Anybody have a good pumpkin bread recipe?

I make this pumpkin bread every fall, at least twice. It makes two loaves, so if you aren’t going to eat that much of it you can freeze the second loaf. For muffins, just use a shorter cooking time.

* 3½ cups all-purpose flour
* 2 teaspoons baking soda
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1½ cups white sugar
* 1½ cups brown sugar
* ½ cup vegetable oil
* ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
* 4 eggs
* 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
* 2 tsp vanilla extract
* ½ cup water

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease two 9×5 inch loaf pans. Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, beat together sugars, oil, applesauce, eggs, vanilla, and pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture alternately with water. Divide batter evenly between the prepared pans.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 60 to 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. For best flavor, store wrapped in plastic wrap at room temperature for a full day before serving.

I originally found this recipe online, but tweaked it a bit. I’ve found that quick breads in general taste richer if you substitute half of the white sugar with brown. This recipe called for an entire cup of oil, but applesauce is a much healthier substitute and adds a lot of moistness. I also upped the spices by a teaspoon and added the vanilla. Sometimes I buy sugar pumpkins, cook them, puree them, and use that instead of canned pumpkin.

As with any recipe, feel free to adjust it to your preferences! Happy baking!

@MissAusten: Thanks! I don’t have (or want to use) pumpkin pie spice mix, but I have cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, etc. What spice flavors are in the pumpkin pie spice?

It’s cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice. I make my own pumpkin pie spice with the following proportions:
4 tablespoons cinnamon
4 teaspoons nutmeg
4 teaspoons ginger
3 teaspoons allspice

I’ve always been happy with that combination. I keep it in a small airtight container and use it in this bread, pumpkin pie, and homemade applesauce.

Many moons ago my mom and I went to the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival in Half Moon Bay California. We got a pumpkin recipe book and i don’t offhand have the recipe my mom uses, but the book did have all kinds of variations, and one non-traditional variation that i remember was very good was to put chocolate chips in the pumpkin bread. Try it, it’s good.

I use the one from Joy of Cooking.

I always use my mom’s pumpkin bread recipe, which is really easy and absolutely delicious. I love the little bit of extra flavor that the orange rind and OJ give it – so tasty! Here it is:

1¾ cups flour
½ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. ground cloves
¾ tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. ground nutmeg
¾ tsp. ground allspice
1 tsp. grated orange rind

1 cup sugar
2 eggs
½ cup vegetable oil

1 cup cooked, mashed pumpkin (canned, or you can make your own)
¼ cup orange juice

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour one 9×5 loaf pan.

Mix dry ingredients together. Beat sugar, oil and eggs until light and fluffy. Gradually add pumpkin and dry ingredients alternately with orange juice. Continue mixing until thoroughly blended.

Pour batter into loaf pan and bake for 65–75 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from pan and cool on rack.

Ooh I saw this thread and now I’m dying to make some pumpkin bread. I just have to decide whose recipe to use ><

Well, I know next time I make my pumpkin bread recipe, I’m going to use orange juice instead of water! Thanks for the idea, @sdeutsch !

@MissAusten My mom is the pumpkin bread genius – I just follow in her footsteps!

I just pulled two loaves out of the oven. :) It smells and looks fantastic. Used the orange juice instead of water, and can’t wait to have it for breakfast! My kids are going to be so happy to wake up to pumpkin bread!

@MissAusten Excellent – I’m glad it came out so well! I just finished eating two slices for breakfast – they’re especially good if you heat them up (microwave and toaster oven both work well) and put a little cream cheese on them…

@sdeutsch I made pumpkin bread with the recipe you gave and it was delicious! Lurve and thanks!

@JONESGH Hooray! I’m so glad you liked it!