Pumpkin Bread Lab142 recipes
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What goes into pumpkin bread

The main ingredient list of all 142 recipes, with names merged so one choice counts once: unsalted and salted butter are butter, light and dark brown sugar are brown sugar, kosher and table salt are salt. Different flours stay apart. Frosting, glaze and other extras are counted on their own at the end.

In short

  • Most pumpkin bread recipes use oil (71%); 34% use butter, and 7% use both.
  • For sugar, 47% use white sugar alone, 35% white and brown sugar together, and 9% honey or maple syrup (with or without sugar).
  • For leavening, 57% use baking soda and baking powder together, 35% baking soda alone, and 5% baking powder alone.
  • For dairy, 64% use no dairy, 9% milk alone, and 7% buttermilk alone.
  • 18% add nuts, 15% chocolate and 9% fruit; 58% add none of these.

The main choices

Each block sorts every recipe into one group by a single decision. Amounts are the median among recipes in that group, scaled to 250 g of flour, the size of a typical loaf. The recipe named under each group is the one in it closest to the typical loaf on every ingredient.

Butter, oil or both

Each recipe counted once, by the fats in its main ingredient list.

  • Oil only

    median 124 g fat · closest to typical: Pumpkin Bread (livewellbakeoften.com)

    64%91 recipes

  • Butter only

    median 144 g fat · closest to typical: Plumcake alla zucca - pumpkin bread (ricettedalmondo.it)

    27%39 recipes

  • Oil and butter

    median 121 g fat · closest to typical: Pumpkin Bread (twopeasandtheirpod.com)

    7%10 recipes

  • Everything else

    1%2 recipes

Oil includes coconut oil (2%) and olive oil (2%).

White, brown or a syrup

Each recipe counted once, by the sweeteners in its main ingredient list.

Coconut sugar counts as brown (1 recipe). "With honey or maple syrup" means any liquid sweetener (honey, maple syrup and molasses), with or without dry sugar.

Baking soda, baking powder or both

Each recipe counted once, by what it relies on to rise.

  • Baking soda and baking powder

    median 10 g baking soda and powder · closest to typical: Pumpkin Bread (livewellbakeoften.com)

    57%82 recipes

  • Baking soda only

    median 7 g baking soda and powder · closest to typical: Plumcake alla zucca - pumpkin bread (ricettedalmondo.it)

    35%51 recipes

  • Baking powder only

    median 7 g baking soda and powder · closest to typical: Pain à la citrouille (cuisineaz.com)

    5%8 recipes

  • Everything else

    <1%1 recipe

Which dairy

Each recipe counted once, by the dairy in its main ingredient list. Butter is counted with the fats.

Add-ins

Share of recipes that add at least one of each. A recipe can add several, so the shares do not sum to 100%. 58% add none of these. Spice is one of the dish's own ratios on the overview rather than an add-in, so it is left out here.

  • Nuts18%

    pecans 7% · walnuts 6% · nuts 2%

  • Chocolate15%

    chocolate chips or chunks 15%

  • Fruit9%

    raisins 3% · cranberries 2% · apples 2%

  • Coconut, candy or chips5%

    chocolate hazelnut spread 4%

  • Cheese, herbs or other savory3%

    black pepper 2%

How often each ingredient appears

Share of the 142 recipes that list it at least once, for every ingredient in 5% or more of them. The median amount is among recipes that use it and give a weighable amount, scaled to 250 g of flour; for a flour, it is that flour's share of all the flour in the recipe.

  1. Eggs100%

    142 recipes · median 114 g (about 2.5 large eggs)

  2. Pumpkin99%

    141 recipes · median 302 g

  3. Salt94%

    134 recipes · median 3.6 g

  4. Baking soda93%

    133 recipes · median 6 g

  5. All-purpose flour92%

    132 recipes · median: all of the flour

  6. Granulated sugar88%

    126 recipes · median 215 g

  7. Cinnamon76%

    108 recipes · median 3.4 g

  8. Vegetable oil66%

    94 recipes · median 124 g

  9. Baking powder63%

    90 recipes · median 3.2 g

  10. Nutmeg59%

    85 recipes · median 1.5 g

  11. Vanilla54%

    78 recipes · median 4.9 g

  12. Brown sugar44%

    63 recipes · median 140 g

  13. Cloves40%

    57 recipes · median 0.8 g

  14. Butter34%

    49 recipes · median 130 g

  15. Spice blend34%

    49 recipes · median 6 g

  16. Ginger28%

    41 recipes · median 0.8 g

  17. Water21%

    30 recipes · median 90 g

  18. Chocolate chips or chunks15%

    22 recipes · median 165 g

  19. Milk12%

    18 recipes · median 88 g

  20. Buttermilk10%

    15 recipes · median 81 g

  21. Pecans7%

    11 recipes · median 63 g

  22. Allspice6%

    9 recipes · median 0.9 g

  23. Cream cheese6%

    9 recipes · median 185 g

  24. Sour cream6%

    9 recipes · median 109 g

  25. Walnuts6%

    9 recipes · median 71 g

  26. Orange juice5%

    8 recipes · median 90 g

Toppings and extras

26% of recipes (37 of 142) list something beyond the main recipe: a frosting, glaze, filling, crumb topping, a boiling bath or a sprinkle on top. None of it is counted above. The most common extra ingredients, as a share of all recipes:

  • Butter13% (19)
  • Powdered sugar9% (14)
  • All-purpose flour6% (9)
  • Brown sugar6% (9)
  • Salt6% (9)
  • Granulated sugar4% (7)
  • Maple syrup4% (7)
  • Cream cheese4% (6)
  • Milk4% (6)
  • Vanilla4% (6)

How the ingredients are counted

A recipe uses an ingredient when any line of its main ingredient list names it. Names are merged by the words in them, so “1 cup unsalted butter, softened” and “salted butter” are both butter, and a line that offers a choice (“walnuts or pecans”) counts as the first one named. Canola, vegetable and other neutral oils are one oil; coconut and olive oil are listed on their own.

Lines only for greasing the pan are left out (1 of them). Lines for brushing, sprinkling or serving, and lines that belong to a frosting, glaze, filling or topping, count as extras.

Amounts come from the grams on each recipe page: printed by the source, or converted from cups and spoons with standard densities. Scaling them to 250 g of flour lets a small recipe and a double batch line up. Percentages are rounded down.