THE BEST PUMPKIN BREAD EVER

Hey everyone, I still have pumpkins on my brain still so I thought I should share my favorite pumpkin bread recipe.  I’ve been making this recipe for what seems like forever.  My kids were raised on this bread and they’re always asking me to make it.  I can’t remember where I found the original recipe.  I started making it 18 years ago right after I married Brian, it’s probably from an old church cookbook or the newspaper.  Honestly, I’ve changed so much of this recipe over the years I think I can call it my own.

It’s an easy recipe and it makes 3 loaves of pumpkin bread!  It’s very flavorful and I love it that way because to me there is nothing worse than pumpkin bread that’s just sweet and bland with a hint of cinnamon.  No!  I want to taste all the yummy pumpkin spices!

This pumpkin bread is so good it’s certainly worthy of serving for Thanksgiving if you don’t feel like making a pie, just add whipped cream!  It goes fabulously with coffee for breakfast, it freezes incredibly well, and it makes a great gift (just wrap it up and add a pretty bow).

To start, take a large mixing bowl and a medium mixing bowl.  Add all your dry ingredients to the large bowl and whisk until they’re blended.     Using a whisk to blend dry ingredients is great because it removes any lumps in the flour or sugar.  Next, in the medium sized bowl mix all the wet ingredients and whisk until smooth.

Then simply add the wet ingredients into the dry bowl.  I like to make a center hole in the dry ingredients to pour the wet mixture in.  This has always helped me blend things easier and helps dry ingredients to not stick to the bottom of the bowl.  I do this when making pancakes too.

Once the wet and dry ingredients are blended together I add the batter to 3 greased bread pans.  I use these bread pans.  You can also use 2 larger sized bread pans if that’s what you have, you’ll need to increase the cooking time just a bit though.  Wow, these bread pans sure have some miles on them, I’ve had them 10 years!

I like to place my 3 bread pans on a larger rimmed baking sheet to make the oven transfer easier.  This is optional.  I usually bake at 350 around 1 hour.  All ovens are different, I have a double oven and the bottom one cooks faster.  The first time you make this keep an eye on it, set the timer for 50 minutes.  Like I tell my girls, you can always add baking time but you can’t take it away!  I ended up baking mine exactly 55 minutes.  Previous ovens I’ve cooked a full hour.

If you’re making 2 larger bread pans watch them and increase maybe about 5-10 minutes if needed.

You’ll know the bread is done when you’re able to push on the top and it springs back up.  If it dents increase bake time a little, maybe 5 minutes or so.  You can also try the knife in the center trick.  If the top cracks that’s ok, we call that pumpkin bread character!  Quick breads are known to crack on top, and most of the time mine do.

I like the taste of this pumpkin bread warm from the oven but I also think it tastes better the next day.  It’s like Italian food, I think the flavors deepen.  Or maybe I just crave it more the second day…who knows.

To store I usually wrap in saran wrap or in a large gallon size zip lock bag (I can fit 2 loaves in those) and I store on the counter.  If I know we won’t be able to eat them within a few days I’ll throw a loaf or 2 into the freezer.  I just thaw at room temperature.  I like to bring out a frozen loaf to thaw out overnight for breakfast.

Print Recipe

The Best Pumpkin Bread Ever

Servings: 3 loaves

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients:

• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 3 cups sugar
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ginger
• 1 tbs cinnamon
• 2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp salt

Wet Ingredients:

• 1 (15 oz) can of pumpkin
• 2/3 cups vegetable oil
• 3/4 cups water
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°.
• Add all the dry ingredients into a large bowl, using a whisk mix well.  
• In a separate medium size bowl whisk together all wet ingredients.  
• In the large dry ingredient bowl make a center hole and pour in the wet ingredients, stir until combined.
• Spray 3 5×9 metal bread pans with cooking spray.  Spread mixture evenly among the bread pans and bake 50-60 minutes.  
• Cool 10 minutes on a wire rack, then remove from pan. 

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