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If you’re looking to replicate the taste of the popular Starbucks Pumpkin bread at home, this copycat recipe is for you! You can make this loaf easily in one bowl and the result is a super moist texture with that irresistible pumpkin taste!
Ingredients & substitutions
- Flour: For best results use all-purpose flour. We haven’t made this recipe with a 1:1 gluten-free flour, but are pretty sure it will turn out well.
- Pumpkin pie spice: A little pumpkin pie spice adds a warming sweetness to the bread. If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, use ¼ teaspoon each of ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.
- Baking soda and salt: so that the bread rises when it is baked in the oven and isn’t dense.
- Butter: Use unsalted butter for the best results. Allow it to soften before using so that it mixes well with the other ingredients and you have an even texture.
- Sugar: We use cane sugar and light brown sugar in this recipe for a complex sweetness.
- Eggs: To bind the ingredients together.
- Pumpkin: Use pure canned pumpkin to make this recipe. Don’t use a pumpkin pie filling which has added sugars and spices.
- Vanilla extract: For flavor and sweetness. A pure vanilla extract is preferable, but imitation will work well in this recipe.
- Pumpkin seeds: The pumpkin seeds are sprinkled on top of the bread before being baked. They are optional but add a great texture and look so pretty – like the Starbucks bread!
How to make pumpkin bread
- Start by creaming together the sugar and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer or with a handheld mixer.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, until incorporated.
- Mix in the canned pumpkin and vanilla extract until it looks well combined.
- Add dry ingredients and mix until you don’t see any more flour streaks. You can add the dry ingredients one at a time or mix them together in a bowl first and then add all together.
- Transfer the batter to a loaf pan that’s lightly greased and spread evenly with a spatula
- You can also sprinkle some whole or crushed pepitals/pumpkin seeds on top to mimic the look of the Starbucks pumpkin bread.
Tips for Baking pumpkin bread
- Use a stand mixer to make this recipe. This is the quickest and easiest way to make the pumpkin bread dough. You can make it by hand, but it will take a little longer to make sure that the wet ingredients are fully mixed and easily combined.
- Don’t over mix the batter. When you add in the dry ingredients, mix together until just combined. If you overwork the flour the gluten will overdevelop and the finished loaf will have a heavy and dense texture.
- Use oil or cooking spray to grease the loaf pan. If you use butter it can burn and cause the bread to stick. You can also line it with parchment paper so that it is easy to remove from the pan.
- Let the pumpkin bread cool fully before removing it from the pan. Place the pan on a cooling rack so that the air circulates all around to cool it completely.
Frequently Asked Questions
Once your bread has fully cooled, remove form the loaf pan and place in an airtight container or wrap well in plastic wrap. It will keep well for around 4 days either in the fridge or at room temperature.
Yes! This bread will freeze really well and will keep for up to 3 months. Wrap it well in plastic wrap or foil and place into a freezer bag or container to protect it from freezer burn. Thaw it in the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature to serve.
This copycat Starbucks recipe is delicious as it is, but you could easily fold in some chocolate chips or dried fruit like cranberries for added sweetness.
Skip the lines at Starbucks and bake up this loaf of pumpkin bread to enjoy throughout the week. So perfect as an afternoon snack with a cup of tea or coffee.
More quick breads to try:
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread
- Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread
- Carrot Banana Bread
- Cranberry Orange Bread
- Lemon Zucchini Bread
If you try this healthy-ish feel good Starbucks Pumpkin Bread recipe or any other recipe on Feel Good Foodie, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave a comment below! It helps others who are thinking of making the recipe. We would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some shots, share it on Instagram so we can repost on Stories!
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Starbucks Pumpkin Bread
Video
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup cane sugar
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup canned pumpkin
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup pumpkin seeds optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and spray a loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a stand mixer with a whisk attachment or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, mix butter, cane sugar and light brown sugar until light and fluffy, 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, until incorporated. Add canned pumpkin and vanilla extract and mix to combine.
- Add dry ingredients and mix until no streaks remain. Pour into prepared pan and sprinkle with the pumpkin seeds if using.
- Bake in preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean, about 50-55 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow the bread to cool completely in the pan set on a wire rack before slicing.
Equipment
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.
I have cooked this twice. It has a very strong egg flavor. Also, it’s impossible whisk butter and sugar together. Use the regular mixing attachment.
Hi there, so sorry this didn’t work out well for you. What size egg are you using? Also, the recipe calls to use a stand mixer or hand mixer to cream the butter and sugar together.
This recipe is great. Really moist and delicious. I have seen a lot of other Starbucks pumpkin bread recipes that use oil. I prefer this one that uses butter in place of the oil. I think making your pumpkin puree from scratch is best too and prefer the kabocha pumpkins to do this (personal taste). I try to find small ones because they have the best sweet flavor.
Thank you so much!!
Did it and loved it ! Everything is …so good ! The spice, the texture… I added chopped pecans on tops of it. Thank you Yumna !
You’re so welcome! So happy to hear that you liked it!
This is my new “go to” pumpkin bread recipe. I made a double batch and used half coconut sugar and half regular cane sugar. The spices in this bread and spot on, and the texture is as well. I added chocolate chips to one loaf and chopped pecans to the other.
It was a huge hit with the family.
Thanks for the recipe!
Oo I love that idea!! Thank you for making the recipe!
What temp and how long if using a glass loaf pan or disposal aluminum loaf pan?
Thank you!
For the disposable pan, I would follow the cooking directions as written. For glass, I would bake it at the same temperature but you could start checking for doneness around 45 minutes.
Hello! What will happen if you use pumpkin pie filling instead of pumpkin puree or canned pumpkin? Because that’s all that I have, and I don’t want to waste it if it wont work.
Pumpkin Pie filling contains sweeteners and additives that may impact the final texture of this bread. The recipe was developed and tested with pumpkin puree, which is simply pumpkin so that is what I recommend using.
Brought this to a Halloween party and it was the first item to be finished. Will definitely make it again.
So glad to hear this! Really happy you enjoyed it!
Can you substitute butter for oil? thanks
I want to make this recipe however, I’m wondering, will white sugar make a difference? Thanks for anyones help.
That should be just fine to add all white sugar. I like to use a mix as the brown sugar adds a nice depth of flavor, but using all white sugar should not really impact the texture too much.
Made this tasty cake for Thanksgiving. Everyone loved it especially the 2 year olds. It’s going to be my go to recipe next year.
So happy to hear that this made it on your Thanksgiving table and that even the kids loved it! Thank you for letting me know.
Delicious! I used freshly baked pumpkin, mashed with fork and added a bit of almond milk. I believe this gave the bread a nice texture. Great recipe, thank you!
You’re so welcome!
Hey! How much maple syrup can I use if I don’t want to use any sugar
The sugar will really help to bind it better than the maple syrup. Unfortunately I haven’t tested it without sugar so it’s hard to tell if it’s a 1:1 swap or if it will hold well together.
I’m bookmarking this website. Finally … a site where I don’t have to scroll down 75 pages to get to the actual recipe! Well done! I will be back! Thank you very much.
Looking forward to hearing what you think of my recipes, George!
Hi! Can we use coconut sugar instead of the cane and light brown sugar?
Yes, coconut sugar should work well!
so I made it with the coconut sugar and it turned out absolutely incredible!! Literally amazing, it was so moist and fluffy, everybody loved it and it was gone in less than 24 hours!!! Thank you! I will be making this again for sure.
Woohoo! So happy to heat that!
Would it be possible to add chocolate chips and walnuts to this recipe? Or is that not recommended?
You can add them in!
It’s great 👍
Thank you, Todd!
I like a simple and quick recipe, but need to ask a small favour. As an international reader, I’d be very happy with measurements by weight, rather than by volume. Thanks in advance!
Thank you for the feedback! I am constantly trying to better my website, so I’ll take that into consideration.
I agree, I’m American but prefer international weights as they are much more accurate and easier to follow! Thank you for the wonderful recipe!
This is a basic recipe for a quick bread, with pumpkin puree. It’s not a copycat for the Starbucks loaf. For that, you need vegetable oil instead of butter, a lot more spice (including freshly grated nutmeg), a lot more sugar, and dough conditioners/emulsifiers which are necessary to maintain that moist texture. All of this can be reverse-engineered by looking at the publicly available nutritional facts and ingredients.
I say it’s a copycat because of the flavor rather than the ingredients 🙂
Delicious and easy to make…My kids love it ..It takes just like starbucks.
I love that! Yay!!
Nice recipe
Thank you!
This pumpkin bread is so delicious! It comes together very quick, it’s not too sweet or too spicy, and the pumpkin seeds on top add the perfect amount of crunch. Thanks Yumna for developing the perfect copy-cat recipe!
Thank you! I love that so much! You’re so welcome!
This is 100% just like Starbucks’ pumpkin bread. SO good 🙂
I followed the recipe exactly but didn’t have pumpkin seeds on hand. Delicious!!
That’s great to hear! Yay!!
Hi, I am wondering if I could use fresh pumpkin Since it sort of hard to get can pumpkin wherr I live..If so do I just boil of steam the pumkin and mashed them into puree..
If you use fresh pumpkin, make sure to squeeze out as much water from it as possible!