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 for years. You don’t even need a mixer! The days of bland pumpkin bread are behind us.
I originally published this recipe in 2014 and have since added new photos, a video tutorial, and a few more success tips.
One reader, Laura, commented: “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. You can also add chocolate chips to other quick bread recipes like zucchini bread and peanut butter chocolate chip zucchini bread.
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, add a swipe of cinnamon butter, 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, commented: “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 & Mini Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Muffins
- Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies & Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
- Pumpkin Roll
- Brown Butter Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies & Pumpkin Oatmeal Cream Pies
- Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
- Pumpkin Bundt Cake
- Pumpkin Coffee Creamer
- Pumpkin Hand Pies
- Recipes to Make With Leftover Pumpkin Puree
For even more inspiration, here are my 30+ best pumpkin dessert recipes.
Print
My 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.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Could I substitute lemons instead of orange juice? Thanks!Q
Hi Bowen, If you don’t have orange juice we recommend using milk instead.
would this taste good with cream cheese frosting?
Definitely!
Could you substitute almond flour and monk fruit sweetener??
Hi Carie, we haven’t tested either of those substitutions, so we’re unsure of the results. You can expect the taste and texture to change, particularly with the almond flour as it soaks up wet ingredients much differently than all-purpose flour. For best taste and texture, we recommend following the recipe as is.
This is so lovely. I followed the recipe almost exactly with a tweak- added fresh cranberries and walnuts in lieu of of the chocolate. Instructions and measurements were spot on. Will be making many more loaves to distribute to guests for Thanksgiving. Thank you!
Sally, I made this bread for a retreat this weekend. It received rave reviews. The flavour was outstanding!! Thank you for making me look like so good.
I used fresh pumpkin and strained it in a cheesecloth-lined colander to remove excess water until it was the same consistency as canned pumpkin. I also substituted walnuts for the chocolate chips but otherwise followed your recipe to the letter. Amazing flavour and texture!!
Can this recipe be used to make mini loaves (about 1-1/4 cup batter each)?
Hi Candice, 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.
This is the best pumpkin bread recipe! Honest – the best. It works equally well with canned or fresh pumpkin. Made as written, it is simply perfect. It is also delicious with walnuts substituted for 1/2 of the chocolate chips. I cannot give enough praise for this recipe. Thank you, Sally!!
Hi Sally! This is hands down the best pumpkin bread I’ve ever made!! I wanted to make several loaves .. would you suggest putting two in oven at one time or would that change the outcome? Thank you!
Hi Sarah, that should be just fine, so long as you have the room to bake them on the same rack next to each other. You may want to swap their places about half way through, in case there are any hot spots in your oven. So glad you’ve been enjoying this bread!
Sally, my daughter is lactose intolerant and citrus intolerant. So, can’t have the orange juice or the milk substitute you suggested. What else would work as a substitute? I’m dying to try this recipe this weekend! Love anything pumpkin!
Thank you!
Hi Laura, you could use a non-dairy milk like almond milk or oat milk. Hope your family enjoys the bread!
Thank you so much! It came out great with the almond milk. She loved it. Moist and flavorful.
I am very disappointed in the bread. There is a problem with this recipe.
Followed this recipe exactly. ( I used the 1.5 cup measurement, not the gram measurement.) There is far, far too much pumpkin. The bread is very, very, very dense and wet, it never completely cooked, and it is not sweet enough. Clearly the proportions are off. Please do not make this recipe as presented here.
Can I use canned pumpkin pie instead of pumpkin purée and not add the spices. I mistakenly bought pumpkin pie instead of pumpkin purée. I don’t want to have to go back to the store and exchange it.
Hi Kathy, it’s best to wait until you have pumpkin puree to use in this recipe. Not only does it have different flavoring, but pumpkin pie filling has a different texture too and can compromise the outcome of the bread.
I love this recipe, but have a question about measuring the pumpkin. In order to make it quicker this time, I decided to weigh the pumpkin rather than placing in a measuring cup. I found, however, 340g of pumpkin is nowhere near 1.5 cups. Is this an error with the recipe?
Hi Claire, I’m glad you enjoy this pumpkin bread recipe. 225g of pumpkin puree is about 1 cup. 1 and 1/2 cups weighs 340-350g. How much are you getting?
Hi, made this wonderful Bread. I didn’t have enough pumpkin purée, i made my own, but after 2 pumpkin pies i only had 1 cup of pumpkin purée, but i had some mango purée, so i used 1/2 cup of
mango. Added raisens instead of chocolaté chips. Came out wonderful. Could not taste thé mango. Baked in mini loaves for 30 minutes. Thanks.
I made this bread today. I did substitute avocado oil for the canola. I also added a handful of chopped dates for some texture. This is a great easy recipe. Thanks for another amazing recipe.
Hi Sally,
I was wondering if you have tried using melted butter as a substitute for the oil?
Thank you for all the delicious recipes.
Sincerely, Kandi
Hi Kandi! Melted butter won’t create the same moist texture and any butter flavor will be overpowered by the pumpkin and spices. We recommend sticking with the recipe.
Hi Sally!
I love this recipe so much and use it every year. I’m wondering if you could provide insight on adding banana, in terms of amount, subtracting other ingredients, if at all?
Thank you!
Hi Holly! We haven’t tested it, but if you want to try it we recommend keeping the total amount of puree the same, so 1 and 1/2 cups of pumpkin and banana in whatever ratios you wish (i.e. 3/4 cup each if you want to make half of each).
That’s fantastic. Thank you so much Trina!!!
Hello! Firstly, huge fan, love all of your recipes!! also I don’t have OJ on hand buuut I have half a gallon of pumpkin spice apple cider? I’m thinking of substituting but just wanted to see if it’s the same science..
Hi Kristi, you can definitely give that a try! Should be a delicious swap.
Just made this for the third time, great recipe and adaptable. I’ve made it vegan by using chick pea juice as the “egg”, regular with 25% less sugar and another time by subbing out 30% flour for vanilla protein powder and decreasing sugar 50% and making protein muffins. All three times I’ve omitted the chocolate chips and twice I’ve added a touch of a crumble on top. This will be my go to pumpkin bread recipe!
Love this! Made with 1 cup white whole wheat flour and 1 cup almond flour. Added 1/2tsp BP to compensate for the heavy flours. Used 1/2c coconut sugar and 1/4c cane sugar. Added 1tsp vanilla. Made one batch with spices and pecans (adult) and one with only cinnamon and mini chocolate chips for mini muffins. Very good! Will make again!
I’m not a baker but want to try this delicious pumpkin bread! Can I substitute nutmeg for the cloves? Would it be the same amount? Can I add vanilla extract? How much? If I want to add some chopped walnuts in addition to the chocolate chips, how much? Lastly, I have a new convection oven so you said to lower the temperature 25 degrees, but after how much time should I start checking to see if it’s done? So sorry for all of the questions!
Hi Lynne, you can substitute more nutmeg for the same amount of cloves if desired. Feel free to try 1/2 teaspoon – 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract if you’d like (although the bread has plenty of flavor without!). Keep you total amount of add-ins (chocolate chips + walnuts) to 2/3 cup. We’d recommend that you start checking around the half way point and then every few minutes from there just to ensure the bread doesn’t over bake. Hope this helps and that you love the bread!
I made mine yesterday and I did double the recipe and it is delicious. I also substituted raisins and walnuts for the chocolate chips. I am wondering if you could provide nutritional information. Thank you
Hi Michele, we’re so happy to hear you enjoyed this pumpkin bread! 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
This recipe is a keeper. I used mini semisweet chocolate chips, about one quarter of a bag. The bread is so tasty it doesn’t need anymore to enhance it. I love the color and the texture.
Super moist, as presented & reviewed. I made one loaf with OJ & 3 smaller loaves with milk but added 2 drops food grade orange essential oil. A nice zip! I followed the recipe as written. The loaves all mounded beautifully & didn’t “drop”. YUM-This is a keeper! Thanks.
Super moist, as presented & reviewed. I made one loaf with OK & 3 smaller loaves with milk but added 2 drops food grade orange essential oil. A nice zip! I followed the recipe as written. The loaves all mounded beautifully & didn’t “drop”. YUM-This is a keeper! Thanks.
This is the most moist pumpkin bread I have ever made. The orange juice gives just the correct “zip” to this bread. I did not use chocolate chips, but I did use chopped walnuts. I split my recipe between two pans and baked only 30 minutes. I prefer a good amount of spice so I added an additional teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice.
I don’t have orange juice so I’m going to use my orange infused olive oil and almond milk. Fingers crossed!
After reading about substitutes I’m not going to try the olive oil. I do have some frozen concentrate so will use 1 tablespoon of that with 3 T water
This is the best recipe! I make it once a month for my mother!so easy, so delicious!
I do add chopped dates. It looks and smells so amazing!
This pumpkin bread is AMAZING! I added the cinnamon chips to mine. Next time chocolate! I will never use another recipe again! Many thanks!
Will it work if I double the recipe?
Hi Martha, for best results, we recommend making two separate batches rather than doubling.
What would go wrong by doubling? I need to make about 30 mini loaves for an event…
Hi Theresa, when doubling a recipe, the ingredients may not incorporate evenly and you run the risk of over-mixing with the added volume. Over-mixing breads, cakes, etc. can lead to an overly dense end product.
I doubled it and it was not as good! Make it twice at same time. Ingredients will blend together better!!
I should read the comments before I bake. I double the ingredients. It did not come out as I aspected. It’s definitely better one batch at a time.
My granddaughter and I made this yesterday and we loved it. So I’m making another one today but using canola instead of coconut oil because one of my daughters is allergic. Also going up to 1/2 tsp of the cloves, nutmeg and ginger. It’s in the oven now so we’ll see. Love that it has less sugar then my other recipes and still delicious.
Me too loaves one with gluten-free flour for my granddaughter who coeliac and the other for my grandson and loves her half gone in a day!