My Dad’s Famous Pumpkin Bread
In high school, my dad was jokingly called “Super Dad” by everyone on my soccer team. Besides being a full-time real estate attorney, he made breakfast every morning, packed our lunches, made dinner and attended every soccer game we had (My mom is also amazing and incredibly talented…but she admits she’d rather starve than cook so this post will be centered around my Dad haha!). In particular, my dad would make his infamous pumpkin bread every game for all the girls on the team and everyone went crazy over it. All of my friends at school were also obsessed, and I still have people from high school mention his pumpkin bread when I run into them (over 13 years later!) . It became a staple in college as well and I can’t kick off my fall season without baking a loaf. We even included mini loaves in our Welcome Bags for our wedding – it’s THAT good and requested! Sometimes I get lucky and my dad will make it for an event and bring an extra loaf over for us 🙂
Luckily my dad doesn’t mind if I share the recipe (I have no idea where it initially came from, but this version is after many renditions and edits over the years…he has perfected it by now!). He also has some commentary at the bottom regarding brands of pumpkin, a soft vs crusy crust, cooking times and how to grease your pan – he’s the most thorough and detailed person I know, which I attribute to his background in law!
If you love pumpkin…you HAVE to try this recipe and tell me what you think!
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Steve's Pumpkin Bread
The best & most highly requested pumpkin recipe you will ever find!
Ingredients
- 1 16 oz can pumpkin
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 4 large eggs
- 3 cups sugar
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- 1 ½ tsp allspice
- 1 ½ tsp nutmeg
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 3 ½ cups flour
Instructions
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Heat oven to 300° F.
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Combine pumpkin, oil and eggs. Mix until smooth. Add sugar. Mix until smooth. Add baking soda, spices and flour. Mix until smooth.
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Grease and flour 2 large bread pans (9x5x3 inch). Pour batter into bread pans.
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Bake for 60 minutes or until a knife inserted into the top center comes out clean. I generally have to bake at least 70-75 minutes, but I start checking at 60 minutes.
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Remove from oven. Let sit for about 5 minutes and then remove from pan and place on wire rack to cool.
Recipe Notes
Canned pumpkin: I have tried named brand (Libby’s) and store brand (Kroger). The bread will have a different color and taste depending upon which you use. I prefer and use Kroger store brand canned pumpkin.
Cooking time: I start checking the bread at 60 minutes. With the large loaves, it normally takes 70-75 minutes – and sometimes as long as 90 minutes. Some aficionados of this bread like it a little gooey in the top center.
Grease and Flour: I use a vegetable spray which already contains flour to grease and flour my pans. It is quick and easy.
Soft Crust or Crusty Crust?: To get a soft or moist crust, after removing bread from bread pan, let bread cool on wire rack for about 10 minutes. Then wrap in saran wrap while still warm. Once bread is completely cooled, crust will be moist. To get a crusty crust, after removing bread from bread pan, let bread cool completely on wire rack.
10 Comments
Supermompicks
Perfect timing! My kids love pumpkin muffins, breads, and pancakes. I need to try this, this weekend! Perfect for quick breakfasts.
Lauren
Let me know if you end up making it! Hope you had a great weekend!
Lizz
Oh my goodness! This sounds amazing! I am a huge fan of pumpkin pie, but I never thought of making pumpkin bread! I may have to give it a try for Thanksgiving!
Lauren
It’s so good!! You should definitely give it a try!
Em Smith
Oh wow!! I suddenly feel crave for pumpkin bread!! This looks so delicious!
Lauren
Thanks, Em!
Christa
I love pumpkin bread! It’s such a perfect fall dish. I can’t wait to try this recipe (and eat an entire loaf of pumpkin bread)!
Lauren
I know…I usually end up eating the whole loaf by myself haha!
Belle
That looks amazing and so easy to make! It’s perfect this colder season!
Lauren
Thanks, Belle!