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
Wonderful recipe – so full of flavor. Did use chocolate chips which I thought were great in it. Have made it a couple of times and am planning on making for gifts. A winner!!!
I’ve made this recipe four or five times since I found it. The spices just make it. It turns out moist and beautiful every time, unless I forget the baking soda (which I did this morning). Not to worry, I quickly whipped up another and it’s cooling on the counter right now.
I thought this bread was full of fresh cranberries. I think that would be good too.
Bake time is way off. I had to bake a full 20 minutes longer (checked at 60, 65, 70, 73, 76, 79, 80 minutes from start). I even baked the filling to reduce moisture and concentrate flavor. I weighed all ingredients. I even added 2 T extra flour and pecans, cranberries and choc chunks.
Quick question: when you say orange juice, do you mean store-bought orange juice in a jug, or freshly squeezed? I’m sure it doesn’t make much of a difference, just curious!
You can use either!
Can I use leftover pumpkin already mixed? I made it for my pie and had 2 cups leftover.
Hi Christina! Do you mean fresh pumpkin puree? You can use that here.
Delicious!! I didn’t change a thing. I had leftover pumpkin puree, this was perfect.
these were great 🙂 the thing I changed was a reducing the amount of sugar to 3/4 cup, all brown , and some chia seeds
this pumpkin bread is so insanely moist and delicious it was a hit w the whole fam
I brought this pumpkin bread to work and everyone there said it was the best they had ever eaten…10 out of 10!
Thank you so much for sharing
Simply AMAZING recipe! The texture is like velvet and it just melts in your mouth. I used a little less sugar (1/3 brown, 2/3 granulated)
and I didn’t have baking soda so I substituted 3 tsp baking powder. I also added a little lemon, almond and vanilla extract which really took it to the next level. I am curious as to the nutritional values, mainly the calories. I’ve always been a little lost when trying to determine them from the recipe. Thanks!
Best pumpkin bread ever!! Easy to put together just as written. I left out chocolate chips though. Big hit on Thanksgiving table.
I’ve made this pumpkin bread a few times and it always comes out perfectly. I replace the granulated sugar with just brown sugar but reduce the amount a bit and it’s delicious.
Would it be possible to make the batter in advance and bake it the next day or would that affect the baking sodas ability to rise?
Hi Nadia! We don’t recommend it because of that exact reason. They bread won’t rise properly. Glad you enjoy this recipe!
I made this and it was amazing I loved it the best pumpkin bread I’ve ever had!
Today I made 2 loaves of “My best pumpkin Bread” failed! Never rose, no baking powder, only soda?
Hi Nancy! Yes, only baking soda in this recipe. Is it possible that your baking soda is expired? We find it can begin to lose freshness after just a few months.
Looks delicious! Can you substitute raisins for the chocolate chips?
Absolutely!
Can I use white whole wheat flour?
Hi Michelle! We would try replacing half the flour with half whole wheat, but any more than that could try out the bread too much.
This has been the BEST pumpkin bread recipe I have used. It is moist and delicious. I made it for my team at work and it was a hit. In less than a week I have done this recipe twice and will soon do it again this week for Thanksgiving dinner.
Can olive oil be used in this recipe? Can’t wait to try this!
Hi Nancy, the bread may have a slight olive oil taste, but it’s worth baking it up to see. Hope you enjoy it!
Hi Nancy, I always use olive oil. The really light kind though, never had an added taste?
I used 1/4 cup milk protein powder, 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice and 1/2 tsp cinnamon. I used milk instead of orange juice since we were out of orange juice. I made it in two loaf pans. Turned out great!!!
I baked this recipe following the US Imperial measurements ( cups & tsp) the first time. The recipe turned out great. The second time I tried the recipe using the grams shown to see if the cups matched the grams and there was a big difference. The grams are not accurate for this recipe. Stick to the US Imperialism system because the grams do not equal.
Perfection! Wonderful flavor! On repeat in my house.
I baked this pumpkin bread and everyone at work went out of their way to tell me how delicious it was. I’m baking 2 loaves for Thanksgiving!
Can you make with walnuts?
Absolutely! Replace some or all of the chocolate chips with chopped walnuts.
Can I use a glass loaf dish?
Hi Kathy! You can use your glass loaf pan – just keep in mind the bake time may be slightly longer. Enjoy!
Hi! This is one of my favorite recipes and a must each holiday season. However, I will be out of town next week for Thanksgiving and was told I need to be mindful of the altitude when it comes to baking. Is there anything I should or change to still get the same delicious results?
Hi Liz! 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
Such a fantastic recipe! A staple for fall baking!! Has anyone every tried freezing, does it taste the same as freshly made?
Hi Erica! I have frozen this and thaw it in the fridge overnight and it still tastes amazing. My boyfriend’s mother has done the same on her end and I still get compliments, months later, over how delicious this is. If you freeze it, just make sure to wrap it well with plastic wrap. I hope this helps!
This recipe has changed my life! It turned out perfect and delicious every single time. I have brought it to various potlucks over the past month, and it has been a hit each time. Sally, thank you so much! As a beginner baker who has faced several failures in the past, this recipe has inspired me to try new recipes.
Just a hint of orange! The best recipe I have tried and super easy.
I made your bread last night after reviewing many recipes. It is wonderful. I had no OJ, but used apple cider instead. I made it plain to get the full flavor. I will be making this often.
Thank you for the best!