Pumpkin Bread Recipe (2024)

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Warm your kitchen with the aroma of pumpkin spice by baking this healthy pumpkin bread, ideal for cool, cozy fall days.

Pumpkin Bread Recipe (1)

Pumpkin Bread

This healthy pumpkin bread recipe is to make, made with homemade or canned pumpkin, topped with pepitas. So good!. Oh how I just love October, and all things cozy, warm and pumpkin! If you want to go all out, top it with some Pumpkin Spiced Cream Cheese!If you have bananas, try this Pumpkin Banana Breadand if you prefer muffins, give these Pumpkin Nut Muffins a try!

Pumpkin Bread Recipe (2)

Why This Pumpkin Bread Works

  • Lighter – Most recipes use a ton of butter or oil, this recipe uses just a touch of oil.
  • Easy – No fancy tools needed, just a hand mixer and a loaf pan.
  • Cheaper than Starbucks! This whole bread will cost you about the same as buying a slice from the popular coffee chain. And I’m always looking for ways to save money.
  • Make Ahead: Make it ahead for the week for the kids, and refrigerate or freeze it.

Ingredients

  • Pumpkin Puree: Homemade or canned pumpkin puree will work.
  • Flour: You’ll need unbleached all-purpose flour.
  • Baking Soda helps the bread rise.
  • Spices: Pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, nutmeg
  • Salt balances the sweetness and improves the texture.
  • Oil: I used vegetable oil, but use whatever oil you have.
  • Egg: You’ll need the egg whites from two large eggs.
  • Vanilla Extract for flavor
  • Pepitas: Sprinkle pepitas on top of the loaf.

How to Make Pumpkin Bread

  • Prep: Preheat the oven to 350°F and spray a 9-x-5-inch loaf pan with baking spray.
  • Dry Ingredients: Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda, pumpkin spice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a medium bowl.
  • Wet Ingredients: Beat the oil, egg whites, pumpkin puree, and vanilla in a large bowl at medium speed until thick. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
  • Combine: Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and blend at low speed, ensuring you don’t over-mix.
  • Bake: Pour the batter into the pan, top with pepitas, and bake on the center rack for 50 to 55 minutes. Check that it’s ready by inserting a toothpick in the center of the loaf.
  • Serving: Let the pumpkin bread cool for at least 20 minutes before slicing.

Variations

  • What can I use instead of pumpkin puree in bread? If you can’t find canned pumpkin,make homemade pumpkin puree or you can even use pureed butternut squash.
  • Nuts: If you don’t have pepitas, omit them or substitute walnuts or pecans.
  • Spices: If you’re out of pumpkin pie spice but have the individual spices (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice), use them instead. I’d try ¾ tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp ginger, ¼ tsp nutmeg, ¼ tsp cloves, and ¼ tsp allspice to get two teaspoons.
  • Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread: Mix ¾ cups of semisweet chocolate chips into the batter and omit pepitas.
  • Pumpkin Muffins: Pour the batter into a muffin and bake for 22 to 30 minutes at 350°F. Check that they’re done with a toothpick.

How to Serve Pumpkin Bread

This moist bread is perfect to enjoy any time of day. It’s delicious toasted with somepumpkin butterforbreakfastor as a snack ordessertwith pumpkin cream cheese. For even more pumpkin flavor, pair it withapumpkin-spiced latte. Mmm!

FAQS

Does pumpkin bread have any health benefits?

My recipe has only 103 calories and 19 grams of carbohydrates per slice. Plus, each serving contains a little protein and fiber. Pumpkin is an excellent source of vitamins A and C, and since it’s low in calories, it gives the bread moisture without adding saturated fat. Of course, all things in moderation.

Why did my pumpkin bread come out gummy?

  1. Measure Precisely: A can of pumpkin has a little less than two cups of pumpkin, so don’t just throw the whole can into the batter. The bread could be gummy if you add too much or incorrectly measure the flour.
  2. Bake Longer: If your bread is gummy in the middle, you may need to bake it longer. Double check that it’s ready by using a toothpick inserted in the center.

Should I refrigerate pumpkin bread?

This easy pumpkin bread recipe is great for breakfast all week. It can stay at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 2 days and then be refrigerated for the rest of the week.

Does homemade pumpkin bread freeze well?

If you want to freeze bread, slice it, wrap it in foil or plastic wrap, and store the pieces in a zip-locked bag in the freezer for up to three months. To eat, thaw it in the fridge or microwave straight from frozen until warm.

Pumpkin Bread Recipe (3)
Pumpkin Bread Recipe (4)
Pumpkin Bread Recipe (5)
Pumpkin Bread Recipe (6)

More Pumpkin Recipes you will love:

  • Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
  • Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
  • No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake
  • Pumpkin Roll Cake
  • Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal Cups

Pumpkin Bread Recipe (7)

Pumpkin Bread Recipe

4.91 from 44 votes

5

Cals:103

Protein:2.1

Carbs:18.7

Fat:2.2

Warm up your kitchen with the scent of pumpkin spice and bake this pumpkin bread recipe, perfect for cozy, cool fall days.

Course: Breakfast, Brunch

Cuisine: American

Pumpkin Bread Recipe (8)

Prep: 25 minutes mins

Cook: 50 minutes mins

Total: 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Print Rate Pin SaveWW Points

Yield: 16 servings

Serving Size: 1 /2 inch thick slice

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree, homemade pumpkin puree or canned
  • 1 1/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice, or more to taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, or coconut oil
  • 2 large egg whites
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • baking spray
  • 2 tablespoons pepitas

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan with baking spray.

  • Dry Ingredients: In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, pumpkin spice, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt with a wire whisk. Set aside.

  • Wet Ingredients: In a large bowl mix oil, egg whites, pumpkin puree and vanilla; beat at medium speed until thick. Scrape down sides of the bowl.

  • Add flour mixture (dry ingredients), then blend at low speed until just combined. Do not over mix.

  • Pour batter into loaf pan, top with pepitas and bake on the center rack for 50-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

  • Let the pan cool at least 20 minutes, bread should be room temperature before slicing.

Last Step:

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Nutrition

Serving: 1 /2 inch thick slice, Calories: 103 kcal, Carbohydrates: 18.7 g, Protein: 2.1 g, Fat: 2.2 g, Saturated Fat: 0.3 g, Sodium: 280.5 mg, Fiber: 0.7 g, Sugar: 10.2 g

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Categories:

  • Baked Breads and Cakes
  • Breakfast and Brunch
  • Budget Friendly Meals
  • Dairy Free
  • Fall
  • Pumpkin Recipes
  • Recipes
  • Vegetarian Meals
  • Weight Watchers – WW Recipes
Pumpkin Bread Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What happens if you put too much pumpkin in pumpkin bread? ›

You might think you could overcome the lack of flavor by adding more pumpkin purée to your recipe, but you'd be mistaken: By the time you've added enough purée to taste it, your baked good would have a soggy texture on account of all that moisture.

How do you know when pumpkin bread is done baking? ›

Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean, 65 to 70 minutes. If the toothpick tester comes out with crumbs or wet batter, continue cooking in 5-to-10-minute increments, testing the bread until the toothpick comes out clean.

Why does my pumpkin bread have no flavor? ›

Why does my pumpkin bread taste bland? Make sure to follow the recipe exactly. That means—don't leave out the salt, don't cut the amount of sugar, and use the specified amount of cinnamon.

How do you score pumpkin bread? ›

Sourdough bread is usually scored using a lame, a tool that safely holds a sharp razor blade at the end. If you don't have a lame, use a sharp paring knife. You can dust your loaf with flour to make your designs stand out even more. As the loaf bakes and expands, it will take on the shape of a pumpkin.

What happens if you use too much baking soda in pumpkin bread? ›

It's important not to use too much baking soda in recipes, as it can result in a metallic, soapy flavor. It is much more powerful than baking powder – you only need about 1/4 teaspoon baking soda per cup of flour to leaven baked goods.

What are the side effects of too much pumpkin? ›

When taken by mouth: Pumpkin is likely safe when eaten in foods. It is possibly safe to take pumpkin seed or pumpkin seed oil in medicinal amounts. Side effects from pumpkin products are rare, but might include stomach discomfort, diarrhea, and nausea.

Why did my pumpkin bread come out gummy? ›

If your pumpkin spice bread is gummy or undercooked in the center, it's typically because it either 1) needed more time to bake in the oven or 2) the batter was too wet, which led the bread to collapse in on itself a bit (this happens if you measure ingredients by volume, rather than by weight: it's easy to ...

What happens if you forgot the salt in pumpkin bread? ›

Long, slow fermentation allows the dough to reach its maximum flavor potential. If you forgot the salt, your dough will rise too quickly, and your bread will taste bland.

Why is my pumpkin bread so heavy? ›

Pumpkin bread can become dense if there is not enough hydration or wet ingredients in the recipe. Another cause is overcooking the bread which can cause it to dry out. Remember, it's always easy to keep cooking if it isn't done but impossible to take cooking time back.

What do you wrap pumpkin bread in? ›

Plastic wrap will make especially moist quick breads (pumpkin, banana) gummy, while aluminum foil tends to crinkle and looks a little too pulled-from-the-freezer. Waxed paper or parchment is the way to go here. Waxed paper balances form and function -- it's the designer sofa of kitchen wraps, if you will.

Why does my pumpkin bread crack? ›

The thick, rough crack is a sure sign of insufficient steam. The crust wasn't moist enough to be flexible, so it hardened and set before the loaf was done expanding. Another possible reason is that your baking temperature was too high, resulting in the same effect.

Why did my pumpkin bread collapse? ›

The natural response to seeing a sunken-in loaf come out of the oven is to assume you didn't fill the pan enough. But actually, the opposite is true: You probably filled it too much. According to Fine Cooking, this is the most common reason why quick breads (like pumpkin bread) collapse while baking.

Why did my pumpkin bread turn out dense? ›

Pumpkin bread can become dense if there is not enough hydration or wet ingredients in the recipe. Another cause is overcooking the bread which can cause it to dry out. Remember, it's always easy to keep cooking if it isn't done but impossible to take cooking time back.

Why did my pumpkin bread come out dry? ›

Experienced bakers such as The Baking ChocolaTess have tackled the problem of dry bread, finding the main sources and some creative tricks to reverse the issue. One common problem is having an incorrect ratio of wet to dry ingredients. This can be easily adjusted by increasing the liquid or decreasing flour.

How to tone down pumpkin spice? ›

Just use cinnamon, nutmeg and a little ginger. If you like cardamom, you can add a little of that, instead of ginger, but don't overdo it, because cardamom also has a strong flavor.

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