Pumpkin Bread – A Stunning Mess

This easy pumpkin bread recipe has it all! A soft crumb interior, slightly crispy edges and lots of pumpkin spice flavor. With less than 10 ingredients, this pumpkin bread is a baking project must this season. If you like banana bread and fall vibes, you MUST make this recipe.

I use pumpkin pie spice in this quick bread recipe, but if you don’t have that simply click on that recipe to see all the ingredients that go into it. Spoiler: It’s a lot of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves and allspice—basically exactly how I want my house to smell in autumn. And that’s a bonus of this pumpkin bread; it smells SO good while it bakes. And the taste is out of this world.

Related: Next up, try our Pumpkin Cookies, Pumpkin Muffins, Pumpkin Pasties, or our classic Pumpkin Cheesecake.

Ingredients

• Butter
• Brown sugar
• Eggs
• Vanilla extract
• Pumpkin puree
• All-purpose flour
• Baking soda
• Salt
• Pumpkin pie spice

Make sure you grab a can of pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie mix. Pumpkin puree typically only has one ingredient: pumpkin. I also like to add turbinado sugar, sometimes called sugar in the raw, to the top of this bread before baking. It just adds a little crunch and feels more like a bakery—but it’s optional!

How to make the Best Pumpkin Bread Recipe

In a large bowl, cream together the softened butter and brown sugar. Then stir in the eggs and vanilla extract. Then stir in the pumpkin.

In a smaller mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt and pumpkin pie spice, which adds so much pumpkin flavor. Whisk to combine. Then add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir to form the pumpkin bread batter.

Spray a standard size loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray, or line with parchment paper. Add the batter and top with turbinado sugar, if using. Bake in the oven at 325°F for 50 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean; meaning without any gooey batter. Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes before trying to remove.

I love this pumpkin bread recipe warm with a little butter. You can store leftovers in an airtight container or plastic wrap for at least 3 days. If you want to refrigerate the leftover bread, it will likely last a little longer. You can also freeze this pumpkin bread. Warm in the microwave for 30 seconds to reheat it.

Tips for Making

• I always crack eggs into a small bowl before adding to any recipe. If I get a piece of egg shell in the mix, I can easily fish it out with half of the remaining egg shell. This is much harder to do if you’ve already added the egg(s) to a batter.
• If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, you can substitute with 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon ginger, 1/4 teaspoon cloves and 1/4 teaspoon allspice.
• I really love Pam nonstick baking spray made with flour, and it’s also called “perfect release.” I think this product works so well for baking pans.
• If you want to add up to 2/3 a cup of chocolate chips to this pumpkin bread, feel free! Other great additions include chopped pecans or walnuts.

More Pumpkin Recipes