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 is the best pumpkin bread I’ve tasted! Great, easy recipe. Thank you!
Hey Sally, Is it possible to substitute the oil out for sour cream? I’m a big fan of using sour cream in baking but i see mixed responses for pumpkin bread.
Hi Michael, oil is really best for this recipe. Let us know if you give it a try!
This recipe is perfection, plain and simple. I made it exactly as written, except I subbed half and half for the orange juice. I baked for 55 min in my oven and only needed to tent with foil for the last 20 minutes.
Can you cut down on the sugar?
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.
This is a fantastic recipe! Thanks so much! Perfect!
Very good recipe. I upped the spices a bit, left out the chocolate chips and used einkorn flour because it was all I had in the house, and it turned out fantastic. Not too sweet, and great texture.
It was nice and moist, but was pretty bland. I think I’ll need to up the spice a bit next time.
Wait, bland? I just made this as well and that was absolutely not my experience, but my spices are good quality and new. Personally, I’d guess old/stale or weak spices if that was an issue for you – that can really make or break a recipe.
Really good! Made it just as recipe is written, except used cider instead of orange juice. I saved this one!
Hi Sally,
is it enough batter to make a sheet cake? Or would your pumpkin cake recipe work better for that?
We don’t have canned pumpkin where I live so all I’ve got is pureed pumpkin.
Thank you!
Hi Jennifer, we’d recommend using our pumpkin cake recipe instead. Very similar to this one!
Thank you! I went to the comments to see if anyone used cider. I’m going to try it!
Followed directions to the tea. I bake often so I know what I’m doing. My bread rose only about 2 inches if that.Tell me where I went wrong
Hi Les, was your baking soda fresh? We find it starts to lose its effectiveness after about 3 months from opening. Over-mixing the batter can also cause it to bake up squat and dense. Did your pumpkin purée seem overly wet? We don’t remove the moisture for this recipe, but if yours seemed excessively wet (it can vary between brands) that could be weighing down the batter more. We hope this helps and thank you for giving this recipe a try!
Could be the baking soda. The pumpkin was not wet and I spoon stirred but still had lumps. Bet it was the soda. Thank you so much. Otherwise the flavor is delicious
Can I use light olive oil as a substitute for the vegetable oil?
Hi Darla, Olive oil will work, but it could change the flavor quite a bit. You really want a neutral-tasting oil for most baking recipes.
I made this and subbed King Arthur measure for measure gluten free flour. I also used fresh ginger because that’s what I had, and left out chocolate chips. It made 18 muffins, and took about 25 min to bake at 325 in a convection oven. They are perfect and delightful. I’m not typically a fan of cloves, but I didn’t notice them in this – they’re very well balanced! 100% going to be a regular recipe here!
This bread was delicious! I used milk and dark chocolate chips and added some vanilla. YUMMO!
Thanks for this feedback! I always bake with King Arthur GF M4M flour (celiac family member) and I’m glad to know it worked well in this recipe. Going to try it this afternoon.
Any tips on making mini pumpkins breads with the recipe?
Hi Amber, Same temperature, but baking time will vary depending on the exact size of your mini loaf pans. Keep a close eye on them and use a toothpick to test for doneness.
This pumpkin bread was so delicious! I used milk though I think next I’ll do orange juice. I also opted for dark chocolate chips which was so yummy. I made this yesterday around dinner time. It’s 10 am the next day and it’s almost gone!
I was wondering if you could add diced apples to this recipe instead of chocolate chips?
Hi Mary, We’d recommend trying our Harvest bread, which calls for both apples and pumpkin.
Can this recipe be adjusted for an 8x 4 pan? Thank you!
Hi Alyssa, You can try dividing this batter between two 8×4 inch loaf pans. The baking time will be less but we’re unsure exactly how long they would take. Or you can make this recipe as muffins – see recipe notes.
Saw a recipe similar to yours. You don’t use baking powder, just baking soda. Is that correct?
That’s correct!
I’m wondering if I could layer a cream cheese filling in the middle of the bread and still have it bake properly?
I’ve made muffins with cream cheese filling but bread has much more batter involved.
Hi Carol! We haven’t tested it with this bread recipe, but we do something similar with our pumpkin cream cheese bundt cake and it works beautifully!
Can this be made in a glass pan? Thank you!
A glass pan is fine, Julie! Just make sure it’s a true 9×5 inch pan.
I made this recipe 3 times. First with milk instead of orange juice. and added semi-sweet chocolate chips. Second time, I used the orange juice, and added 50/50 chocolate chips and butterscotch chips. Third time I used the orange juice and just the butterscotch chips. Each one was fantastic, but I will say the orange juice def takes it up a notch. I really love the way the butterscotch chips meld in with the pumpkin flavor. I’d say my very favorite was with the chocolate/butterscotch mix. This will be my go-to pumpkin bread from now on!
Can I substitute the cinnamon for two tablespoons of pumpkin pie spice?
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.
I made this for book club – it was a huge hit.
I tweaked it a bit:
∙used 1/4 cup of oil, and substituted 1/4 of plain greek yogurt
∙used apple cider instead of orange juice
∙used frozen cranberries instead of chocolate chips
Everyone LOVED it.
Can you freeze the bread
Yes! Baked pumpkin bread can be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before serving.
Can you leave out the orange juice or is there a substitute?
You can use milk instead, Stephanie!
For this recipe can I use bread flour instead of all-purpose flour?
All purpose flour is best here, Charlotte!
Can I use whole wheat pastry flour?
Hi Liz, we haven’t tested this bread with pastry flour or whole wheat pastry flour, so we’re unsure how well it will hold up with pumpkin being a heavier ingredient. If you decide to try it, please do let us know how it goes!
If I use applesauce instead of oil will I get the same texture? I love your recipes. You are my go to.
Hi Donna, the bread is best with oil. You could try replacing half of the oil with applesauce to see how that goes, if desired.
Made this for the first time today. It was a hit! Easy to follow and accurate recipe. Absolutely delicious and moist, will definitely make this again and again. Thank you Sally!
Are there any recommended changes to this recipe for altitudes over 7500 feet?
Hi Rachel, I wish we could help, but we have no experience baking at high altitude. Some readers have found this chart helpful: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html
I have been making this recipe every year for almost 10 years, it’s the best!
Every year I make homemade pumpkin puree, and I always freeze bags with the exact amount for this recipe.
I’ve even adapted the recipe to use for banana bread, I love it that much.
Hi Sally – Do you actually mean baking POWDER in this? Or is it really baking SODA? Thank you!
The written recipe is correct.
I’ve never heard of leaving a loaf in pan for ONE HOUR prior to removing. The usual time is 10-15 minutes.????
Hi Carol, we like to let the loaf cool substantially before removing the pan to make sure it doesn’t fall apart. It’s very moist! You can try removing sooner if you prefer.
I’m an experienced baker and I don’t feel this is that unheard of. Especially since it’s a very moist loaf.
Good things come to those who wait Carol, you’ll be okay!
This recipe is the absolute best! I’m being asked to make it in bulk in mini loaf pans. How long do you think I should bake it for and should I do that at the same temp?
Hi Carmen! Same temperature, but baking time will vary depending on the exact size of your mini loaf pans. Keep a close eye on them and use a toothpick to test for doneness.
Hi Carmen – Did you have a chance to figure out how long to bake the mini loaf pans – I’m facing the same situation and wondered about the baking time for them too! Thanks
I also leave out the chocolate chips because that is my family’s preference, but I have an idea that they might make a yummy loaf!
Hi – Can I use buttermilk in place of the orange juice? I have some that I’d like to use up. Thanks!
Buttermilk would be just fine!
Hi Sally! would one can of pumpkin be fine ? funds are low and wondering if i’ll be okay omitting the other half can?
Hi Maya, 1 and 1/2 cups of pumpkin (which is a little less than 1 standard can) if key for this bread’s taste and texture. Leaving it out will result in a drier bread, but you could swap some of the pumpkin puree for mashed banana or applesauce. The taste will, of course, be a bit different.