says…Yummo!
Yay! gotta love the yummo 🙂
Hi! Delicious recipe!!! Just wanted to chime in that I just bought 4 more cans of Libby’s canned today, so, yes, Libby’s IS still selling canned pumpkin! YEA 🙂 Thanks for the wonderful recipe!!!!
yay! so happy to hear this! I am ready for fall!
What a great recipe! I am on a dairy free diet and love this! I did cut the oil and sugar in half by adding 1 1/2 cups applesauce and reducing water to 1/2 cup and they were awesome.
Vern, great tip. Was trying to figure out how to do this. I am not good at substituting. I cut oil and sugar in half and add the applesause and water as you said. I am going to try this…thanks
Yay, awesome to hear this! I have homemade applesauce on hand. Must try this variation soon. Thanks for writing in 🙂
The bread is currently baking and the house is starting to smell amazing! Will let you know how it turns out!
OK…very yummy! Moist and holds together well. Thanks for a great recipe that will be a keeper!
Yay! So happy to hear this, Anita!
Ok just made this yummy bread! I’m not a baker, but found prep fast and easy, and it turned out just like the pic— I love when that happens. I’m thinking this won’t be the last time I make this— this month! 🙂 I also use evoo cause I didn’t have Canola and it was fine.
Yay! So happy to hear this! And evoo is probably better than canola anyway — someone just sent me an article about why we shouldn’t be using canola oil…I need to research further 🙂
Made this bread today. Tastes yummy, however my bread rose very little. Any thoughts or suggestions?
Hi Kelly, Sorry to hear about the rising! My first thought: is your baking soda fresh? Also, did you remember to add the water — sometimes people forget this. Finally, what kind of loaf pan did you use? Let me know, and I’ll think further.
Baking soda brand new! Yes to water and wilton non stick 🙂
hmmm, Kelly, I’m stumped! Let me think about this some more — I’m off to a wedding! Have a great weekend, and I will report back, soon!
Could it be due to undermining the batter? Or
Sorry typos! What I meant to say was “could it be due to undermixing the batter?”
Min — thanks so much for your thoughts! That is totally a possibility. I am going to do some research today. I have a few baking cookbooks that might have a good explanation.
Was there a lot of holes in the bread? you could have mixed it too long,that was the first mistake I made when making breads/ cakes over mixing will cause excessive holes in the cakes/breads and lack of rising.
Hi Alexandra,
I would really like to make this bread myself but I don’t know how is canned pumpkin since I live in Spain and we don’t have this sort of thing. Can I use oven baked pumpkin? Does it have any flavour added when canned?
Thanks for your help 😉
Daniela
I just made this pumpkin bread. It is awesome. I will definately be making these for Christmas gifts. Also I used vegetable oil and they came out great.
Great to know about the vegetable oil. So glad you liked this!
I searched Pinterest today for a good pumpkin bread recipe, and liked the fact that yours uses the whole can of pumpkin. I did add 2 very ripe bananas, used cinnamon applesauce instead of oil, 1 cup of brown sugar and 3/4 cup of white sugar. I also used half King Arthur Flour’s white hole wheat flour and half all purpose. I got 2 8.5 by 4.5 loaves, and 2 mini loaves from this recipe. The larger loaves took about 40 minutes to cook, the minis about 35. They taste delicious. I’m not a fan of banana bread, so I was trying to find a simple recipe where it would meld with the other flavors. I’ll definitely make this again, and probably try adding the molasses. Thanks for such a good recipe.
yum! wow, lots of nice, healthy substitutions. I bet the bananas made it especially moist. Thanks for sharing your variations!
Thank you for the great recipe! This pumpkin bread is a keeper… easy to make, moist, not too sweet, and perfectly scented of pumpkin and warm spices. I just served it at the end of a Thanksgiving meal (Canadian thanksgiving was this weekend) with a touch of cream cheese. If I had more time, I would have drizzled a cream cheese frosting on top, and sprinkled a few toasted pepitas or crushed walnuts to really seal the deal.
Yum! And Happy Thanksgiving! Cream cheese frosting sounds amazing.
not too sweet?? there is 2 cups of sugar in it 🙁
Hanna, it does seem like a lot of sugar, but the finished loaves truly do not taste too sweet. I’ve never used Stevia so I can’t advise on quantities there, but if you’ve had success substituting with Stevia, go for it.
This is seriously my favorite bread recipe, pumpkin or otherwise. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve made it since discovering it on your website. Countless. I do use all the optional spices, plus add a 1/2 teaspoon cardamom, but otherwise don’t adapt it. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe.
Kari — so wonderful to hear this! I love cardamom, too. Will have to try that next time. Thanks so much for writing in.
Did anyone substituted the HUMONGOUS amount ( 2 cups) of sugar with smth else like stevia?? I wonder will it turn out the same texture ….
You can substitute palm sugar, aka coconut crystals, for white sugar. Expensive, but has minerals in it not found in white or brown sugars, and it has an amazing taste. If you want it finer–it’s coarse–just whip it in the blender briefly. I use it all the time, and the coworkers never know that the great tastes come from such healthy things as that.
I’m going to use Alexandra’s recipe, too, but will use olive oil rather than canola. Learned about canola’s dangerous properties three years ago, and never used it again. A wonderful bread deserves the best ingredients, so olive oil it is 😀
Thanks for sharing this recipe.. Im not very good at baking, but following your steps was easy. Tried it last night, the house smell amazing, and the bread turn out great! So soft, moist, and yummyyyy. Thank you so much 🙂
Yay! So happy to hear this, Kit! You are so welcome 🙂
Made this recipe, just took my 3 med sized loaves out of the oven, house smells wonderful.
Substituted 1/3 c of coconut oil for canola and the balance used my homemade baked apple butter (like a thick dark apple sauce) and canola. Will sub out the canola next time with more coconut oil and either vegetable oil or more apple butter/sauce. Added chopped pecans to the batter. The verdict is in and its amazing. Thanks for a good recipe.
cheers
Jamie
So awesome to hear all of this, Jamie! I have been dying to try this with coconut oil for ages…must do so soon. This is a favorite this time of year in our house, and it would be awesome to make it a little healthier as you have done. Love your additions/changes. Thanks for writing in!
ps…also substituted 1 cup of white sugar for brown sugar….
Could this be made in a bundt pan?
And could you use buttermilk instead of 3/4 c. water?
Lauren, I don’t see how buttermilk could hurt this recipe — I love buttermilk in everything — but I’m not sure it is totally necessary. The bread is super moist as is, so I hate you to waste your buttermilk unnecessarily.
I don’t see why not. I love how evenly a bundt pan cooks things. You may have to shorten the baking time? I forget how much batter this recipe yields. Maybe start checking after 35 minutes or so?