Moist Pumpkin Bread Recipe
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A total classic for fall: this pumpkin bread is moist, easy to make, and just sweet enough, with plenty of warm fall spices.
I originally published this post in 2018, but I have since improved the recipe, taken updated photos, and provided a step-by-step video.
Table of Contents
- Here’s Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Ingredients You’ll Need
- In Photos: How to Make Pumpkin Bread
- Helpful Tips & Tricks
- Pumpkin Bread Recipe FAQ’s
- More Pumpkin Recipes
It’s that time of year!
Can you believe it? The last few days of September are quickly dwindling. We saw a 15-degree drop overnight on Wednesday night. Soon the leaves will start to change. It’s really beginning to feel like fall!
I know the internet gets FLOODED with pumpkin recipes, starting, oh, around August? And I’m well aware that it can be annoying to a lot of people (myself included, a lot of times!). Even though I’m always really excited to start fall baking, I try my best to refrain until the timing is right. And it’s almost October my friend, and October means one thing in my world: pumpkin.
Nothing screams fall like pumpkin and spice. I’ve got lots of pumpkin recipes to choose from here on Baking a Moment. If you’re a pumpkin lover, definitely check out this pumpkin pie, this pumpkin chocolate Halloween cake, and these pumpkin cheesecake bars.
But today, we are talking pumpkin bread. It’s definitely a fall favorite! I love it because it’s so quick and easy to make, and it’s moist and just sweet enough, with plenty of warm spice.
Here’s Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Easy: This recipe is no-muss, no-fuss, and perfect for a novice or beginner baker!
- All the cozy fall vibes: Traditional warm baking spices plus brown sugar make this an absolute must for the season!
- Great make-ahead option: The longer it sits, the better it gets.
- Perfectly portable: A slice of homemade pumpkin bread makes a great on-the-go breakfast or snack.
Ingredients You’ll Need
The complete list of ingredients with the amounts you’ll need to make the recipe is located in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- All-Purpose Flour: Provides structure to the bread.
- Brown Sugar: I’ve used dark brown sugar here but light brown sugar will also work.
- Baking Soda: Gives the loaf its airy rise and springy texture.
- Spices: A combination of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves give a traditional flavor. You could also use pumpkin pie spice!
- Kosher Salt: Enhances the flavors and balances sweetness.
- Unsalted Butter: Melted butter adds a rich flavor and keeps the bread moist.
- Pumpkin Puree: Be sure to use pure pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling.
- Large Eggs: Bind the batter and contribute to a tender crumb.
- Sour Cream and Milk: Add tanginess and moisture while reacting with the leavening for a fluffier result.
- Vanilla Extract: Or you can use a dash of vanilla bean paste.
In Photos: How to Make Pumpkin Bread
This pumpkin bread recipe is so super-simple to make. You’ll love how quickly it comes together!
Step 1: Combine the Dry Ingredients
Start by combining all the dry ingredients in a big bowl. Flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and cloves. Just give them a quick whisk to combine.
Step 2: Add the Wet Ingredients
Once your dry ingredients are combined, gather your liquid ingredients. A whole can of pumpkin puree (make sure it’s pure pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling), melted butter, eggs, sour cream, milk, and vanilla.
Make a well in the center of your bowl and pour these liquid ingredients in, then starting in the center and working your way outwards, fold everything together gently.
The less you mix, the more tender your pumpkin bread will come out. Don’t worry if the batter looks a little lumpy; that’s perfectly ok!
Step 3: Bake the Loaf
Transfer the batter to a greased loaf pan.
It should bake in a preheated oven until it’s puffy and deep mahogany brown. A toothpick inserted in the thickest part of the loaf should come out clean or with just a few moist crumbs.
Helpful Tips & Tricks
- Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bread: If you’d like to make gluten-free pumpkin bread, just swap the all-purpose flour for a gluten-free flour blend. Look for one that subs 1:1 for regular flour.
- Mini Pumpkin Bread Loaves: This recipe can also be baked in 3 mini loaf pans. Just adjust the bake time as needed. You’ll know your mini pumpkin loaves are done when a toothpick inserted into the thickest part of a loaf comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
- Pumpkin Muffins: If you’re looking to make pumpkin muffins, look no further than this recipe: Pumpkin Muffins. It’s my younger son’s favorite! I think you will really love it too.
Pumpkin Bread Recipe FAQ’s
Pumpkin bread is great for breakfast or brunch, or for an afternoon snack. It’s delicious toasted, with a little smudge of soft butter, orange marmalade, or apple butter. And I especially love it with a hot cup of tea, coffee or cocoa.
Once your pumpkin bread has completely cooled, you can slip it into a zip-top bag so that it doesn’t dry out. It will keep at room temperature for a couple of days; in the fridge for about a week.
It can also be frozen. Wrapped tightly, it should last in the freezer for at least a month.
More Pumpkin Recipes
- Moist Pumpkin Layer Cake
- Easy Baked Pumpkin Donuts
- Pumpkin Soup
- Homemade Pumpkin Spice Syrup
- Pumpkin Pancakes
- Pumpkin Bundt Cake
- Pumpkin Roll
- Pumpkin Scones
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Moist Pumpkin Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (187.5 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (220 g) dark brown sugar, packed
- 2 teaspoons (4 g) ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon (2 g) ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon (4 g) baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon (1 g) ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon (3 g) kosher salt
- 1/8 teaspoon (0.25 g) ground cloves
- 15 ounces (425.24 g) pure pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup (113.5 g) unsalted butter,, melted & cooled slightly
- 2 (100 g) large eggs
- 3 tablespoons (36 g) sour cream*
- 1 tablespoon (15 g) milk, any kind
- 1 teaspoon (4 g) vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, and mist a 5-cup glass or ceramic loaf pan** with non-stick spray.
- Place the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, nutmeg, salt, and cloves in a large mixing bowl and whisk to combine, creating a well in the center.
- Place the pumpkin, melted butter, eggs, sour cream, milk, and vanilla in the well and whisk to combine, gradually drawing the dry ingredients into the wet as you stir.
- Continue to fold the batter together until just barely combined.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared pan, and bake until puffy, springy, and mahogany brown (approx. 70 to 80 minutes). A toothpick inserted in the thickest part of the bread should come out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
- Cool for 20 minutes in the pan, then remove to a wire rack and allow to cool completely before slicing.
Hi there..I love the look of this loaf so much but have failed twice now with a gummy dense texture. It’s hard to find canned pumpkin in Australia so I’m steaming fresh for the recipe..not boiling so we keep the moisture down and using same weight. Finding it difficult to guess the issue. I couldn’t find any recent comments..can I ask if the flour weight is correct since the update.
Note..I have baked the full time plus some and upped the flour by 15gr but very similar result. I have a cake business with 20yrs experience..feeling like a bit of a failure 😬 any suggestions? Thank you
Hey Angie I’m so sorry you are having trouble! Want you to know I just went back in to double check that weight at your request, and it does seem to be accurate. My best guess is that there is something different about steamed fresh pumpkin vs. the canned variety I have used here. I’m so sorry but you may have to play around with the amount a little to get the result you’re looking for. Maybe use a little less? Or maybe try squeezing the excess moisture out with cheesecloth?
can i use a bread maker for this recipe?
Well, I think it’s not really necessary since there isn’t any kneading or rising involved? You just mix everything up and bake it. KWIM?
I just put my loaf in the oven. I am really looking forward to it….
the fact that there was so little sugar made your recipe very attractive to me.. what I learned from baking is it always tastes so much better the next day
after being wrapped in plastic & put the fridge.
I hope it was to your liking Elaine! That’s a great tip about wrapping in plastic and refrigerating. I’ve noticed that too!
I was searching and searching for a pumpkin bread recipe that wasn’t loaded with sugar, and I’m so glad I found yours! I doubled the recipe and both loaves came out perfect… It was just the right level of sweetness for me and my husband and was even more delicious with some lightly sweetened cream cheese frosting on top *_*… This recipe is totally a keeper — thank you so much for posting it!
My pleasure Angie! I’m so happy you enjoyed it. It definitely is a bit less sweet than what you’d typically see. Thank you for the 5-star rating!
Hey Allie! I was just wondering if you had a substitution suggestion for the Greek yogurt. I’ve made this recipe a number of times since discovering it (it’s *so* good, even plain!), but it’s only been luck that I happened to have Greek yogurt in the fridge each time. Usually I don’t keep that on hand. Just wondering what role it plays in this recipe (fat? body? slight sourness?) and what could replace it in a pinch to serve the same purpose~
Thanks so much ^_^
Hey Angie! You could use the same amount of sour cream or buttermilk, in place of the Greek yogurt. And your instincts are good- it provides all of those things and the slight sourness also helps to activate the leavening. If you don’t have any of those ingredients, you can sour regular milk by adding a little lemon juice or white vinegar. It works in a pinch, but the batter won’t be quite as thick. Hope that’s helpful!
Hej. A suggestion: when using the tab “metric” for measurement, it would be great to get butter in grams and temperature in Celsius. Also, I baked using the metric measures, and the ratio of dry:wet ingredients was off. Maybe bc I used purée made of an actual pumpkin … but pumpkin purée is not available in Netherlands.
Thanks for the great suggestions Ania! If your pumpkin is very wet, it’s helpful to drain it in a fine-mesh sieve for a while before adding it to the batter.
This looks so good! One question, the only sugar you use in this recipe is brown sugar, no white?
Hi BJ! Yes that’s right, I only used brown sugar for this recipe.
This looks so good! I like the use of yogurt for moisture and the dark brown sugar to add a deeper flavor. Yum!
Love your recipes, but was wondering if you could provide suggestions for milk-product substitutions to use instead of butter and if there is an appropriate ratio when making the substitution?
Hi Christine! If you look for a butter substitute that can swap 1:1 for dairy butter, it should work well. Same goes for milk, yogurt, etc. Hope that’s helpful!