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Easy Pumpkin Bread Recipe with Cake Mix!

Posted by Marybeth | Read 57 Comments

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Made with cake mix and canned pumpkin, this easy pumpkin bread recipe is a crowd favorite! It's perfect for a potluck, a brunch treat or just an afternoon snack with a cup of coffee!

two loaves of quick bread

Welcome to this site's most popular recipe! It's been pinned over 100,000 times on Pinterest, and I'm so happy to know that I'm not the only one who loves it!

This sweet bread is still a family favorite – I make it every fall, and it's definitely one of my go-to recipes to take along when we visit friends or family.

It's been a few years since originally publishing this post, so it's been updated as of June 2020 with additional information and accurate details. All of the original content is still here, it's just better than it was before.

If you've made this quick bread before, I'd love to hear your thoughts. What kind of cake mix did you use? Did you make the recipe as written or did you put your own spin on it?

If you're here for the first time, I hope you're ready. You're going to love it!

If you like this recipe please pin it on Pinterest, then follow me on Pinterest!

Sometimes I bake something that's so easy, so super-good that I tell myself I need write about it. Then, it gets buried in all the other stuff I'm far more likely to share with you.

Then, I make that recipe later and think, ok, now I really need to share that recipe with readers who don't know what they're missing.  

Why? Because it's a sweet bread made with a cake mix, one can of pumpkin and a few other ingredients. It couldn't get any easier, and it tastes delicious!

I absolutely need to share what I think is a perfect fall recipe: pumpkin bread. Even better, this is a quick bread recipe made with cake mix! 

two loaves of sweet bread in glass bread pans

Before you start baking I have a few tips for you:

About your Mixer

I usually use a hand mixer when a recipe (like this one) requires only a minute or two of speedy mixing. You can always use a stand mixer if you prefer.

I've broken more than a few mixers in the past by expecting more from them than they could handle (have you ever heard your mixer shriek and whine, then suddenly stop? Have you ever held a smoking mixer in your hand? It happens!).

Fortunately, this hand mixer has been one of my best small kitchen appliances for ten years. It's pricier than a lot of other brands, but I haven't broken mine yet, which says a lot!

Can you use fresh pumpkin in this recipe?

I would not use anything but canned pumpkin here. Canned pumpkin is cooked and strained and drained and squeezed. Then pureed and drained again.

My point is, there's a ton of water in regular pumpkin before it's processed and packed into cans.

If you're experienced in cooking and processing your own and you can get it to the same consistency you find in a can, then go for it!

If you just decided to salvage those last jack-o-lantern bits after halloween, it's better to go for the supermarket goods, just to be sure you end up with delicious bread when the timer dings.

Do I need to use yellow cake mix in this recipe?

Nope. You can use whatever kind of cake mix your little heart desires. Just make sure the flavor combination appeals to you.

I almost always use white and yellow cake mix because that vanilla flavor has a broad appeal. I think spice cake mix would make a delicious bread.

I've tossed around the idea of using chocolate cake mix, but I'm not 100% confident in that idea, so it's still just in the back of my mind for now.

Easy Pumpkin Bread Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 box white or yellow cake mix
  • 1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon (or 1.5 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice – I buy 16 ounces of pumpkin pie spice at one time to take advantage of a far lower price. I use so much of it during the fall and winter months it just makes sense!)
  • 1-3 eggs (see cake mix directions for amount)
  • Vegetable oil (see cake mix directions for amount)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease a loaf pan. (I'm not an expert, but I've tried a lot of different loaf pans. This Wilton loaf pan is my favorite. It's seamless, nothing sticks to it and it cleans up quickly.)
  2. Consult your cake mix box to find the amount of eggs and oil as directed on the box.
  3. Combine cake mix, eggs and oil in a bowl and mix on medium speed until smooth and well-blended.
  4. Add pumpkin and cinnamon. Mix on low until incorporated.
  5. Pour mixture into prepared loaf pan.
  6. Bake at 375 for 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
  7. Cool and serve with butter or frost with cream cheese frosting.
Easy Pumpkin Bread with Cake Mix

Easy Pumpkin Bread with Cake Mix

Yield: 20
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Additional Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Easy pumpkin bread recipe made with cake mix. This moist 1-bowl cake mix pumpkin bread is the best homemade fall brunch, breakfast or dessert for families!

Ingredients

  • 1 box white or yellow cake mix
  • 1 15- ounce can pumpkin puree
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon, or 1.5 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
  • 1-3 eggs, see cake mix directions for amount
  • Vegetable oil, see cake mix directions for amount

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease a loaf pan. (I'm not an expert, but I've tried a lot of different loaf pans.
  2. Consult your cake mix box to find the amount of eggs and oil as directed on the box.
  3. Combine cake mix, eggs and oil in a bowl and mix on medium speed until smooth and well-blended.
  4. Add pumpkin and cinnamon. Mix on low until incorporated.
  5. Pour mixture into prepared loaf pan.
  6. Bake at 375 for 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
  7. Cool and serve with butter or frost with cream cheese frosting.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 20 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 319Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 28mgSodium: 584mgCarbohydrates: 66gFiber: 2gSugar: 35gProtein: 4g
© Marybeth Hamilton
Cuisine: American / Category: recipes

If you love pumpkin you must try my Vanilla Pumpkin Smoothie recipe!

free pumpkin carving patterns

It's just the right time of year to talk about everything pumpkin! Check out one of my most popular posts with over 700 FREE pumpkin carving patterns!

quick bread on wire rack
a slice of moist quick bread on wire rack

Photo credits: the delicious and mccun934.

Filed Under: recipes Tagged With: lifestyle

About Marybeth

I'm Marybeth - Mom of 2, wife to 1, pet mom to 3. I love finding fun activities to do with my kids, going on adventures, watching movies and baking delicious treats! I used to climb the corporate ladder, now I spend my days caring for my family and spoiling my handicapped dog.

Comments

  1. Beth Dalfino says

    2013-10-21 at 6:08 pm

    I just made this bread. It was so easy and so yummy. I really like the recipe because there wasn’t many ingredients that is what I like.

    Reply
  2. Kasey says

    2013-11-03 at 3:52 pm

    I just use the canned pumpkin, and a box of spice cake… Kinda the same concept though 🙂
    With mine, same process, but you only mix the canned and spice cake mix… nothing else. Then bake like above

    Reply
    • Ellie says

      2016-09-27 at 9:42 pm

      no eggs?? you just mix pumpkin and cake mix??

      Reply
      • Marybeth Hamilton says

        2017-10-24 at 11:24 am

        No! Follow the directions on the box as stated in the recipe.

        Reply
        • Renee says

          2018-07-14 at 5:55 pm

          No, you can mix together just the cake mix and pumpkin and bake. I do this this with a box of dazzled devil’s food cake mixture in a 16 oz can of pumpkin, mix well, spoon into 24 cupcakes; cupcake pan sprayed well, or use liners. No eggs, no oil.

          Reply
          • Kris Andersen says

            2018-09-12 at 12:55 pm

            YES! Renee, that’s how I make mine too but add 1/2 cup water to the 2 ingredients and NO EGGS!. Makes it Vegan so my 2 boys and DIL (who are Vegan) love to eat them too. I sprinkle a little bit of cinn/sugar mixture right on top before baking too. Sooo yummy!

      • Caroline says

        2019-07-09 at 3:21 pm

        Ok I just put this in the oven. I did make a few tweaks. I used a spice cake mix also added 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon of ground clove, ground ginger and ground nutmeg. Also sprinkled granulated sugar on top of batter before baking for that extra sweet crunch. I’ll let you know how it turned out in about an hour.

        Reply
    • Judy says

      2020-10-10 at 12:45 pm

      Can you freeze this wonderful bread???

      Reply
  3. Brenda says

    2013-12-03 at 7:20 am

    I’ve been making these for years, you can do other variations too, make banana bread, apple bread, key lime bread, orange bread, butter rum. The possibility are endless the only thing you change is cake mix flavor and pie filling or fruit. You can add nuts too.every christmas we make small loaves and put in gift baskets with 3 small loaves of various flavors, and cordinating fruits and nuts, for the grand parents and other family members, they rave about them year.
    The key is the eggs and leaving out water, makes it more dense and the fruit makes up for water you would normally add.

    Reply
    • jbmalcolm says

      2015-12-19 at 6:40 pm

      Can you make zucchini bread with a cake mix?

      Reply
    • Mchele says

      2019-09-01 at 11:06 pm

      Brenda
      I am not sure how long you bake them for small loaf pan could you help?

      Reply
      • Carol says

        2019-11-02 at 2:34 pm

        I made mine with great value mix. It called for 3 eggs & 1/3 C oil; added canned pumpkin, no water. Baked in 8 mini loaves, 30 min. They came out light like cupcakes. I wish they were more dense. Next time I’ll cut out one or two of the eggs, and maybe add pecans, raisins, or some such. Thirty minutes worked for me in convection oven. Start there and use toothpick method to check until done.

        Reply
    • Rose says

      2020-12-16 at 1:30 pm

      Thank you, that was my question. What about water it says on box?Because you just say check the box for eggs and oil nothing about the water so I’m glad I continued to scroll and check out the replies and questions. But I did figure the pumpkin made up for the water but I wandered, thank you again. Rose

      Reply
  4. Billye Robinson says

    2014-01-02 at 12:20 pm

    I made this recipe for Thanksgiving and I cooked it in my bundt pan like always…& it never got done.
    Any ideas?

    Reply
    • Marybeth Hamilton says

      2014-01-06 at 2:11 pm

      I really have no idea why it wouldn’t work–I’ve never had that problem. I would think a bundt pan would provide a nice, even distribution of the batter for the bread. Maybe try it again with a loaf pan to see if that’s the issue?

      Reply
      • Rachael says

        2017-12-06 at 8:06 pm

        I don’t have a loaf pan & was debating on doing it in my bundt. I didn’t know if I should double the recipe &/or how long I should cook it (initially). Any ideas?

        Reply
  5. kelly says

    2015-09-15 at 4:33 pm

    the box mix calls for a cup of water. do i use that or no? the batter is really thick… is that normal?

    Reply
    • Marybeth Hamilton says

      2015-09-19 at 11:45 pm

      Hi Kelly,
      Yes, it’s ok that the batter is quite thick. Not adding the water is what gives the bread a denser consistency than cake.

      Reply
      • Carol says

        2019-11-02 at 2:36 pm

        Don’t use water. Pumpkin provides moisture.

        Reply
  6. Susan says

    2015-09-20 at 12:33 pm

    I baked this delicious bread and added 1cup of raisins to the batter. It is outstanding. I have made pumpkin bread before with a lot more steps to it. This is quick and easy. Thank you for sharing.

    Reply
  7. nancy says

    2015-10-25 at 10:32 am

    Just put this in the oven! Can’t wait foe it to come out of the oven.

    Reply
  8. Lucky says

    2015-11-02 at 11:37 am

    Did you add the 1 cup of water like the mix says because my bread was too dense???

    Thanks

    Lucky

    Reply
  9. Lucky says

    2015-11-02 at 12:14 pm

    I mean WET not dense

    Reply
  10. Kristin says

    2015-11-23 at 11:05 am

    Are you using 8×8 loaf pans? I bought a 3 pack of them at the store. The ones you can just throw away after. Should I still grease it as well?

    Reply
  11. Linda says

    2015-11-29 at 7:39 am

    Why isn’t there any water in this recipe? My batter was so thick I had to add some to make it mixable?

    Reply
  12. Kristy Jordan says

    2017-08-14 at 6:54 pm

    Can you freeze this

    Reply
    • Marybeth Hamilton says

      2017-08-16 at 10:08 pm

      I would freeze it, but I try freezing lots of stuff! I would wrap it in plastic wrap then in foil (or plastic wrap then a plastic container) before freezing.

      Reply
  13. Sam says

    2017-09-23 at 9:07 am

    Been in for 50 min… still uncooked In the middle???

    Reply
  14. Joan Miskelly says

    2017-10-20 at 9:00 am

    I( do not have vegetable oil. Can I use olive oil instead? if not, what about coconut oil? This is a ll I have in the cabinet and can’t run to the store.

    Reply
    • Jennifer McCabe says

      2017-11-19 at 1:35 am

      I used rice bran oil for mine and it worked fine

      Reply
  15. Barb Tabaka says

    2017-10-21 at 9:52 am

    Does this only make 1 loaf at a time ?

    Reply
  16. Michele says

    2017-11-20 at 9:48 pm

    Can I use spice cake mix 15.25 oz instead of yellow cake mix. Thank you for quick response. Also can chocolate chips be put in the mixture

    Reply
    • Marybeth Hamilton says

      2017-11-21 at 4:57 pm

      You can definitely use spice cake mix instead of yellow cake mix.

      Reply
  17. steve lovelidge says

    2018-02-12 at 10:44 am

    i already have a pillsbury pumkin cake mix and want to turn it into pumkin bread.
    what do i need to add to the cake mix to change the texture from a cake to bread?
    a cake mix is light while a bread is thicker having more substance.

    Reply
    • Carol says

      2019-11-02 at 2:43 pm

      Add egg and oil as the package says but no water. In fact my package called for three eggs. Next time I’m going to cut it down to just one (maybe 2) egg. Mine came out too light and fluffy with 3, unlike the dense quality of most quick breads.

      Reply
  18. Jennifer says

    2018-02-16 at 11:15 pm

    Hi, can I substitute applesauce for the oil? Or something else healthier? Thanks!

    Reply
  19. Edythe Raskopf says

    2018-03-02 at 3:27 pm

    Just took two loaves out of the oven, sans water as one of the ingredients. Removed tins from 375 degree oven at 41 minutes. Added a fourth egg as they were small and 3/4 cup of yellow raisins. Lined pans with parchment paper. Be sure to spray pan lightly before you add the paper for easy removal. Haven’t tried it yet, looks wonderful, just like the chef’s photo.

    Reply
    • Marybeth Hamilton says

      2018-03-02 at 3:38 pm

      I’m so happy to hear that!

      Reply
  20. Tina says

    2018-07-27 at 8:22 pm

    I use applesauce instead of oil and then toss in mini choc chips. To die for!

    Reply
    • Marybeth Hamilton says

      2018-07-27 at 11:35 pm

      That sounds delicious!

      Reply
  21. Hannah says

    2018-09-18 at 8:24 am

    We are doing Weight Watchers so we substituted the oil for applesauce and used a sugar free cake mix and it still tastes amazing! Your directions were so good that the budding 13year old baker in our house made this like a pro! The bread is light and moist and is definitely going to be made often at this house! Thanks! P.S. it was taken to an office and shared and they loved it and the kids are happily eating it at home.

    Reply
  22. Debi says

    2018-09-24 at 5:19 pm

    I made this and I will continue to make this!!! I am going to also use the batter to make cupcakes. I love this. It will be my go to recipe!
    What I did:
    I used the white cake mix and added spices. I also added a handful of brown sugar. Mixed it all up according to this recipe. On top of the batter I put crushed pecans and a little brown sugar and sprinkled on top and patted them in. I did that because my granddaughter doesn’t like nuts I think, and this way she can take the top off and still eat it! On the loaf pan I sprayed Pam and then I sprinkled a little white sugar along the edges of the pan. There are sooo many variations you could do! I’m thinking of swirling brown sugar through the batter before I put it in the pan. Or take some of the cake mix when it’s plain and putting it in another bowl and adding cream cheese then swirling this into the pumpkin batter. The ideas are endless! I wish I could post a picture!

    Reply
  23. Hannah says

    2018-10-26 at 6:31 pm

    Is this for one or two loaves?

    Reply
    • Marybeth Hamilton says

      2018-10-27 at 11:50 am

      One big loaf or two small loaves.

      Reply
  24. Dena Holland says

    2018-10-31 at 7:39 am

    This looks so easy and i have the ingredients alteady!! Put it on my phone’s front page!! Thank you so much!

    Reply
  25. Dawn says

    2018-11-15 at 9:22 pm

    can you make cupcakes using this recipe?

    Reply
    • Dawn says

      2018-11-15 at 9:25 pm

      Not cupcakes….I meant muffins?

      Reply
  26. Carol says

    2018-11-24 at 10:04 am

    I’m grandma. Ev was gone loves my good old fashion cooking. I’m too tired and love the short cut , cake mix. Just made your recipe. I added chopped pecans. Baking at 350 for 40 minutes. Will let you know. Thank you

    Reply
  27. Teresa says

    2019-03-28 at 12:39 pm

    Do I add any water to the cake mix

    Reply
  28. Teresa says

    2019-03-28 at 12:40 pm

    Do I add water to the cake mix

    Reply
  29. Carol says

    2019-11-02 at 2:22 pm

    I added eggs & oil according to cake mix package and felt the bread came out like a loaf-shaped cake in texture. Do you think it would be a little denser if I subtracted an egg or maybe even two (the package called for 3)? That’s what I love about breads versus cake or cupcakes. Breads are usually much denser.

    Reply
  30. Lynn says

    2020-09-08 at 2:45 pm

    Hi! Just put pumpkin bread in the oven using your recipe plus extra pumpkin pie spice, vanilla and pecans…baking in a bundt pan. Can’t wait for the beautiful fall smell of pumpkin bread! Thanks for sharing your recipe.

    Reply
    • Marybeth says

      2020-09-10 at 6:28 pm

      Your additions sound [email protected]

      Reply
  31. Rachel Harries says

    2020-11-25 at 1:03 pm

    I’m making this for Thanksgiving Breakfast tomorrow. I added 1 TBSP cinnamon & ginger + 1 tsp nutmeg & 1/2 cp Brown Sugar, 2 shredded zucchini & eggs. Topped with 1TBSP on each bread (makes 2) Raw sugar and Pepitas. Topping with chai cream cheese frosting. Letting it rest till tomorrow so the flavors really develop. Talk about a beautiful Thanksgiving Breakfast!

    Reply
    • Marybeth says

      2020-11-26 at 4:42 pm

      That sounds AMAZING! Please tell me how it tastes! We’re also having Thanksgiving breakfast and I’m super excited for it.

      Reply
  32. kathy colvin says

    2020-12-06 at 3:34 pm

    Yellow cake mix, last dry raisins (about a half cup), 2 eggs, 1/3c oil, I black frozen banana, defrosted, and the last cup of pie filling (left after I filled the pies for Thanksgiving) defrosted. Plus some cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger. Made 23 cupcakes, baked long, took almost 30 min. THEN, I used the bit of coconut pecan frosting, and the little bit of cream cheese frosting, defrosted. Delicious cupcakes. Freezer is a little more under control, which was the point. Right?

    Reply
  33. Rose says

    2020-12-19 at 10:18 pm

    If we don’t freeze right away, because not eating for a day or so, how should I store it?

    Reply

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