Pumpkin Bread

This bread pumpkin recipe is so yummy! Sweetened with honey and maple syrup, and baked into a fluffy, moist, and delicious loaf, it’s the perfect fall treat!

I know there are a million pumpkin bread recipes out there.

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 had just never made it myself.

I’ve changed that, and I’m happy to report that I’ve found the best pumpkin bread recipe. It’s so good, it’s going to be hard not to make this all year long!

CLASSIC PUMPKIN BREAD RECIPE

Not only is this moist pumpkin bread recipe delicious, it 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 a recipe has the same amount of sugar as there is flour (or more!), it’s out for me. My pumpkin bread recipe has just 1 cup of sweetener.
• 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.
• Makes your house smell like fall while it’s baking!

Yes, this better than Starbucks pumpkin bread is super yummy and made with much better ingredients!

BREAD PUMPKIN RECIPE INGREDIENTS

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

• Unsalted butter + eggs. You want softened butter for this recipe. The fat and eggs play the role of binder and help with the lift here. See the notes below if you want to make substitutions.
• Honey + maple syrup. We’re using natural sweeteners here. You can also use granulated sugar or raw sugar in the same amount, but your finished pumpkin bread will turn out sweeter than with the honey and syrup.
• Pumpkin puree. Use canned pureed pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling) or pull out some of your Homemade Pumpkin Puree for true pumpkin flavor.
• Flour. I used all-purpose einkorn, but whole wheat flour or all purpose flour will work here.
• Salt + baking soda + baking powder. Leaveners to help your pumpkin bread rise.
• Ground cinnamon + ground nutmeg + ground cloves. These spices are what give you that delicious fall flavor! You can also substitute an equal amount of Pumpkin Pie Spice if you have some on hand.

FLOUR FOR RECIPE OF PUMPKIN BREAD

I included all-purpose einkorn flour in the recipe instructions below, but I’ve made this recipe of pumpkin bread 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 these einkorn berries on Amazon because they have the best price!
• If you shop at Vitacost, Einkorn berries are still reasonably priced. (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 (Click here to see the Exclusive Offer for Crumbs readers!) or this 3-pack on Amazon.
• Jovial Foods offers einkorn flour in both whole wheat and all-purpose. 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. Plus, get free shipping on orders over $99. You can also find Jovial Foods Einkorn Flour on Amazon.

CAN I SUBSTITUTE THE BUTTER AND EGGS IN PUMPKIN BREAD?

Fat and eggs play the role of binder and lifting agent in this easy 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 for a dairy free pumpkin bread without any issue.

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 quick bread recipe UNLESS you are okay with the lift of the pumpkin bread not being as great. If that’s fine with you, try flaxseed or applesauce here.

HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE PUMPKIN BREAD

Step 1. Preheat the oven to 325F. Grease and flour two 8″ x 4″ loaf pans OR line with parchment paper.

Step 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. Alternatively, you can use a hand mixer or cream the butter and whisk the wet ingredients by hand in a large bowl.

Step 3. Add the remaining dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and mix just until you can’t see any dry pieces of flour. The batter will be very thick.

Step 4. Pour the batter evenly between the two 8-inch loaf pans.

Step 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.

Step 6. Set the pumpkin bread on a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.

Store pumpkin bread in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or freeze it for up to 3 months. Slicing it before freezing makes it easy to grab out just what you need. See all my tips for freezing baked goods in my guide here.

CLASSIC RECIPE PUMPKIN LOAF PAN 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 recipe pumpkin 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 ⅔ 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 20-23 minutes in the oven) or mini loaf pans (30-35 minutes).

PUMPKIN BREAF FAQS

MORE YUMMY MUFFINS AND QUICK BREAD RECIPES

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