Pumpkin cornbread is an incredibly moist, flavorful fall quick bread with a hint of warm spice ~ perfect with chili, soups, and Thanksgiving dinner.
This is my signature cornbread ~ I would never dream of doing Thanksgiving without it. The family loves it so much I make it as a side for chili or soup all winter long.
➡ Pumpkin makes this cornbread exceptionally moist, while brown sugar and molasses give it a rich flavor. A hint of cardamom and nutmeg adds warmth.
➡ Cornbread is ridiculously easy (sorry biscuits and rolls) ~ it’s just dump, whisk, and bake.
➡ I even make it into pumpkin cornbread muffins, and a delicious cranberry pumpkin cornbread!
Choosing cornmeal for pumpkin cornbread
There are lots of different types of cornmeal. I recommend fine or medium grind yellow cornmeal for this recipe (I always use medium grind.)
- Fine Cornmeal: creates a soft, cake-like cornbread with a smooth texture.
- Medium Cornmeal: results in moist, flavorful cornbread with a slightly grainy texture, striking a balance between tenderness and heartiness.
- Coarse Cornmeal: will make a grittier cornbread, which is not what we want for this recipe.
Additionally, cornmeal can be white or yellow: I love to use yellow because yellow cornmeal has a slightly more pronounced corn flavor and a beautiful golden color that complements the pumpkin.
Pumpkin cornbread in 4 easy steps
Pumpkin cornbread is the kind of approachable recipe that could easily be memorized.
- Whisk the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl.
- Whisk the wet ingredients together in a larger bowl.
- Fold the dry ingredients into the wet, just until combined.
- Bake.
Make ahead tip: for the holidays you can mix the dry and wet separately the night before and bake off the next day. Cornbread cooks quickly, so you could actually bake it while the turkey rests, and bring it to the table hot out of the oven!
Pumpkin cornbread questions
Yes, a 9″ square pan will work fine. If you use a standard 9×5 loaf pan you may need to bake it a little longer to get it cooked through the center.
Yes, but I recommend draining or cooking down your fresh puree until it has the thick consistency of canned pumpkin, for best results.
Like many cornbread recipes this one does include a bit of sugar. Brown sugar adds moisture and brings out the flavors in this pumpkin cornbread without making it taste overtly sweet.
Yes, it freezes beautifully. Let it cool completely before wrapping and freezing to avoid condensation.
Honey or even a hot honey would be nice. You could serve with cranberry butter, pumpkin butter, or apple butter as well.
Notes from Your Kitchens
A savory twist: Lia left out the brown sugar and swapped the spices for sage, thyme, and rosemary. I love this idea for Thanksgiving!
Cornbread for the freezer: Paula made the recipe as muffins so she could freeze individual portions. Smart!
Gluten-free success: Natalie used a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend with great results.
Bring out the cast iron: Maret baked hers in a 10⅝-inch cast-iron skillet with success. A great way to bring cornbread straight to the table.
Better the next day? Jimi thought the flavor was even better the following day. Good news for holiday planning!
A little heat: Margarita added Dutch cocoa and chipotle sauce for a completely different take. Now that’s creative.
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Pumpkin Cornbread
Equipment
- 9 inch round cake pan or spring form pan
Ingredients
- 1 cup AP flour
- 1 cup yellow cornmeal
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground cardamom, use cinnamon or ginger if you prefer
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg, you can also use mace
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup pumpkin purée
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 2 Tbsp molasses
- 1/3 cup buttermilk, or milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375F
- Whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, and spices in a medium bowl.
- In a large bowl whisk together the sugar, eggs, pumpkin, oil, molasses, and buttermilk. Make sure it all gets thoroughly combined.
- Fold the dry ingredients into the wet, mixing just until there's no dry flour left.
- Turn into a buttered 9 inch spring form pan, spreading out evenly. Bake for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool for a few minutes in the pan, then remove and serve warm or continue to cool to room temperature.
Notes
Nutrition
Other cornbread recipes to try
BEST cornbread I have ever made! I had fresh pumpkin (so so much) to use and I came your site, first. Found this and I’m never NOT making cornbread this way again. So good! I followed the recipe as written, but I made mine into muffins so I could freeze them easily. Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe!
I’m so glad you loved this Paula, it’s one of my longtime favorites and I make it every year at least once or twice. Always for Thanksgiving.
If I could give this recipe a 6 I would. I made it to take to Thanksgiving dinner. It was a huge hit. Everyone asked for the recipe. It is really good with honey butter. I will make this again!
Thanks Sandy!
This is the cornbread recipe I’ve been waiting my whole life for! Thank you so much for cracking the code on making a moist, delicious cornbread! The spice blend is great as-is, and that’s how I made it my first time with great results. Today I made it with sage, thyme and rosemary and omitted the brown sugar. Since the texture is really the key to cornbread, I see myself using this recipe over and over again! Thank you again for the superb recipe!
We are cornbread fans but have never before tried adding pumpkin and the spices to it. The result was easy, quick, and delicious! Will be adding this recipe to our collection, thank you! I used a 10 5/8″ cast iron skillet which is my go-to for cornbread. I also used dark brown sugar which is what I had, but next time I’ll use light brown sugar given molasses is also an ingredient. Using light rather than dark brown sugar would probably have a milder sweetness for this savory cornbread.
I’m curious, given the smaller can of pumpkin is less than 2 cups, have you ever made this recipe with less than one cup of pumpkin puree? I’m wondering what to do with the remainder of the can since a lot of recipes use 1 cup.
Glad you enjoyed this Maret. Great question about the canned pumpkin ~ I think you could make it with half a can (and freeze the other half) if you slightly boost the milk/buttermilk.
Made this and everyone at the dinner party loved it!
Great recipe worked out well, smelt & tasted really good
Glad you loved it, it’s a family favorite here!
Every time I make this I am asked for the recipe. Doesn’t get better than that!
Love it, thanks!
I used Swerve brown sweetener and avocado oil. This was excellent. Not too much in any direction in flavors. It was moist instead of dry sand, but it was not gummy. You are blessed with talent, Jesus loves you.
What a fantastic taste…and aroma! My kitchen smelled wonderful when I made this. I love your website!
Making pumpkin cornbread for Thankgiving…I have self-rising Cornmeal with “Hot Rize”….I have no idea how to use this in your recipe….please help!
I would leave out the baking powder and you should be ok Hanna. Check your package to see if it contains added salt, in which case you might omit the salt in my recipe too. Good luck!