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
This recipe was easy to follow and I already had all of the ingredients on hand. Very flavorful and lots of compliments on the taste! I will use this recipe for all of my pumpkin bread baking!
would dried cranberries be yummy here?
Hi Tova, yes, absolutely! Use 2/3 cup dried cranberries.
Hi,
Can I use a glass loaf pan? I don’t have any metals ones.
Thank you 🙂
A glass pan is fine, Catrina! Just make sure it’s a true 9×5 inch pan.
Hi,
I just put this in the oven…
I noticed you DON’T use baking powder instead the baking soda.
The only thing I did differently was added raisins aside from the chocolate chips. Can’t wait to try it! Is there a reason you didn’t include the baking powder, just curious because I thought maybe I forgot and reviewed it 2X. Thank you.
Hi Julie, We only use baking soda here. You can read more about the differences between the two in this post.
How many mini loaves will this recipe make? Also, if making mini loaves what would the bake time be?
Hi Ashley, We’re unsure of how many or the exact bake time since it will depend on the exact size of your mini loaf pans. Keep a close eye on them and use a toothpick to test for doneness.
Hi! I was able to get about 15-16 mini loaves in 5oz containers (3Tbsp/container)
Can I add nuts to this bread? Any tips?
Hi Wendy, Absolutely! Replace some or all of the chocolate chips with chopped nuts.
Love this recipe! I’ve made it twice in the last week – first for my grandsons and now again for us – everybody loved it! Also I used mini choclate chips but reduced the amount in half because it looked to be plenty. This is definitely a keeper!
We loved this moist pumpkin bread. I made it lower calorie using swerve brown sugar and allulose white sugar along with halved cranberries. Next will try gluten free flour to accommodate family members who are GF, sugar free, dairy free
Just made this and it is delicious, light and moist. No subs, made as the recipe but reduced the sugar by 50g total (so 200g total) and still found it sweet enough, especially with the chocolate chips. Perfect bake for this time of year.
I add pecans and Walnuts. This is such a great recipe. Thank you.
Hi can I use flax eggs instead?
Hi Michele, we haven’t tested an egg-free version of this bread so we’re unsure of the best substitute. Let us know if you give anything a try!
Yesterday I made your pumpkin bread with the chocolate nuggets in it. I changed it from chocolate nuggets to raisins and it worked out perfect. It was one of the best loaf of bread I’ve ever made. I’m gonna do it with the chocolate nuggets. The next time it’s one of my top bread recipes I’m gonna be keeping thank thank you very much. I’ll give it a five star.
I made mini muffins and 2 mini loaves! Really yummy recipe!
Thank you
This is the best bread I have ever made. It was moist with delicious taste. I followed the recipe exactly and the magic happened.
Thank you for the great recipe. Easy and delicious. Very moist and just the right amount of chocolate chips. I will definitely be baking this recipes every fall.
Wow – super disappointed with this one! Baked even longer than 65 minutes and still lots of batter in the middle. Most of it is going right into the trash 🙁 Sally used to be my go-to for recipes, but after this one, and a recent bad result on a frosting recipe, not any more.
Hi Sharon, I’m really sorry the recipe didn’t turn out. That’s so frustrating, especially when you’ve followed the instructions closely. I always want my recipes to be dependable. If the center stayed underbaked even after extending the bake time, it could be that the oven was running a little cool (this is surprisingly common!). I’d recommend using an oven thermometer if you can, and also checking that the pan size matches what’s listed. Even small differences can affect how the center sets. This is a large quick bread (lots of batter), so it’s important to use a 9×5-inch pan (not 8.5×4.5 or smaller). I’d love to help troubleshoot the frosting issue if you’d like to share which recipe. Thank you for taking the time to write and for baking from my site.
Amazing recipe, comes out moist every time! I added a cheesecake swirl on top and pumpkin seeds before baking, came out beautiful.
Can you substitute oil olive for the vegetable oil?
Hi Rick, Olive oil would work, but it could change the flavor quite a bit. You really want a neutral-tasting oil for most baking recipes.
Use avocado oil as a healthier and safer alternative to vegetable or canola oil. It’s a neutral and tasteless oil great for all baking goods.
Rick, I make this recipe regularly, to rave reviews, using olive oil in place of a more neutral oil. The flavors actually play very well together. I wouldn’t make it any other way!
I just used a recipe that called itself the “best ever”. Tasty, but….So moist that I couldn’t slice it. I really wanted to toast it. Have you had any comments that spoke to this issue?
Hi Lorraine, if the bread was too moist to slice, it sounds like it could have been underbaked a bit. A few additional minutes in the oven should help for next time. Thank you for giving this one a try!
Thank you for the substitution for orange juice , we have a severe allergy to oranges in family.
Hi Sally, can I make this in mini loaf pans? I want to take them to my Farmer’s Market this Saturday.
Hi Catherine, You can! We’re unsure of the exact bake time since it will depend on the exact size of your mini loaf pans. Keep a close eye on them and use a toothpick to test for doneness.
Pretty darn good. I use the coconut oil and nothing bad about th8s recipe. Sally is my go to on most recipes!
Can you use applesauce instead of oil?
Hi Nancy, the bread would turn out with a less-than-desirable texture if you replace all of the oil with applesauce. We don’t recommend it. You could try substituting a smaller portion to see how that goes!
Haven’t tried this yet; I like to read recipes top to bottom before starting. You give many substitutions for the chocolate chips, but no mention of raisins. Pumpkin & raisins are a natural pairing. Also use 2/3 cup raisins? I usually toss raisins lightly in the dry ingredients before folding in because it helps suspend them in the bread rather than falling to the bottom. Your suggestions please.
Hi Tonya, you can absolutely use 2/3 cup of raisins in place of the chocolate chips here.
Delicious, great recipe! I used about 1/2 cup chocolate chips added into the batter and mini chocolate chips on top.
Hi! I am wanting to try this recipe. If I make two separate batches can I still bake them together or should they be baked separately still?
Hi Marie, you can bake them together, the bake time may be slightly longer.
A perfect pumpkin season recipe, so simple and easy to customise. Very soft and moist.
Instead of orange juice, I used a mix of milk, kefir, and lemon juice—adding a generous amount of orange zest made it feel much better married however, so I recommend taking advantage of some kind of citrus elsewhere, if possible.
No complaints. Even cutting the sugar content with stevia/sugar blend, the taste and texture is great. Thanks a ton, Sally!
can i leave out the cloves?
Hi Bethany, feel free to omit the cloves if you wish.
Can I use gluten free 1/1 flour?
Hi Mary, we haven’t tested this cake using an all-purpose gluten free flour, so we’re unsure of the results. Let us know if you do give it a try.
Can the recipe be doubled?
Hi Janet! We recommend making separate batches for best results.
I doubled the recipe and poured into two pans before reading that you recommended making the batches separate. They just came out of the oven and baked perfectly at 350 for 60 minutes.
Can this recipe be doubled?
Hi Karen, for absolute best results, we recommend making two separate batches rather than doubling. Hope you enjoy this pumpkin bread!
I can’t wait to try it! All your recipes are THE best! Can I use a glass loaf pan or does it need to be metal?
A glass pan is fine, Karen! Just make sure it’s a true 9×5 inch pan.