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
Hello! Can I use almond milk instead of whole milk/ orange juice??
Absolutely!
This is a wonderful recipe I will use exclusively for pumpkin bread from now on. I used walnuts and no chocolate chips since pumpkin and chocolate isn’t a flavor combination I’m fond of. I didn’t have oj so I used oat milk I had on hand. But, in the future, I plan to make this with oj and add orange zest as well. That is a flavor combination I’m fond of. This made three mini loaves and six muffins.
Very easy and very good! Thank you!
I make this every year! It is the absolute best pumpkin recipe I have ever tried! I always use Ghiarardelli semi sweet chocolate chips. I’ve used coconut oil and vegetable but usually prefer vegetable. It is a crowd pleaser!
Terrific recipe! I followed exactly as written (but replaced the chocolate chips with pecans because I don’t care for chocolate at breakfast). It baked up beautifully within the time indicated. One thing that might be causing people problems: depending on the texture/wetness of your canned pumpkin, a cup and a half may be too much. When I measured it out it was nearly the full can, which was way more than the 340 grams called for. I decided to go by the scale instead, which was closer to one cup. Had I gone by the cup measurement, it probably would have been soggy. Instead it was light and moist!
The absolute best Pumpkin bread. Rich pumpkin flavor. Everyone loves it.
Dangerously delicious! I added ½ chocolate and ½ butterscotch chips and subbed milk for the OJ. Followed directions and it came out perfect, will be making again asap!
Soooo good! I cut the oil down to 1/4 cup so I could use the whole can of pumpkin, since it’s 15 oz (nearly 2 cups). I loved this and shared it with friends! 🙂
I followed this recipe to a T, very simple recipe. The only thing I did was triple it to make 3 loaves. One can of ED Smith pumpkin puree was enough for 3 loaves. They turned out so moist and yummy! I have shared this recipe with friends. Thankyou!
Hi Sally,
I made this recipe over a week ago (a second time), and Oh my gosh! .. It is decadent!
Mind you, I tweaked the recipe a bit. First I doubled it, so of course, I used 2 cans of pumpkin, and I added ABOUT a little less than a half cup of apple sauce, a generous dollop of mayonnaise, 5 eggs, 2 cups of organic dark chocolate chips, tad, and then additional spice, (eg: Pumpkin spice and Allspice) added to upping up the amount of the other spices, since, as far as I’m concerned, it’s that time of the year to make spicy treats. –
*The doubled batter made a full bundt cake and a loaf! The outcome of the bread/cake is when you take that first bite, .. It melts in your mouth! It’s delicious any time of day!
Hi Sally, thanks so much for the recipe! This is the best bread I’ve ever made (better than the banana bread I’ve been making for years), it’s my new favorite!!
I haven’t tried it yet but I am an hour and 30 minutes into cooking time and it still appears to be pudding at the bottom. Honestly, there was so much batter, this is shaping up to be a tall loaf, and probably why it’s not cooking in the specified 60 minutes. Next time I will make two loaves.
Absolutely fantastic recipe. Came out so well. The only change was I substituted Splenda for the sugar! Will be making this again , thank you !
My husband has an egg allergy, what can I use to substitute the eggs?
Also, what can I use in place of coconut oil, reg veg or canola oil?
Hi Heidi, We haven’t tested this recipe with an egg substitute but let us know if you try anything.
While you could try melted butter instead of oil, it won’t create the same moist texture and any butter flavor will be overpowered by the pumpkin and spices. When you remove all of the fat in a recipe like this one you end up with bread that has a rubbery texture. You can certainly try replacing half of the oil with applesauce, but not all of it. I recommend sticking with the recipe.
THE BEST MUFFINS EVER!! I am so happy!! I think the OJ and coconut oil gave it that little extra something something. Thank you so much
I tried this recipe last night. I didn’t have orange juice so I used the one I had in my fridge that was mango-pineapple. It was my first time making a pumpkin bread, thank God it turned out really moist and delicious bread. The amount of choco chips were just perfect for my husband’s taste buds. 5 stars from my family.
SO delicious!! Best pumpkin bread I have made yet. I made this in a muffin tin, and made some changes to the recipe. I Substituted 3/4 of the flour for almond flour, used a mix of all purpose and whole wheat flour for the rest, and added a splash of vanilla. I used homemade pumpkin puree, but I only had 1 cup, so I used applesauce for the remaining 1/2 cup. Didn’t have orange juice so I used almond milk. Amazing!! Next time I’ll add some candied ginger.
Can I replace the orange juice/milk with yogurt?
The bread will taste denser, but you can certainly make that substitution.
This was the bomb! My family loved it! My oven took longer but it always does! I love the no mixer and the helpful substitutes!:) We like bundt cakes because they are pretty and cut nice and it was perfect!
LOVED this recipe! After looking at a few recipes I decided to make this one because I liked the fact that it has less flour than rest. Super moist and delicious!!! AND easy to make , no mixer used whisk.
This recipe was fabulous! It couldn’t have been easier and the result was moist and very delicious. I substituted walnuts for the chocolate chips and that worked beautifully.
I made this last week for my friends and I. It was gone in 5 seconds!! This recipe is great for fall weather and delicious 🙂
I just made the pumpkin chocolate chip loaf and it turned out perfectly. I want to ship this in a care package across the country and want to make sure it gets there fresh. Do you think it would be fine to freeze the loaf if I don’t plan on shipping for another few days?
Hi Jody, We generally only recommend keeping the bread at room temperature for up to 3-4 days. THis recipe freezes wonderfully so I recommend freezing it to mail!
Can and how would you substitute butter for coconut oil?
Hi Vanessa, Melted butter won’t create the same moist texture and any butter flavor will be overpowered by the pumpkin and spices. I recommend sticking with the recipe.
Thanks for the recipe. It was the best pumpkin bread I’ve ever made.
So while this tastes good, the recommendation to put tinfoil on halfway through is too early. Instead look to put the tinfoil on 10-15 minutes before the 60 minute mark. Even after 65 minutes in the oven, the bread still wasn’t done cooking in the middle. It took another half hour of baking in order for it to be completely cooked through. Before someone says I did it wrong, I followed the steps provided to the T, and yes I know every oven is different, but not by 30 minutes of bake time.
I am not a baker. I made this recipe and it is amazing!!!!! So moist and delicious. At 50 min I checked it and it was done! Agree you need to cover after first 25 minutes and check frequently so it does not overcook!!!!
We all love it!!!!
I would like to know the calories and nutrition info!
Hello! Could I use a bundt pan for this recipe, or would I need to make the bundt cake recipe to adjust? Thanks!
Hi Olivia, Definitely! See the recipe notes for details on making a Bundt cake.
It’s my first time trying pumpkin-chocolate combination. I have to say that the pumpkin bread flavor was so good and i will definitely use this recipe for that. But I felt the chocolate was too bitter and prominent against the pumpkin flavor. Also, i had to bake at least 25 minutes extra. I double checked my pan size and it is the correct size.
This was amazing and so moist! My husband and kids would have polished it off in one sitting, if I had let them. It did take an extra half hour in my oven, but maybe it’s because I subbed 1/2 cup whole wheat plus 1/4 cup ground flax seed for 3/4 cup of the flour (could that affect the baking time? I really have no idea). The last half hour I took off the tented foil because it looked like pudding in the middle and I was worried it wouldn’t cook.
Hi Sally,. I doubled up on your recipe to make 2 loaves. I tested it and the toothpick came out clean with a few crumbs. It had pulled away from the sides and had browned nicely. After cooling I had cut a piece and the bottom was wet! Should there have been baking powder in the recipe? Very disappointed! Waste of ingredients!
Hi Maryanne! No, there is no baking powder in this recipe. I wonder if the toothpick wasn’t inserted far enough into the bread and that’s why it still seemed underbaked at the bottom. If you try the recipe again, you may want to bake only 1 loaf at a time and add a few extra minutes to the bake time. Sorry you had trouble with the recipe.