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
How much time would you cook mini loaves? Would the temperature be the same?
You can bake this as mini-loaves but I’m unsure of the exact bake time needed – same oven temperature though!
I made this recipe yesterday and I used coconut flour and it turned out amazing! Its perfectly moist and the flavor is incredible! Definitely making this for years to come.
Very tasty recipe. I moved my rack down a bit lower as suggested, but it didn’t cook very evenly. The bottom was overdone and the middle took a lot longer. Not sure if it’s my oven or what, but next time I’ll just cook it on the middle rack.
Curious if I can use apple juice instead of orange juice as that’s the only juice I have in the house! I can absolutely use milk but I was curious whether I could add that flavor and it come out okay. Any thoughts?
Hi Caitlin, apple juice would be delicious. You really just need a liquid to help thin out the batter. Milk works, but I always prefer a little extra flavor from orange juice. Again, apple juice would be perfect!
These are fresh out of the oven as muffins instead of a loaf and I’ve already had 3. These are TO DIE FOR.
Have been making this bread for several years now. It’s become one of our fall traditions. And now that my daughter is in college, she requests that I make extra so she can have some at school. She’s coming home next weekend and is going to make a loaf herself to share with one of the boys she likes – that’s how good it is, she’s using it as man-bait! It is perfect as is, wouldn’t change a thing! Thanks for sharing!
Can I make this in a bundt pan? I don’t have a loaf pan.
Hi Danielle, See the recipe notes for details on making a Bundt cake.
If I could I would give this delicious pumpkin bread recipe 100 stars. I searched far and wide for a super pumpkin bread recipe for years. When I finally tried your’s , Sally, I was hooked!! I make this all through fall ( I bought the ingredients last week to make so I am a wee bit ahead of schedule but who cares), winter and even spring if the fancy hits me! Can hardly wait to bite into the incredibly moist yummy pumpkin goodness!!! I just love sharing and watching the smiles break out with the first bite! Ps I also prefer this without the chocolate chips.
Excellent! Very moist and flavorful, easy to make. I substituted chopped walnuts for the chocolate chips and it came out amazing!
This is the third time I have baked this and it is so yum, its so moist and stays like that for a few days. The spices in this recipe are so delicious and fill the house with a yum scent !
I made this yesterday and it is so fantastic! The consistency and flavors are perfect! I was making it to send with my boyfriend to work as his breakfast for a few days. He isn’t a big fan of chocolate so I used butterscotch chips… WOW! We both highly recommend this flavor combination!
So good! Uses a whole can of pumpkin which is great and it’s so moist and flavorful! Will definitely make again. Mine took about 65 minutes in the oven.
Hi Paula, You can certainly try but the end result might be more dry and more “hearty” tasting. You might also enjoy this recipe for Whole Wheat Mini Pumpkin Muffins (see recipe notes for regular size muffins also).
If you make your own pumpkin purée, make sure you use pie pumpkins. I’ve made it several times. I strain it through cheesecloth to get the liquid out. Portion it out in 1 cup or 2 cup in a ziplock bag, Mark the quantity and throw in freezer. It freezes flat and doesn’t take up much room at all.
This was seriously the best pumpkin bread I’ve ever had. I couldn’t believe I made it myself! Literally perfect. So much more flavorful than anything else I’ve ever tried. Even my boyfriend who hates pumpkin ate several slices. I love all the recipes I’ve tried from this site. I’m never paying money for baked goods again when I can make them 10x better myself! Please know your work and effort to make these recipe pages is seriously appreciated!
Great pumpkin bread! I didn’t have orange juice so I substituted in milk, but next time I will try the orange juice because I can imagine it gives it that little extra something special. Otherwise I followed the recipe to the T. My only complaint is that the bread took much longer to cook in my oven than the recipe indicated (1.5 hours instead of 1 hour). Perhaps my oven just doesn’t run as hot. Regardless, it was worth the extra patience needed and I’ll be making this again!
Made this yesterday and the entire house smelled delicious! Best pumpkin bread we’ve tried. Questioned the OJ but you’re right it adds great flavor. Can’t wait to make it again!
Can I make this recipe without the cloves?
Yes, you can leave them out. Or you can try to replace them with allspice, or replace them with a little more cinnamon. It will still be delicious!
Is there any way I can incorporate some butter in this? Alongside the oil? I love the moistness the oil being but love the butter flavor also can I use some yoghurt mixed with milk instead of just milk or orange juice? Or can I use both yoghurt and orange juice?
Hi Lomey, I recommend following the recipe as written, but you could certainly try replacing some of the oil with melted butter. Any butter flavor will be overpowered by the pumpkin and spices. You can replace the OJ with milk.
Could this be made into 2 smaller loaf pans and if so what size?
Thank you
Trish
Hi Trish, You can try dividing this batter between two 8×4 inch loaf pans. The baking time will be less but I’m unsure exactly how long they would take. Or you can make this recipe as muffins – see recipe notes.
We are only in early August and I am a pumpkin baking freak. I have been using this recipe for a long time now. The best possible pumpkin bread recipe any can find, so moist etc. The only thing I do differently is load the top of the batter with chopped
walnuts because that is how my friends like it. I probably make close to 50 loaves from now until the end of December. Love love love this recipe. So, today will be the start of my pumpkin loaves.
I live at a high altitude, elevation of 5,500ft. Should I make any adjustments?
Hi Melissa, I wish I could help, but we have no experience baking at high altitude. I know some readers have found this chart helpful: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html
Hi Sally,
I noticed you dont add vanilla extract as I have seen in other recipes for quick breads like this one. Any particular reason why?
Hi Mercy! You can certainly add a little vanilla extract, but I don’t find that it’s necessary here. Lots of other flavors!
I haven’t made this recipe, can I use butternut squash purée instead?
Since I grow it
I made this as a bread the first time and as muffins this time. Both are excellent. I added Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips and pecans and I am taking the muffins to work with me today. Thank you!
Thank you for this wonderful recipe! If I would like to have more pumpkin flavor what can I increase in the recipe? The puree or the pumpkin spice? Thank you!
Hi Abla, I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe! Additional pumpkin puree will alter the texture, so I recommend adding more pumpkin pie spice. Also, you’ll notice the flavor of this bread intensifies on day 2 if you can wait that long to sample 😉
This recipe is AWESOME! I’ve made it four times now, and everyone I’ve made it for has fallen in love! My roommates and I are trying to eat healthier right now, so we all wanted something that wasn’t too high in calories, was filling, and something that tasted like dessert. This recipe hits all three requirements!
I’ve made this as muffins all four times, so that when we ate it we could have a general idea of how many calories we were consuming. The third time I made the muffins I put walnuts in some of the muffins, instead of the chocolate chips, because one of my roommates likes nuts in every possible baked good. He said they were delicious.
One more great thing about these muffins is that they stay moist and delicious for up to four days! (We stored ours in a cupcake/cake snap-closed container.) They might be delicious for even longer, but ours have never lasted longer than that, so we may never know.
If you’re interested in the nutrition info, I ran the numbers for this recipe. If you make a batch of 18 muffins then 1 muffin will have (roughly):
206 calories
31.7g carbs
8.6g fat
2.8g protein
1.6g fiber
19.4g sugar
Great flavor, but both times I’ve tried this recipe it has taken at least 20 minutes longer to bake through and both times the bread stuck in my old Bake King pans (greased and dusted with flour)! Tops fell off when turning over and bottoms stuck tearing the loaves in half. I always wait at least 10 minutes before turning out loaves. This is the only bread (quick, yeast or sourdough) that sticks in these pans.
Hi Vera, Is your loaf pan 9×5 inches or are you making any ingredient substitutions? A different size pan would change the bake time. You can also try to line your pan with parchemnt paper if you know this one sticks!
I made it with Canola oil and followed the recipe except used 1.5x the amount of cinnamon, cloves, ginger and nutmeg. Delicious!
Not sure if I should ever make this again because I could eat the ENTIRE loaf. It is so so good. Are there any nutrition facts for this bread?