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eat well on a budget with easy recipes from Jessica Fisher

My Favorite Pumpkin Spice Bread Recipe

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Full of rich spices and the hearty sweetness of pumpkin, this pumpkin spice bread is one of my favorites to make during the fall and winter. 

sliced pumpkin spice bread on a plate

I suppose everyone has a favorite pumpkin bread recipe, right? If you don’t, you need to try this one.

Lately my feed has been exploding with Pumpkin Chocolate. While I love pumpkin and chocolate — see here and here — I don’t want chocolate chips in this bread.

Nope. Not today.

This recipe needs no adornment. It’s moist, flavorful, and perfectly captures the tastes of fall. This is the Spiced Pumpkin Bread Recipe that I’ve been making for over 20 years. And it doesn’t really need much messying with.

Okay, I confess. I have messed with it a bit. This recipe got its origins in this recipe from Bon Appetit. But, I reduced the sugar because it didn’t need all that sugar. Oh my! It’s still really sweet with 2 cups.

About six years ago, I eliminated eggs from my baking because the doctors suspected our youngest had an egg allergy. I used flax seed as a substitute for the eggs in the recipe. It works wonderfully this way if you want to A) eliminate eggs and/or B) want more heart-healthy flax in your diet.

If I’m really going to bake myself happy, I bake two batches of this. At least one loaf to eat fresh out of the oven and three to cool and freeze. I love being able to pull a loaf of this Spiced Pumpkin Bread from the freezer for a yummy breakfast or snack. Or dessert.

Ingredients for this pumpkin spice bread recipe

  • Flax seed meal
  • Water
  • Sugar
  • Oil
  • Pumpkin puree
  • Flour
  • Spices (ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon)
  • Salt
  • Baking powder
  • Baking Soda

How to make this pumpkin spice bread 

  • Prep! Preheat the oven to 350 °. Grease two 9×5 inch loaf pans with nonstick cooking spray.
  • Make your flaxseed “egg”. In a small mixing bowl combine the flax seed meal and water. Allow to set.
  • Combine wet ingredients. In a large mixing bowl beat together the sugar and oil. Mix in the flax mixture and pumpkin.
  • Combine dry ingredients. In another large mixing bowl, sift the flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, salt, and baking powder. Stir this dry mixture into the pumpkin mixture.
  • Divide and Conquer. Divide the batter equally between the two loaf pans. Bake 50 minutes to 1 hour or until a tester comes out clean. Transfer the pans to a cooling rack; cool 10 minutes. Loosen loaves from edges of pan. Turn onto racks and cool completely.

Can I freeze this spiced pumpkin bread?

You absolutely can! I highly recommend. Just wrap cooled loaves in plastic wrap and then place in a ziptop freezer bag in the freezer. Thaw wrapped at room temperature.
 
This bread will keep for up to 3 months.

sliced pumpkin spice bread on a plate

Got more pumpkin puree to use? Try one of these pumpkin recipes…

HOW TO MAKE THIS GOOD AND CHEAP:

You know I don’t typically want to make something if I can’t make it good as well as cheap. Here are some of the strategies you can use to make this recipe more economical:

  • Bake it yourself from scratch – Don’t buy mixes. Don’t buy pricey bakery bread. You can make your own better and cheaper at home!
  • Stock up on ingredients when they are on sale. When I find regular kitchen staples on sale, I buy a lot. I’m currently using a price book to track prices and that’s saving me money. For this recipe, keeping an eye on the price of flour and  pumpkin can help keep the price down. When it’s the holidays I like to stock up on pumpkin when I see it!
  • Buying in bulk – It’s rare that I would buy small bags of flour. I also have gotten into the habit of buying cases of flour from Bob’s Red Mill or VitaCost so that I always have baking supplies on hand.

HOW I MAKE THIS RECIPE EASY:

This recipe really couldn’t be easier than it is, but having the right kitchen tools can really make your time in the kitchen more enjoyable. Over time, I’ve honed my collection so that they are perfect for my needs.

Here are the tools that I use for this recipe:

  • stainless steel mixing bowl – I’m not sure you have too many of these.
  • wire whisk – Be sure to get one with a closed barrel so dishwater doesn’t get stuck in its innards and drip into your food. Ask me how I know.
  • rubber spatula – I have two of these; I love them so much.
  • bread pan – I love the USA pans. No greasing needed and no burning!
  • parchment paper – Love this for no even having to wash the pans!
If you prepare this recipe, be sure to take a picture and hashtag it #GOODCHEAPEATS. I can't wait to see what you cook up!
sliced loaf of pumpkin bread on tray with checked cloth
Print Recipe
4.5 from 2 votes

Favorite Spiced Pumpkin Bread Recipe

Full of rich spices and the hearty sweetness of pumpkin, this Spiced Pumpkin Bread is one of my favorites to make during the fall and winter.
Prep Time15 mins
Cook Time50 mins
Course: Bread
Cuisine: American
Keyword: pumpkin bread, pumpkin spice bread
Servings: 12 servings
Calories: 383kcal
Author: Jessica Fisher

Ingredients

  • 3 tbsp flax seed meal
  • 9 tbsp water
  • 2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup neutral oil or melted butter
  • 2 cup pumpkin puree or one 15-ounce can
  • 3 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 °. Grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans with nonstick cooking spray.
  • In a small mixing bowl combine the flax seed meal and water. Allow to set.
  • In a large mixing bowl beat together the sugar and oil. Mix in the flax mixture and pumpkin.
  • In another large mixing bowl, sift the flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, salt, and baking powder. Stir this dry mixture into the pumpkin mixture.
  • Divide the batter equally between the two loaf pans. Bake 50 minutes to 1 hour or until a tester comes out clean. Transfer the pans to a cooling rack; cool 10 minutes. Loosen loaves from edges of pan. Turn onto racks and cool completely.
  • To freeze: wrap cooled loaves in plastic wrap and then place in a ziptop freezer bag in the freezer. Thaw wrapped at room temperature.

Notes

Nutrition facts use butter and flax seed meal.

Nutrition

Calories: 383kcal | Carbohydrates: 60g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 35mg | Sodium: 308mg | Potassium: 150mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 35g | Vitamin A: 6763IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 31mg | Iron: 1mg

 

Favorite Spiced Pumpkin Bread Recipe | Life as Mom

Reader Interactions

Comments

  6. Carrie says

    I do not shop at Wal-Mart. Ever. But now I feel the sudden urgent need to head to the closest one and see if I can score one of these pans for myself! I’ve been looking at the one on Amazon forever! Thanks for the heads up!

    Reply

  9. Lisa says

    I am thinking with some frosting that pumpkin could also look like a beach ball – just frost each section a different color and place on a board dusted with brown sugar to look like sand….

    Reply

  12. Anne says

    I’m doing all kinds of pumpkin stuff so I posted two: pumpkin fluff (made – over without any artificial ingredients) and pumpkin biscuits.

    Reply

  13. Jennifer Ott says

    I’ve been wanting one of those pans, but I substituted the Bundt pan I already had. I made two cakes (a bit on the smaller side) and put them together. It still looked like yours, just bigger, and with a hole in the middle.

    Reply

  14. City Share says

    Those pumpkin breads are beautiful. It’s amazing how a different shape pan can transform a simple dish into something so elegant. Thanks for hosting the blog hop. This week I’m sharing my 100th Post celebratory dinner.

    Reply

  17. Jessica H. says

    That looks so yummy! I just love the pan, and I think making it into Cinderella’s coach is a fantastic idea! Now I want some pumpkin bread!

    Reply

  18. Kristine says

    I have a pan similar to this one and I used it as the top tier for a fall themed wedding shower. The bottom two tiers where round and the top was the pumpkin. Then I decorated with fondant leaves that I made. It was one of my favorite cake creations (and I have done quite a few over the years….)

    Have fun with your new pan! Seeing it makes me want to dust mine off again 🙂

    Reply

  22. Cara says

    Pumpkin is my favorite! I’m a little slow linking up this week. Thanks so much for hosting so I can find some additional pumpkin recipes to satisfy my cravings this fall!

    Reply

  25. Mandy says

    Have you tried substituting whole wheat pastry flour or whole wheat flour for any of the white flour?

    Reply

  27. anna says

    It’s that time of the year- pumpkin everything. I’ve been missing it (here in Mali), although there are some pumpkins that should be ripe before Thanksgiving. Thanks to friends back home, I’ve gotten some Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Butter and some Starbucks Via Pumpkin Latte mix.

    I have my favorite Pumpkin Bread recipe, too, and I do add chocolate chips to it. I made peanut butter chocolate swirl brownies yesterday, and I was thinking that I could sub the peanut butter with pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice instead.

    Reply

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