This is an easy, classic, super moist pumpkin bread recipe made with olive oil, pumpkin, and cinnamon, and topped with crunchy turbinado sugar.
Super Moist Pumpkin Bread
Featured comment
Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe! I followed the recipe to the letter and it was perfect:)
Lisa S.
This uncomplicated, EXTRA moist, sugared pumpkin bread is straight up classy.
Classy, among other things. Like barely sweet, perfectly moist, and if you so choose, a perfect canvas for melty butter or – I’m going to go there – HONEY PECAN CREAM CHEESE?? – with your morning coffee.
This guy is simple and straightforward: no chocolate chips, no nuts (gah! the betrayal), and no frosting or overloaded crumble on top in my usual over-the-top style.
Just simple, like s-i-m-p-l-e, gorgeous, classy pumpkin bread.
How This Pumpkin Bread Came To Be
Baking used to be my favorite thing – it’s actually why I started the blog. I baked almost every Saturday morning in our little condo kitchen with the terribly yellow overhead lights and the 1970’s oven and loved every second of it. My first blog post was actually a pretty average recipe for chocolate chip muffins in which I forgot to list the CHOCOLATE CHIPS. 🙈 Humble beginnings.
As much as I loved baking, as Pinch of Yum started to become more of a thing, like a this-is-my-job thing, I started to feel like the “meal time” recipes were most valuable to myself (and others) rather than just baking recipes. I found that the people who were reading my little blog were hungry (aaaa! get it?) for yummy meal recipes maybe even more than they were for baking and desserts. Meal time recipes were what people wanted, they were something I enjoyed, they was performing well for the blog…
All of this led me to a place where I kind of put baking on the top shelf for a while – still there, but just out of reach.
But why? That’s sort of what I’ve been asking myself lately as I’ve realized my need to stay in love, stay fresh, stay grounded with what I’m doing. So in the last two months, I’ve been re-introducing baking into my life as I try to really get back to the core of loving food and cooking.
Whether cooking or baking, from the basic weeknight dinner recipes like the pumpkin spaghetti I’ve been eating for the last 900 meals straight to this homemade pumpkin bread that is just really, really delicious even when it’s not embellished upon at all, it all just feels so nourishing in my own personal little season of food + work + life inspiration. Fall is good for us like that.
And regarding the mention of pumpkin recipes back to back? You know I’m not even sorry about it.
Moist, Delicious, Simple
Today’s pumpkin bread, as the obnoxious title suggests, is deliciously moist. The most important quality of a good pumpkin bread, IMHO. Really, in any good bread (see also: another deliciously moist favorite in this Lemon Poppyseed Zucchini Bread).
It isn’t made with any homemade oat flours or egg substitutes or honey in place of sugar because that’s just not where I’m at with food right now. Where I AM at is getting back to the love of the food, and the love of the food in this pumpkin bread is eggs, oil, flour, pumpkin, and real sugar.
If (er, when) you feel like you just need to ground yourself in the basics of life, food, and the beauty of changing seasons, this basic + awesome, deliciously moist pumpkin bread is here for you.
And look! Even though it really doesn’t need anything, you can, if you so desire, put butter all over it. And honey.
Happy fall!
Common Questions About This Pumpkin Bread
Can I make this gluten-free?
Probably! Use your favorite 1:1 GF flour that’s best for baking, or check out our gluten-free Favorite Pumpkin Muffins here.
Can I make this with less sugar?
Sugar is part of what gives the bread moisture! You can cut the amount of sugar, but it will affect the texture and dry the bread out a bit. For the most yummy and moist version, use the full amount! (It ends up being about 1-2 tablespoons sugar per slice.)
Can I use just one type of oil for this?
You can just use one type of oil – I liked using both because it gave a very subtle olive oil flavor without being overpowering.
Why two loaves?
Because why not?? But seriously: one for you, one for a friend or in the freezer for later.
Is that amount of salt correct?
Two teaspoons seems like a lot of salt but it really helps the flavor of the bread (pumpkin, spices, even sugar) come through.
More Pumpkin Goodness For All Your Fall Needs
- 5 Ingredient Pumpkin Alfredo (basic, creamy, and soooo good)
- Pumpkin Rigatoni with Rosemary Walnut Crispies (MORE PASTA!)
- Pumpkin Gnocchi with Sage Butter Sauce (the dreamiest)
- Instant Pot Pumpkin Walnut Chili (pumpkin in chili: YES)
- Favorite Pumpkin Granola (crunchy, sweet, perfect with yogurt)
- Pumpkin Energy Bites (favorite on-the-go fall snack!)
Watch How To Make This Recipe:
Super Moist Pumpkin Bread
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 12 slices per loaf (x 2 loaves = 24 servings) 1x
Description
This is an easy, classic, super moist pumpkin bread recipe made with olive oil, pumpkin, and cinnamon, and topped with crunchy turbinado sugar.
Ingredients
Scale
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 2 cups white sugar
- 1 15-ounce can pumpkin (not pie filling – just regular pumpkin purée)
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 cup water
- 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 cup melted butter
- 1/4 cup turbinado sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Whisk the eggs, oils, and sugar together until smooth. Add the pumpkin, milk, and water – whisk until smooth.
- Stir in the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
- Transfer batter to two 9x5inch loaf pans lined with parchment paper. Bake for 35 minutes. Remove from oven, brush with melted butter and sprinkle with turbinado sugar, and return to oven for another 5-10 minutes to set the sugar. The bread should be golden brown and firm to the touch when done, and a toothpick inserted should come out clean. When in doubt, I’d say err on the side of underbaking since it yields a most moist bread. The longer it bakes the more possibility you have that the bread will dry out.
- Let cool slightly before slicing and serving. Store in the refrigerator.
Equipment
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Notes
Nutrition facts are for 1 slice out of a total 24 slices between the two loaves.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: pumpkin bread, moist pumpkin bread, easy pumpkin bread
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our easy pumpkin recipes page. Check it out!
October 1, 2020
Nice to meet you!
I’m Lindsay and I ♡ FOOD. I used to be a teacher, and now making food and writing about it online is my full-time job. I love talking with people about food, and I'm so glad you're here.
Did you make a recipe? Tag @pinchofyum on Instagram so we can find you!
Can’t wait to try it ! I probably will take the advice of others and add other spices , maybe nutmeg and a dash of clove.I have been baking for 40 years and think this will be a good idea!
This has been my go-to pumpkin bread recipe for years now (made it > 5 times). I typically have made this into two standard loaves with only vegetable oil (cheaper than olive oil), chocolate almond milk (3/4 of a cup, I omit the water), and tons of pumpkin pie spice.
Tonight, I made these into pumpkin muffins. I used half and half instead of the almond milk as I was out, and totally forgot to add the pumpkin pie spice.
For the typical bread, cook for at least an hour. For muffins/cupcakes, this recipe made exactly two dozen standard cupcakes. I baked at 350 for about 20-25 minutes per dozen. Turned out perfect and easier to serve to a crowd.
I don’t specifically miss the spices, but definitely best with the pumpkin pie spice in it. I also prefer the chocolate almond milk, I think the nuttiness is a good addition.
Thanks for a great recipe <3
Love that. Thanks for sharing, Katie!
This recipe is amazing. I didn’t have vegetable oil, so I used Greek yogurt instead. Great substitute. My husband and I ate it so fast that we had to make another loaf for clients. 🙂
This has been a favorite for a couple years now, absolutely delicious! I live at a high altitude, but no adjustments are needed at all.
Made this tonight for my husband and his friend who came over to visit. It came out wonderful, but there were a few things along the way.
Firstly, I have to agree with many of the other comments on here that baking time was almost double the time in the directions. At 35 minutes, my bread was very much still batter in the center. 55 minutes-1 hour seemed like it was fine for me.
Secondly, since I’m diabetic, I thought 2 cups of sugar was a lot. So, I used 1 cup sugar and 1 cup of monk fruit sweetener to half the sugar. It still tasted superb and the boys didn’t even realize it until I told them.
Thirdly, I believe the bread could be greatly improved upon by adding in more spices. I think either an allspice blend or maybe some nutmeg and/or cloves in addition to the cinnamon would have definitely boosted the flavors and the warmth of Autumn more in this recipe. Otherwise, very delicious.
Lastly, I recommend whipping to some homemade cinnamon butter and enjoying it with a warm slice.
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. It may very well have become a new house favorite!
Every year I make pumpkin bread, but I’ve never made yours. It’s our new family favorite! I’m making it again this week by popular demand. I printed it off to add to our most beloved recipe folder. It’s great for breakfast and after school snacks.
Hi team,
Just thought I would share this little ditty with you.
Firstly, this is an amazing recipe. Everyone in our family is always asking for it! Even neighbours gently hint to see if I have made any!
I add about 1 1/2 teaspoons of nutmeg to give it that real “fall and winter” feeling.
Love the recipe, love the site.
As they say “yum yum”!
Randy
Thanks for sharing, Randy! Great tip!
Hi Lindsay! I love your recipes 🙂 Any advice on temp/time if I wanted to make pumpkin bread muffins? I only have one loaf pan, so trying to be creative!
Hi Tai! We haven’t tried making muffins with this recipe, so we can’t say for sure. We think it’s worth a try, but bake time would probably be in the 10-15 minute range. If you give it a try, we’d love to hear back!
My hubby isn’t as crazy about pumpkin bread as I am, so I cut recipe in half! What a mistake! He loved it so much, 2 days later i’m making more! I used mini loaf pans & stirred in some glazed pecans..incredible! Actually more moist after completely cooled the next day! Thanx do much for this easy yet spectacular recipe!
My hubby isn’t as crazy about pumpkin bread as I am, so I cut recipe in half! What a mistake! He loved it so much, 2 days later in making more! I used mini loaf pans & stirred in some glazed pecans..incredible! Actually more moist after completely cooled the next day! Thanx do much for this easy yet spectacular recipe!
Glad to hear this, Brenda!
Could I omit the butter/sugar step.
Yes, you can eliminate the butter/sugar topping.
Hey,
I make this tonight and I love this so much
It’s too late to taste
LOVED this bread!! Only thing is – this took almost 55 minutes before it was done. Nothing I used was expired, or overmixed and my oven is a year old! Other than that – DELICIOUS!!
Same here. I had my doubts when I saw the bake time in the recipe and, yup, it was 55min bake and 5 min with the butter/sugar.
So happy you loved it! And thanks for the feedback on the cooking time!
Best pumpkin bread recipe I’ve tried 🤤🤤 it needed a total of about 1 hour in the oven.
So happy to hear it, Lia!
Delicious! I couldn’t find pumpkin purée or turbinado sugar at my local store, so I made the purée myself with a real pumpkin and substituted brown sugar. Came out perfect.
My bread turned out very heavy and took forever to bake. Do you know what I might have done wrong? I wanted to love this so much!
Sorry to hear that, Erin! It’s so hard to say for sure what may have went wrong. It could be due to the difference in ovens, damaged/outdated baking soda, overmixing the batter, or letting the batter sit too long before baking.
I made this but switched up some ingredients and it was still good. I used a cake mold pan. I used 1 tsp salt, 1 cup maple , 1 cup brown sugar, 1 1/2 cups white pastry flour, 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup flax meal, and 1/2 cup buttermilk. I also added walnuts.
DELICIOUS!! My only change was this took another 15 minutes longer to bake in my oven – but it couldn’t just been MY oven. Otherwise, super moist and super delicious!
This looks so moist and so delicious! Thank you, I can’t wait to bake it ASAP! Also thank you for a recipe for two loaves, less work later when I can take the second out of the freezer. What is the best way to freeze the second loaf so it maintains its moisture/flavor?
Hi Carissa, this post has some good tips on freezing bread: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/make-ahead-baking/
Made it with my four year old and we both loved it! I used 3/4 cup of white sugar and 1/2 cup honey and it was just sweet enough! Thank you for another great recipe!
I made a few changes to this recipe to make it refined sugar free and it still turned out perfectly! I replaced the sugar with maple syrup and removed the water and half of the milk. I also omitted the butter and sugar topping. It did seem to need a little extra time cooking (maybe because it didn’t have the butter?) I think I ended up leaving it in for a total of 50 min.
Here’s an ingredient list if anyone else is interested in making it this way:
4 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup olive oil
2 cups pure maple syrup
1 15-ounce can pumpkin (not pie filling – just regular pumpkin purée)
1/4 cup milk
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons salt
1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon
So happy you liked it Lexy, and thanks so much for sharing your edits to make the recipe sugar free!
As and always you’re recipes are amazing . Loved this one too.
I made this and it was delicious! I only have one loaf pan, so I put the second half in a cake pan with chocolate chips for a weirdish cookie pan situation and both were AMAZING. The loaf (made as described) is so deliciously moist and even easy for my 8 month old to eat – the cookie pan (made as described plus chocolate chips in a 9″ round cake pan) was a HUGE hit from my preschooler.
So happy it was a hit, Stefanie!
We had company coming for the weekend and I had all the ingredients in the pantry, so I made it. It’s getting rave reviews for flavor and moisture. This bread is every bit as good and moist as portrayed in the blog. Thank heavens it makes 2 loaves as the first one went quickly. And the bonus is that it gets better with time as the flavors meld.
So glad you liked the recipe, Tamara!
Just stopping by to say thank you – I used your recipes for every single dinner this past week. My husband I commented last night (over your sesame broccoli and beef) that this had been a really delicious week! Looking forward to trying this pumpkin bread – autumn is calling and I must go.
So happy to hear that, Ashley! We hope you like the pumpkin bread!