This Pumpkin Bread probably is the best out there, it’s super soft and moist, not to mention crazy easy to make. It’s a classic bread perfect for fall, full of pumpkin flavor and perfectly spiced.
The Best Pumpkin Bread
I love baking around this time of year. There’s just something about canned pumpkin that keeps inspiring me to step away from the classic pie and experiment with other delicious treats! This bread I whipped up today is super moist, packed full of cinnamon and pumpkin, and oh so perfect for slathering in softened butter.
Is your mouth watering yet? I just finished a nice thick slice of the stuff and just writing about it has me itching for more. The great thing about this pumpkin bread is how delicious it stays sitting out on your counter, just begging to be snacked on whenever you happen to wander by.
What’s The Deal With Pumpkin?
Did you know that pumpkin is great for you? You don’t need to wait until pumpkin season to use it, it’s good year round and it’s canned version is available year round in the baking isle of your grocery store.
But pumpkin is low calorie but nutrient dense, packed full of vitamins such as fiber, iron, and even a bit of protein. You can even feed it to your hungry pups to bulk out their wet food a bit!
Bread With No Yeast?
That’s right – this recipe would be considered a quick bread! That’s because we’re using baking soda and baking powder as our leavening agents today rather than activated yeast. Keep this mind while making this bread as it will be a bit closer to making a cake than a traditional bread.
Ingredients In The Best Pumpkin Bread
- Wet ingredients –Â Pureed pumpkin, butter, eggs, sour cream, vanilla extract, granulated white sugar.
- Dry ingredients –Â All purpose flour, baking soda and baking powder, salt.
- Spices – cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice.
What Else Can I Use In My Loaf?
- Nuts like almond, pecan, walnuts, or even seeds like pepitas
- Chocolate chips
- Zucchini
- Dried fruits like raisins, cranberries, and chopped apricot.
How To Make The Best Pumpkin Bread
- Preheat the oven to 325 F degrees. Grease a loaf pan with cooking spray or butter.
- Combine the wet ingredients:Â In a medium bowl mix the sugar, pumpkin, butter, eggs, sour cream and vanilla extract.
- Combine the dry ingredients:Â In another bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, pumpkin spice and cinnamon. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir, but do not stir too much, just until the flour has been incorporated into the wet ingredients. If the batter is too thick add a bit of water, I added 1/4 cup.
- Bake: Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Transfer the loaf pan to the oven and bake for 70 to 80 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the pumpkin bread in the loaf pan for 10 minutes before removing it from the pan and finish cooling it on a wire rack.
The Key To A Moist Pumpkin Bread
The all important rule of thumb when making these sweet breads is to let them rest after baking. Some swear by leaving them overnight, others by just 1 hour – either way you need to make sure it gets some alone time! If you can that is.
What Type of Pan Do I Need For The Best Pumpkin Bread?
I used an 8×4″ loaf pan for this recipe. This batter will also fit in an 8×8″ square pan or an 8×2″ round cake pan, but of course you will yield thin pieces.
Want To Use Fresh Pumpkin?
Well then you’re ambitious I’ll give you that, but it’s totally possible to use fresh pumpkin and to achieve that 100% homemade flavor.
- First halve the pumpkin and scoop out all the seeds.
- Heat an inch of water in a sauce pan till boiling, in the mean time slice the pumpkin into chunks. Boil these pieces of pumpkin briefly before reducing the heat, covering and allowing to simmer for 30 minutes.
- Drain and cool before removing the pumpkin from the peel. Mash it all up and you’re good to go!
Storing Leftover Pumpkin Bread
Once the bread has cooled completely wrap it in aluminum foil or plastic wrap. It will stay fresh at room temperature for up to 3 days. You can also refrigerate it for up to 6 days.
Freezing
Wrap the cooled bread tightly with aluminum foil or plastic freezer wrap, then place it in a freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
Reheating
If you froze the pumpkin bread, thaw it out at room temperature for about an hour, unwrap it then transfer it to a baking sheet or loaf pan and bake for about 5 to 10 min at 350 F degrees or until heated through.
Craving More Sinfully Sweet Treats?
- Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Loaf
- Pumpkin Cinnamon Bread
- Healthy Whole Wheat Banana Nut Bread
- Cream Cheese Filled Banana Cake
- Banana Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake
- Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Loaf
- Limoncello Lemon Cake
- Old Fashioned Lemon Bread
- Zucchini Bread
- Chocolate Zucchini Bread
- Banana Nut Bread
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The Best Pumpkin Bread
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups sugar granulated
- 8 oz canned pumpkin
- 1/2 cup butter melted
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp pumpkin spice
- 1 tsp cinnamon ground
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 F degrees. Grease a loaf pan with cooking spray or butter.
- Combine the wet ingredients:Â In a medium bowl mix the sugar, pumpkin, butter, eggs, sour cream and vanilla extract.
- Combine the dry ingredients:Â In another bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, pumpkin spice and cinnamon. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir, but do not stir too much, just until the flour has been incorporated into the wet ingredients. If the batter is too thick add a bit of water, I added 1/4 cup.If the batter is too thick add a bit of water, I added 1/4 cup.
- Bake: Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Transfer the loaf pan to the oven and bake for 70 to 80 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the pumpkin bread in the loaf pan for 10 minutes before removing it from the pan and finish cooling it on a wire rack.
Video
Recipe Notes
- Once the bread has cooled completely wrap it in aluminum foil or plastic wrap. It will stay fresh at room temperature for up to 3 days. You can also refrigerate it for up to 6 days.
- Wrap the cooled bread tightly with aluminum foil or plastic freezer wrap, then place it in a freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
- If you froze the pumpkin bread, thaw it out at room temperature for about an hour, unwrap it then transfer it to a baking sheet or loaf pan and bake for about 5 to 10 min at 350 F degrees or until heated through.
Marian says
I love this, so easy to put together. I’ve made 2 loaves already, and even made my own pumpkin for the 2nd!
jo says
Yay! So glad you liked it!
Leonard Price says
recipe calls for 1/4 cup of water but does not mention where to add it. does it go into the wet ingrediants
jo says
Sorry about that, just updated the recipe. The water is optional, I added about 1/4 cup of water because I felt the batter was a bit too thick.
Leonard Price says
i took a chance and added it to the wet ingrediants and it worked out fine. thanks
jo says
Perfect!
Meghan Reed says
What can I use in place of the two eggs?
Jo Cooks Team says
Check these out and see what works for you: https://www.biggerbolderbaking.com/egg-substitutes-for-baking/
Janice Ford says
My family would ask “where is the chocolate?” I would put really small, dark chocolate chips in but all of your recipes are so good I don’t know if I want to mess with it.
Jo Cooks Team says
Chocolate chips would be great! Let us know how it turns out 🙂