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
Best pumpkin bread I’ve ever made. I’ve had SO MANY compliments. THANK YOU !
I am such a fan! Love that pumpkin bread! What I’ve learned over the years regarding quick breads is 1) pay attention to a recipe’s instruction to lower the rack to the lower third, as I’ve had many a loaf with gummy raw inside because of not lowering the rack, and 2) my oven is crap, so I usually make quick bread muffins for a guaranteed delicious bake.
On a side note, I’m had to become a gluten-free baker, but have been able to convert so many of your recipes. Even my husband, who is a wheat flour snob, loves the results. He’s become a better baker because of your recipes, so we are both happy, whether gf or wheat, in Sally’s kitchen!
This was the best pumpkin bread/cake I’ve ever had. The whole family devoured it! Could I make this gluten free by swapping out the flour with 1 to 1 Red Mill baking flour?
Hi Kristan, we haven’t tested this recipe with gluten-free flours, but some readers have reported success using 1:1 flour substitutes (like Cup4Cup). If you try it, let us know how it goes!
So… too much batter for my loaf pan. Ended up spilling out the sides and onto my oven floor. 🙁 any idea why this yielded too much for my average bread loaf pan?
Hi, what size is your loaf pan? This recipe makes enough batter to fit a 9×5-inch loaf pan, so if yours is smaller than that, it will be too much batter.
This looks great! But I’m looking for pumpkin “bread” and this seems more like a cake, with all that sugar?
Hi Jack! This quick bread is similar to a pumpkin cake, yes. Sugar is used for moisture and texture in baked goods as well as taste. You can certainly try reducing the sugar, but the resulting texture will be different than intended.
Just a delicious moist recipe
I made this bread into muffins like you suggested and with the extra batter made mini-muffins. OMG these were so good! These were honestly the best muffins I’ve ever eaten and I can’t believe that I made them. Thanks for the great recipe, will be using it again.
Can I use maple syrup instead of sugar?
Hi Cesca, 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!
This is hands down THE best pumpkin bread. It is so moist and flavorful. My bread takes about 75-80 minutes to fully bake in my oven, but when it comes out and cools down, it’s pure perfection. I love how easy this recipe comes together too- you can whip up a loaf basically on demand! Yum! Thanks for a delicious, fool-proof recipe!
I just froze 12 cups of drained pumpkin puree. It yielded 3 1/2 quarts of broth! Questions….
Can I double this recipe exactly?
What is the baking time for mini breads?
Can you recommend a glaze that will set?
Hi Karen! We recommend making separate batches instead of doubling. Bake time for mini loaves will depend on the exact size of your mini pans. Keep a close eye on them and use a toothpick to test for doneness. We love this maple glaze.
This was a huge hit!! Wonderfully moist and delicious!
I’ve made this recipe several time, and it comes out perfect. Since I make my own purée in 2 cup bags, I use a little more pumpkin than required. I cook them in mini muffin tins and get about 48 bite size muffins from the recipe. I reduce the cooking time to 30 minutes, and they are not soft but perfect. I use half the white sugar suggested with no effect to taste. This is a party pleaser.
Best pumpkin bread ever! Turned out fantastic and was gone in a day. Very soft but sliced well. I didn’t have orange juice but actually used a chi tea concentrate. Used coconut nut oil. Thanks. Will be making again and again.
Will this receipt do well in three 7″x3″ pans?
Hi Mollie, Here’s our pumpkin cake baked in a 9×13 pan. You could make 1.5x that recipe for a 3 layer cake.
Tasted great but wasn’t thoroughly cooked in the center despite baking for an additional 15 mins longer than the recipe. Any tips?
All ovens and pans are slightly different, just keep baking the bread until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs. Enjoy!
I made a different recipe for healthy pumpkin bread today. It uses white whole wheat flour, applesauce & 1/3 cup of oil & no oj. It’s okay but nothing fabulous. I’m assuming that my substitutions are responsible for the bland taste. What do you think?
Hi Cathy! Yes, those changes will change the flavor of the bread.
I’ve made this recipe twice already and both times I made bread instead of muffins. I also used coconut oil and fresh squeezed orange juice as this recipe calls for. This was the best pumkin bread I’ve ever had! It was super moist and very delicious. I also used the the spices separately. Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves. I am in the kitchen again today but this time I am going to try making muffins instead of bread. Oh, and I didn’t use chocolate chips. I perfer to taste the spices of the bread inof overwhelming it with chocolate.
Just made this. 1 1/2 cups golden wheat flour (kinda like white whole wheat flour) and 3/4 c brown sugar, no white sugar. Milk instead of orange juice, plus chocolate chips. Baked 60 mins and it was still wet in the middle. Checked again after 7 minutes and it was perfect. I will definitely use this recipe again! Forgot that I wanted to add a little vanilla too, so I’ll do that next time.
Unfortunately, this did not taste great for me, but I don’t think it’s an error with the recipe! I used olive oil since I didn’t have vegetable oil on hand, and I think the stronger flavor of olive oil interfered with the sweetness of the pumpkin and spices. This recipe also has less sugar than other recipes I’ve seen (specifically compared to the New York Time Cooking recipe which has a total of 365g sugar, and Sally’s has 250g), and it was not sweet at all, but rather somewhat bland. I definitely recommend using a mild oil, and maybe upping the sugar if you’re going for a sweet bread style loaf. Worth a try and I will likely make this recipe again with the correct ingredients because I’ve never come across a bad recipe on here!
Love this recipe and I use extra virgin olive oil and it is very moist. Always use Sally’s recipe.
Use Avocado oil for baking if you are trying to avoid the seed oils.
We loved this recipe & ended up eating it for dinner! I used fresh pumpkin from our garden! I subbed oil for butter & it was so moist, also I used a little less sugar so the pumpkin flavor could come through! 5 out of 5
Thank You, Sally!!!!!!!!! Your recipes are the BEST!!!!!!!!!!
I also had to bake this for about 70 minutes. I didn’t have any chocolate chips so I used butterscotch chips. delicious.
Made this recipe late last night and let it set out and cool overnight. Wow! What a wonderful wake up to this moist delicious treat this morning. Thank you for sharing. My goal this year was to make more pumpkin recipes and this one did not disappoint .
Fantastic. Looks beautiful in a Bundt pan! I added vanilla extract. Not sure if you need to add or if it does anything.
This was delicious! Mine rose beautifully but as some other commenters below have mentioned, even after 70min in the oven, the centre of my loaf was still raw. I think I might reduce the wet ingredients slightly next time or just do them as muffins to help with this.
Sally’s recipes are always my #1 go to for all my baking needs! I usually cut down on the sugar a little, but otherwise they’re always perfect ! Thanks for your hard work with this site!
I am horrible at baking, and most of my recipes don’t turn out so well. But this was EXCELLENT — the best thing I’ve ever baked. It was so soft and bouncy, and the taste was amazing.
P.S. I substituted the brown sugar for 1/2 cup of white sugar (I didn’t have it on hand), and used whole milk in place of OJ.
I subbed the egg for ground flax seed + water mixture to make them vegan. Added a touch of vanilla and pumpkin seeds to the top. Other than that followed the recipe completely. I only needed to bake them for about 32 minutes at 350°. Came out excellent!
I like this idea of adding pumpkin seeds, nice “closed circle”!
Got recommended this recipe with great praise for it. Was wondering what the difference in flavor and consistency substituting the OJ for milk does for the recipe? I’m sure the acid in the OJ reacts better with the baking soda, so if I’m substituting milk would it be better to mix the soda with a little vinegar to get it activated? Saw a few comments that their loaves came out dense, so curious if the OJ/milk substitution is the culprit?
Hi Nina! The OJ/milk is there to keep the bread from being too dense, both work perfectly, but the OJ does add a nice flavor compliment.
I loved this recipe so much! Absolutely delicious. I was wondering if using a gluten free flour will change the way the cake tastes, feels etc ?
Hi Emily! We haven’t tested it, but you should always expect at least slightly different results in texture when using GF flour.
I’ve reduced the sugar in my diet and wondering how much less sugar I can use in this bread?
Hi Shelagh, sugar is used for moisture and texture in baked goods as well as taste. You can certainly try reducing the sugar, but the resulting texture will be different than intended.
I made it with 3/4 cups brown sugar (and no granulated sugar) and it came out great!
I didn’t use any sugar just the sweetness from the pumpkin and the chocolate chips. Turned out great!