Two Loaf Southern Pumpkin Bread

Pumpkin bread is how I start the fall and holiday baking season around here. Not pie, not cookies. Pumpkin bread. The first loaf usually comes out of the oven before the weather has fully committed to fall, and once it does, the season is officially open at our house.

This is the recipe I keep coming back to, and it is Lane’s favorite. It makes two loaves, which is the right number. One gets eaten warm with too much butter on it. The other goes to a neighbor, or into the freezer, or gets sliced for the week. Below the recipe I have put everything I have learned making it over and over, including how to double it to four loaves and what actually goes wrong when it goes wrong.

Why this recipe works

The short version: this is an oil-based quick bread, not a butter cake. Oil stays liquid at room temperature, so the crumb stays moist for days instead of firming up overnight the way a butter loaf does. Pumpkin puree adds more moisture and a little structure of its own. There is no creaming step and no mixer gymnastics required, so it is nearly impossible to overwork. Wet into dry, stir until it disappears, pour, bake.

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A few notes on the ingredients

Pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling. This is the single most common mistake and it will ruin the loaf. Pie filling is already sweetened and spiced, so if you use it you get a cloying, oddly seasoned bread. The can you want says one hundred percent pumpkin and nothing else.

Buy the puree or make it, either one. You can absolutely roast a pie pumpkin and blend it down yourself, and it is lovely when you do. Most of the time I just open a can, because it is easier and the bread is every bit as good. Do not let anybody make you feel like canned is cheating. If you do make your own, drain it first. Homemade puree carries far more water than canned, and wet puree gives you a gummy center.

Oil, not melted butter. People substitute butter thinking it will taste richer. It tastes fine on day one and dry on day two. Use a neutral vegetable or canola oil. If you want the butter flavor, put it on the slice instead, or make the brown butter glaze version linked at the bottom.

Measure flour by spooning, not scooping. Dragging your cup through the bag packs in a lot of extra flour, and extra flour is the main reason a quick bread comes out dry and tight. Spoon it in and level it off. If you bake by weight, one cup of all purpose is about one hundred twenty grams.

The spices are a starting point. Cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger is the classic four. I go heavier on cinnamon than most recipes and I do not skip the cloves, because cloves are what make it taste like fall rather than like a sweet bread with cinnamon in it. If you keep pumpkin pie spice in the cabinet you can swap it one for one for the total.

Room temperature eggs blend in faster, which means less stirring, which means a more tender loaf. If you forgot to set them out, put them in a bowl of warm water for five minutes.

A note on flour. I mill a lot of my own flour, but not for this one. This recipe is built for all purpose. Fresh milled whole grain drinks up more liquid and will give you a denser, heavier loaf unless you adjust for it.

The mixer I use for this

I make this in my Bosch Universal Plus from NutriMill. For a single batch you do not need a mixer at all, and a bowl and a sturdy spoon will do it. But once I am doubling the recipe I am working with close to eight quarts of batter, and that is where a machine with a real bowl earns its place in the kitchen. It is the same mixer I use all the way through holiday baking.

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How to tell when it is actually done

Pumpkin bread is dark and moist, which makes it hard to read by color, and the usual advice to bake until a toothpick comes out clean will overbake it. Here is what I go by.

• The toothpick should come out with a few moist crumbs, not wet batter and not bone dry. Bone dry means you are already past it.
• The top should spring back when you press the center lightly with a finger.
• The crack down the middle should look set, not glossy and raw.
• If you use a thermometer, the center reads about two hundred degrees.
• Start checking at fifty minutes even if the recipe says longer. Ovens lie, and dark pans run faster than light ones.

If the top is browning hard before the middle is set, tent it loosely with foil and keep going. That is an oven running hot, not a problem with the batter.

Cooling, storing and freezing

Let the loaves sit in the pan about ten minutes, then turn them out onto a rack. Leaving them in the pan any longer steams the sides and softens the crust you just worked for.

Cool completely before you wrap anything. This is the rule people break and then wonder why the crust went gummy. Warm bread sweats inside plastic. Wait until it is room temperature all the way through.

On the counter, wrapped, it keeps about four days and gets better on day two once the spices settle. In the refrigerator it keeps a week but dries faster, so I skip that. In the freezer, wrapped in plastic and then foil, it keeps three months and thaws on the counter overnight with no loss at all. I slice before freezing when I want to pull out one piece at a time.

Ways to change it up

• Pecans or walnuts, about a cup, toasted first. Toasting is not optional if you want them to taste like anything.
• Chocolate chips, which is how the grandkids prefer it.
• A cream cheese swirl. Beat eight ounces of cream cheese with a third cup of sugar and one egg, layer half the batter, spoon the cream cheese over, top with the rest and drag a knife through it.
• Streusel on top. Equal parts flour, brown sugar and cold butter rubbed together, with a little cinnamon.
• Muffins instead. Same batter, fill two thirds full, check at eighteen to twenty two minutes.
• Minis for giving away. Check at thirty five minutes.

When it does not come out right

The middle sank

Usually underbaked, sometimes too much leavening. A loaf pulled five minutes early looks fine on the rack and collapses as it cools. Give it the toothpick test in the very center, not off to the side where it sets first.

It is gummy in the middle

Too much moisture. This is almost always homemade puree that was not drained, or batter that sat while the oven finished preheating. Get it in the oven as soon as it is mixed.

It came out dry

Too much flour, or too long in the oven, or both. Spoon and level your flour, and start checking early.

It is tough and rubbery

Overmixed. Once the flour goes in, stir only until you cannot see dry streaks. A few lumps are fine and will bake out. Beating this batter smooth develops gluten and you get bread texture instead of cake texture.

It overflowed the pan

Filled too full. Two thirds is the line. Any extra batter makes a few muffins.

The top cracked

That is not a problem. Quick breads are supposed to crack down the middle. The outside sets before the inside finishes rising and it splits. It means you did it right.

One loaf, two loaves, or four

This recipe uses a whole fifteen ounce can and makes two loaves, so there’s nothing left over. Halve it for a single loaf and you’ll have half a can sitting there. Double it for four loaves and you’ll use two full cans.

And if you roast your own pumpkin, you’ll end up with a lot more puree than this takes. It freezes well in half cup portions, which is the right size for pancakes, oatmeal, a smoothie, or a pot of chili where it thickens things beautifully and nobody can identify it.

What does not go in the freezer goes to the birds. My hens get the scraped out shells and the seeds, which they treat like a holiday. Pumpkin is a fine treat for a flock, and if you keep chickens near your garden the way I do, this is one of the easiest ways to close that loop. There is more on that in my post on chickens, ducks and geese in the garden, and anything the birds do not finish goes on the compost pile.

Making a Double Batch: Four Loaves at Once

Some weeks two loaves is not enough. When I am baking for a gathering, or filling the freezer, or handing loaves out to neighbors, I double the whole thing and bake four at a time. Here is the math already done for you.

• 2 cans (15 oz each) pumpkin puree
• 8 eggs
• 2 cups vegetable oil
• 1⅓ cups water
• 6 cups white sugar
• 7 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• Optional: 2 cups chopped pecans

What actually changes when you double it

You need a bigger bowl than you think. This is close to eight quarts of batter. A stand mixer with a large bowl earns its keep here. If you are mixing by hand, use your biggest stockpot rather than a mixing bowl, and stir from the bottom so the flour does not hide underneath.

Four pans rarely fit on one rack. Use two racks in the upper and lower thirds, and swap the pans top to bottom and front to back halfway through. Add five to ten minutes to the bake time, and start checking at 55 minutes.

Fill each pan about two thirds full. Any fuller and it domes and cracks, or runs over the side. If you have batter left, a few muffins will use it up.

For giving away, bake minis instead. A double batch fills eight to ten mini loaf pans. Same oven temperature, but check them at 35 minutes. They are easier to hand out and they freeze beautifully.

Cool completely before you wrap anything. Warm bread sweats inside plastic and the crust turns gummy. Let them sit on the rack until they are room temperature all the way through, then wrap in plastic, then foil. They keep three months in the freezer and thaw on the counter overnight.

Questions people ask about pumpkin bread

Can I use pumpkin pie filling instead of pumpkin puree?

No. Pie filling is already sweetened and spiced and will throw the whole recipe off. Look for the can that says one hundred percent pumpkin with nothing else in it.

Can I use fresh pumpkin instead of canned?

Yes, but drain it. Roast a pie pumpkin, blend it, then let it sit in a fine strainer or cheesecloth until it stops dripping. Fresh puree holds a lot more water than canned, and undrained it gives you a gummy loaf. Carving pumpkins are stringy and watery, so use a pie pumpkin if you can.

Why is my pumpkin bread gummy in the middle?

Too much moisture or not enough time. Undrained homemade puree is the usual culprit. The second most common cause is pulling it out when the toothpick looked close enough.

How long does pumpkin bread last?

About four days wrapped on the counter, a week in the refrigerator though it dries out faster there, and three months in the freezer wrapped in plastic and then foil.

Can you freeze pumpkin bread?

Yes, and it freezes better than most quick breads. Cool it completely, wrap in plastic, then foil. Thaw on the counter overnight. Slice before freezing if you want to pull out one piece at a time.

Can I cut down the sugar?

You can take out about a quarter of it without hurting the texture. Beyond that you start losing moisture and browning, because sugar does more than sweeten in a quick bread.

Can I make this dairy free?

It already is. There is no milk or butter in the base recipe, only oil. Check your add-ins if you are adding chocolate.

How do I double it to four loaves?

The doubled measurements and everything that changes when you scale it up are in the section below.

Do I need a mixer for this?

Not for two loaves. A bowl and a spoon are plenty, and you actually want to undermix this batter. For a double batch I use my Bosch, because eight quarts of batter is more than a mixing bowl wants to hold.

More fall baking from our kitchen

Once you have baked a few loaves, try the version with brown butter glaze and pecans. Or skip the oven entirely and make pumpkin crunch cake in the crockpot.