This easy pumpkin bread recipe is everything you want in a fall treat — moist, tender, and bursting with warm spices. Made with a whole can of pumpkin, this one-bowl pumpkin loaf is ready to go in the oven in just 10 minutes! With a rich pumpkin flavor and a perfectly soft crumb, it’s a must-bake for pumpkin lovers.
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Test Kitchen Review
See what our test kitchen had to say!
Ellie
I have made many loaves of this pumpkin bread for my family and it always turns out perfect! It is super dense and moist, just like we like it. I sometimes add chopped pecans or walnuts for crunch, or even chocolate chips or dried cranberries… but it really is perfect just as it is!
Why I Love This Pumpkin Loaf Recipe
Congrats, you’ve found it – the only pumpkin bread recipe you’ll ever need! I pride myself on being an expert on all things pumpkin. If you don’t believe me, just do a quick “pumpkin” search here on my site and see how many recipes pop up! My viral pumpkin cream cheese muffins are a must and you also can’t go wrong with this gorgeous pumpkin cake! After lots of delicious taste tests over the years, all of my family and friends agree that this really is the best pumpkin bread they’ve ever tried! Here’s what makes this recipe a stand-out:
- Easy: This quick bread recipe comes together in just 10 minutes, with no mixer required!
- Lots of pumpkin flavor: This pumpkin bread recipe uses one whole can of pumpkin, making it packed with pumpkin flavor with no leftover pumpkin to worry about!
- Perfect texture: Super soft and moist pumpkin bread every single time! Serve it warm with butter, room temperature or even chilled. It’s insanely delicious all three ways.
- Just like Starbucks: If you add pepitas on top, this becomes a great copycat recipe for the Starbucks pumpkin loaf… but even better. For the price of one piece, you can bake an entire loaf at home!
- Great for gifting: This pumpkin bread travels easily and stays delicious for days, making it a great homemade gift.
Key Ingredients
Below you will find helpful notes for key ingredients used to make this recipe for this easy pumpkin bread recipe. Scroll down to the recipe card below for the full ingredient list and exact amounts!
- Flour: I used regular all-purpose flour. Make sure to fluff the flour, then measure it by spooning it into a measuring cup. Don’t dip the cup straight into a packed bag of flour – that results in using too much flour and will create overly dense muffins.
- Pumpkin: I use a 15 oz can of pumpkin. Make sure it is pure pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling which is already sweetened and spiced.
- Sugar: This recipe uses both granulated sugar and brown sugar. The brown sugar adds caramel notes and moisture, but can be swapped for all granulated sugar if that is all you have on hand.
- Vegetable Oil: You can use canola oil or melted and slightly cooled butter, if you prefer.
- Pumpkin Spice: To make your own, combine 4 tsp cinnamon, 2 tsp ginger, 1 tsp cloves, 1/2 tsp nutmeg and 1/2 tsp allspice. If you don’t have all the ingredients on hand, you can also use just cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg instead!
How to Make Pumpkin Bread
I love a quick bread recipe that’s this easy, just whisk the batter together and into the oven it goes! Below is a quick recipe overview, but please scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post for full instructions and to watch the step-by-step video.
- Dry ingredients: Combine the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Set aside.
- Wet ingredients: Whisk together the pumpkin, sugar and brown sugar. Then beat in the eggs, vegetable oil, and vanilla.
- Combine: Slowly whisk the flour mixture into the wet mixture to combine the batter. Do not over-stir!
- Bake: Pour the batter into a 9×5 loaf pan. Bake for 50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Half way through baking, lightly cover the top of the bread with foil to prevent it from over browning.
- Serve: Allow the bread to cool for about 10 minutes, then remove it from the baking pan. Serve the bread warm, or cool completely and store it for later!
Chef’s Tips & Variations
- Don’t Over-Mix: Stir the batter just long enough to remove the lumps and then pour into loaf pan.
- Parchment Paper: Greasing your baking pan and then lining it with parchment paper will help the bread to not stick to the pan. It also makes it very easy to lift the pumpkin bread out of the pan after baking!
- Cover With Foil: This is a very moist and dense pumpkin loaf, which means it will take a while to bake through. The outside will be done quicker than the center. To prevent the top from over-browning, loosely cover the pumpkin bread with aluminum foil half way through baking.
- Add Nuts or Chocolate Chips: I love adding chocolate to create a pumpkin chocolate chip bread! You can add 1/2 cup of chocolate chips, chopped pecans or walnuts to the batter.
- Pumpkin Muffins: Want to use this recipe to make muffins? Bake them in a standard sized muffin tin for about 18 minutes. I have also used this recipe base to make pumpkin streusel muffins with an addictive cinnamon crumb topping!
- Cream Cheese: Want to add cream cheese to the bread? I tried it and it creates a gorgeous pumpkin cream cheese bread!
Yield: 8 slices
Best Easy Pumpkin Bread Recipe
⭐️Test Kitchen Approved!⭐️This super soft, moist pumpkin bread recipe is made with a whole can of pumpkin and tastes even better than the Starbucks pumpkin loaf. Bonus: it’s incredibly easy to make with just 10 minutes of work!
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin spice, or cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a 9×5 loaf pan and line with parchment paper (where it hangs over the edges) for easy removal. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk to combine the flour, pumpkin spice, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In large bowl, whisk to combine the pumpkin, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat in eggs, vegetable oil and vanilla extract. Slowly whisk in the flour mixture, until there are no lumps.
- Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Around the 30 minute mark, lightly cover the top of the bread with foil, to make sure the top does not overly brown.
- Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the baking pan, then remove the bread from the pan by lifting up the sides of the parchment paper. Slice and serve warm, or allow bread to cool completely before storing.
Video
Notes
Storage: To store, first let the homemade pumpkin bread cool completely and then tightly wrap the bread in plastic wrap and then place it in an airtight container. You can then store the bread on your counter for about 4 days, or in the fridge for up to a week.
Freeze: You can freeze an entire loaf, or individual slices, for up to 3 months. Allow bread to cool completely, then wrap the entire loaf, or single slices of pumpkin bread, tightly in Saran Wrap. Place the wrapped bread in a freezer friendly ziplock bag and freeze for up to 3 months. For best results, let bread thaw in the fridge for 24 hours before serving.
Add Nuts or Chocolate Chips: I love pumpkin chocolate chip bread! You can add up to 1/2 cup of chocolate chips, chopped pecans or walnuts to the batter. Love Starbucks pumpkin loaf? Add pepitas on top of the batter to create a copycat version.
Pumpkin Muffins: Want to use this recipe to make muffins? Bake them in a standard sized muffin tin for about 18 minutes. I love to add a little cream cheese swirl on top of the batter before baking to create pumpkin cream cheese muffins!
Cream Cheese: Want to add cream cheese? I tried it and it makes a perfect base to create a gorgeous pumpkin cream cheese bread.
DIY Pumpkin Pie Spice: Combine 4 tsp cinnamon, 2 tsp ginger, 1 tsp cloves, 1/2 tsp nutmeg and 1/2 tsp allspice.
Nutrition
Serving: 1slice, Calories: 412kcal, Carbohydrates: 64g, Protein: 5g, Fat: 15g, Saturated Fat: 3g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 8g, Monounsaturated Fat: 4g, Trans Fat: 0.1g, Cholesterol: 47mg, Sodium: 308mg, Potassium: 182mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 40g, Vitamin A: 8343IU, Vitamin C: 2mg, Calcium: 42mg, Iron: 2mg
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This was delicious. My husban, who normally doesn’t care for pumpkin, loved this.
I made 8 mini loaves and cooked it for 30 minutes. I covered it with foil for 20 minutes. They turned out perfect and tasted delicious.
Thank you for the recipe.
Easy and best pumpkin bread. I reduced the sugar by 1/4 c and greased my loaf pan without using parchment paper and it doesn’t stick.
Baked this for Thanksgiving. It did take longer (15 mins) in the oven to get done but it was definitely the best pumpkin bread I’ve ever tasted. Even my brother who never cared for pumpkin bread put in a request for me to always have this every Thanksgiving –that says a lot for the flavor. This is a keeper.
Really good! I used butter instead of oil and it came out so delicious! Thank you for the recipe
Wow! SO good! Dense and moist! Just FYI— I used olive oil instead of vegetable oil and coconut sugar instead of brown sugar. I also used organic, unbleached flour and organic cane sugar. Probably the BEST pumpkin bread I’ve ever made (and tasted)! Perfect! Thank you!
Better than Starbucks
Turned out great even though I screwed up! First time I made it I completely forgot to add the oil. Didn’t realize it until already in the oven. To my surprise it turned out perfect! Still very nice and moist. Got rave reviews from my husband and his friend. Second time I made it I purposely left out the oil. Rave reviews from friends. So I honestly don’t know what the purpose of the oil is, but I’ll continue to omit it. Only other changes I made was to use cinnamon and add raisins. I baked as three smaller loaves for about 45-50 mins. Best pumpkin bread recipe I’ve ever tried!
This is the best recipe!!! My cooking time is more like 1 1/2 hours no problem just continue to check every 10 minutes. Thanks
This was a hit! My family and friends loved it so much that I definitely need to make it at our thanksgiving dinner party celebration, it was so deliciously tasty and moist! I wouldn’t change a thing
Thank you so much for sharing!❤️
I doubled the recipe and substituted butter for the oil…. Amazing!!!
Is it a 1/2 cup for oil or melted butter? I like that I can use butter as I don’t usually have veg oil on hand!
Yes, you can use 1/2 cup melted butter instead!
This recipe turned out great, even with a few modifications. I used olive oil instead of vegetable oil, I cut the amount of white sugar in half, and I didn’t use any parchment paper. I just made sure to grease the pan well, let the loaf fully cool in the pan, then it popped right out. Delicious!
I made the recipe but as I was making it I thought “a whole can of pumpkin!?” Anyhow, I cooked it an extra 30min. And it was still undercooked. Maybe less pumpkin purée?
Hey! Could it have been the wrong sized can? I tend to buy the Libby brand and their cans come in either 15oz or 29oz.
Made this with half dark brown sugar and half regular sugar added caramel pieces yum
I live in Japan now and the Starbucks here doesn’t sell pumpkin bread. Fortunately this recipie is really easy to follow and quite tasty!!
Shout out to Miss Judie from 2021, she commented that 375, for 30 minutes worked perfectly for 5 non greased mini pans for her loaves. I used the throw away tinfoil ones, and the 30 375 combo was perfect for me too! No tinfoil on top. Thanks girl! <3
I made this one following the recipe, but I’m not a huge fan of Pumpkin Spice so I followed the optional cinnamon route. I added a dash of turmeric as well and it feels like I unlocked a secret fall baking code. Thank you for sharing this amazing recipe, super easy and quick to throw together while I was on a conference call for work. Simple instructions, and the results are just spectacular.
How much turmeric did you use?
I made muffins with this recipe using gluten free flour. I also reduced the white sugar to a half cup. No other changes were made except the amount of baking time. They came out incredibly moist, delicious & had just the right amount of sweetness.
I love pumpkin bread! Definitely will try this recipe! Thank you for sharing!
A very moist recipe. It was a hit!!
Love this recipe! Made it the first time tonight and came out beautifully except one tiny goo spot on top in the middle but I only baked it 53 minutes and I saw one commenter say 60 minutes so I think I’ll try that next time. Great texture and flavor