Classic Pumpkin Bread

This healthy pumpkin bread recipe is the best! Use canned pumpkin or homemade, or add chocolate chips. It’s vegan-friendly, too! My kids like it even better than Starbucks! Pairs perfectly with my homemade cinnamon dolce latte!

I know there are a million pumpkin bread recipes out there. Just like there are a million banana bread recipes (of which I have several variations… banana bread muffins and banana chocolate chip muffins and banana nut muffins with crumb topping).

But would you believe that I’ve never made pumpkin bread until recent years?!

Don’t get me wrong – I love everything pumpkin. From pumpkin Larabar bites to homemade pumpkin spice creamer to pumpkin swirl black bean brownies to pumpkin chili to pumpkin cookies with cream cheese frosting to pumpkin donuts… really, I don’t think I could ever eat enough pumpkin.

And I’ve eaten pumpkin bread in the past. I’ve just never made it MYSELF.

That trend has officially changed my friend because this classic pumpkin bread recipe is so good, it’s going to be hard not to make this all year long!

Classic Pumpkin Bread Recipe

Not only is this recipe moist and delicious, its also:

• Doesn’t rely on anything processed or pre-packed. That means no boxes of cake mix or anything whose directions say “just add water.”
• Doesn’t have a lot of sugar. If there’s the same amount of sugar as there is flour (or more!), it’s out.
• Can be made using honey or maple syrup INSTEAD OF sugar.
• Can be made using whole grains without taking the fun out of making and eating this pumpkin bread recipe.

What are the ingredients in pumpkin bread?

As I mentioned earlier, there are a million pumpkin bread recipes out there, and really truly, they all boil down to a few basic ingredients:

• Unsalted butter
• Honey
• Maple syrup
• Eggs
• Pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
• Flour (I used all-purpose einkorn)
• Salt
• Baking soda
• Baking powder
• Ground cinnamon
• Ground nutmeg
• Ground cloves

What type of flour should I use in pumpkin bread?

I included all-purpose einkorn in the recipe below, but I’ve made it with 100% whole grain einkorn as well as a 50/50 mix of whole-grain einkorn and all-purpose einkorn. All three variations were delicious and got two thumbs up from the kids.

The only difference we saw was the rise. Using all-purpose einkorn gave the greatest “lift” of the batches, and it’s simply because the weight of the bran and germ aren’t there. Feel free to use whole grain or whatever flour you have on hand.

Not sure where to buy Einkorn flour?

• I buy whole einkorn berries from Young Living because they have the cheapest price!
• The second best price is these einkorn berries on Amazon.
• If you shop at Vitacost, einkorn berries are still a reasonable price. (Save 20% when you sign up for their newsletter!)
• If you don’t have a grain mill to grind your own flour, you can buy whole wheat einkorn flour. You can find it at Thrive Market (Crumbs readers get 25% off + Free 30-day trial membership!) or this 3-pack on Amazon.
• Here’s the all-purpose Einkorn flour I use. You can find it on Amazon. You can also find it directly from Jovial Farms HERE and you can save 10% off all items in the store with exclusions on special promotional items such as cookbooks and new harvest oil when you use coupon code DWCRUMBS. Also, there’s free shipping over $99.

Can I substitute the butter and eggs in pumpkin bread?

Fat and eggs play the role of binder and lifting agent in this classic pumpkin bread recipe.

As fat bakes, it creates air bubbles that make the bread rise. My recipe uses butter, but you could probably use coconut oil without any issue. (I haven’t tested that myself, so if you do, please let us know how it goes in the comments section!)

There are times when you can skip the eggs and use one of these awesome egg substitutions instead, but I wouldn’t recommend that for this recipe UNLESS you are okay with the lift of the pumpkin bread not being as great.

As I mentioned, the eggs are both binding and lifting, so if you substitute the eggs for flaxseed or for applesauce or banana or whatnot, you won’t get as nice of a lift.

Should I use canned or fresh pumpkin in pumpkin bread?

I used canned pumpkin in this recipe simply for convenience… and because I didn’t have any homemade pumpkin puree on hand! Feel free to use whichever you have – canned or homemade – but make sure it’s just pumpkin, not the pumpkin pie mix.

How do I Sweeten Pumpkin Bread?

I was able to get my way on both of the sweetener accounts in this recipe – there’s just 1 cup of sweetener for the whole batch AND I used a combination of honey and maple syrup.

If you want to use granulated sugar – whether it’s white or raw sugar – you can use the same 1 cup and get delicious results. White sugar will taste sweeter than raw sugar, and raw sugar will be sweeter than the honey/maple syrup combination.

You can also do a mix/match of granulated sugar and liquid sweetener, if you want to dabble in baking with natural sweeteners but aren’t quite ready to jump in with two feet.

How do you make pumpkin bread from scratch?

1. Grease and flour two 8″ x 4″ loaf pans OR line with parchment paper.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter with the paddle attachment. Add honey, maple syrup, eggs, and pumpkin and mix until everything is combined well.
3. Add the remaining ingredients and mix.
4. Pour the batter evenly between the two loaf pans.
5. Bake for 55-75 minutes (mine took 65 minutes), or until a butter knife or toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool.

Classic Pumpkin Bread Recipe Baking Tips

This recipe as written makes two 8” x 4” loaves. Also known as a small loaf pan or a one-pound loaf pan, it’s important to pay attention to the size of your loaf pans.

Most pans have the size of them somewhere on the pan, either underneath or on the ends. If your loaf pan is a 9” x 5” (a.k.a. “medium” and a very common size) or 10” x 5” (a.k.a. “large” and also very common), then you won’t be able to get two full-size loaves.

• If you have two 8” x 4” loaf pans (I recommend these), then you’re set.
• If you have a 9” x 5” loaf pan, you’ll have enough batter for one full loaf plus one mini loaf, or two muffins.
• If you have a 10” x 5” loaf pan, you’ll have enough batter for one full loaf.

For two 8”x 4” pans, you simply split the batter evenly between the pans. For any other loaf pan, fill it 2/3 full and adjust the baking time. You’ll insert a butter knife to test for doneness – when it comes out clean, the bread is done. The extra batter can go towards muffins (roughly 15-20 minutes in the oven) or mini-loaves (30-35 minutes).

More Healthy Baked Goods

• Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins
• Spiced Carrot Bread
• The Best Caramelized Banana Bread
• 5 Ingredient Banana Bread Muffins

What is your go-to quick bread recipe? Have you made pumpkin bread before?