Starbucks Pumpkin Bread Recipe (Copycat Pumpkin & Pepita Loaf)

The Starbucks pumpkin bread recipe I have been making since 2023 is a dead ringer for the Pumpkin and Pepita Loaf sitting in the pastry case. Same thick slice, same soft dense crumb, same salted pepitas across the top. I spent years working behind a coffee bar on the Strip, so I have opinions about what that loaf is supposed to taste like.

The thing that makes it work is oil instead of butter. It comes out just as moist as the real loaf, and honestly a little more. It also uses a full 15 ounce can of pumpkin, so you are not left with half a can going fuzzy in the back of the fridge. And if you came here looking for the cream cheese version, that one is actually the Starbucks pumpkin cream cheese muffins, not the loaf. And if you miss Panera’s pumpkin muffins as much as I did, I recreated those too, here’s my Panera pumpkin muffin recipe.

Why This Starbucks Pumpkin Bread Recipe Works

Starbucks makes this loaf with oil, not butter, and that is the whole secret. Butter firms up as it cools, which is why so many homemade pumpkin breads taste great warm and turn dry by the next morning. Oil stays liquid at room temperature, so the crumb is still soft on day three.

The second thing is the pumpkin ratio. A full 15 ounce can goes into one 9×5 loaf, which is more pumpkin per slice than most recipes use. That is where the color comes from, and the density, and the reason a slice feels substantial instead of cakey.

I also measure the spices in separately instead of reaching for a premix. Cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves in the exact amounts below give you the warm rounded flavor of the real thing rather than the sharper ginger-forward taste most blends lean on.

Key Ingredients

Here is what you need. Full measurements are in the recipe card at the bottom.

• Pumpkin puree. Use puree, not pie filling. Pie filling is already sweetened and spiced and it will throw the whole loaf off. One 15 ounce can is exactly what this recipe takes.
• Granulated and brown sugar. Half and half. The brown sugar brings molasses depth and holds onto moisture. Using only white sugar gives you a paler, flatter loaf.
• Vegetable oil. This is the moisture. Canola, avocado, or light olive oil all work. Melted butter will taste lovely but it will firm the crumb up as it cools.
• Cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Measured separately. If you would rather use a blend, my homemade pumpkin pie spice blend is the closest match to these ratios.
• Pepitas. The salted green pumpkin seeds on top. This is the detail people skip and it is the one that makes a slice look like it came out of the Starbucks case. Press them lightly into the batter so they do not slide off.
• Eggs at room temperature. Cold eggs seize the oil and give you a slightly curdled looking batter.

Substitutions And Additions

• Flour. You can swap up to half the all-purpose flour for oat flour. A reader asked about going all oat flour and it is not a clean one to one, so I would not push past half.
• Chocolate chips. About three quarters of a cup folded in at the end. The real loaf does not have them, but this is the variation I get asked about most.
• Topping. If pepitas are not your thing, candied pecans or walnuts give you the same crunch with more sweetness. For a fully different finish, my pumpkin bread with a brown sugar streusel topping takes it in a bakery direction.

How to make this Starbucks pumpkin bread recipe

1. Whisk the dry ingredients. Flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves in a medium bowl. Then Combine the wet ingredients. Pumpkin puree, both sugars, oil, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl. Mix until it looks smooth and uniform.

2. Bring them together. Add the dry to the wet and stop mixing the moment you no longer see flour. Overmixing is what gives you a tough, tunneled loaf.

3. Pan it and top it. Pour into a greased and floured 9×5 pan or parchment lined baking pan, the same one I use for my Starbucks banana bread copycat. Smooth the top, then scatter the pepitas and press them in gently.

4. Bake. 350F, and start checking at 50 minutes. The window runs to 70 minutes depending on your pan and oven. If the top is browning before the center is set, tent it loosely with foil.

5. Cool. Ten minutes in the pan, then out onto a rack until completely cool. Slicing it warm will drag the crumb.

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If you make this Starbucks Pumpkin Pepita Loaf Dupe recipe, come back and leave a star rating and tell me how it went. I read every comment, and the ratings genuinely help other people find the recipe. You can keep going with the rest of my Starbucks copycat recipes any time.

5 from 17 votes

Starbucks Pumpkin Bread Copycat Recipe

By Chahinez Tabet Aoul

This delicious Starbucks pumpkin bread dupe recipe will yield something even better than the real deal for a fraction of the cost.

Prep: 15 minutes mins

Cook: 1 hour hr

Total: 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Servings: 12 servings

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Ingredients 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1 & 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• ▢ 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1 & 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ▢ ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• ▢ 15 oz canned pumpkin puree
• ▢ 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• ▢ 2/3 cup brown sugar
• ▢ ½ cup vegetable oil
• ▢ 2 large eggs
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds pepitas

Instructions 

• Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and flour a 9×5-inch loaf pan.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
  1 & 2/3 cup all-purpose flour, 3/4 teaspoon baking powder, 3/4 teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 & 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• In a large bowl, combine the pumpkin puree, granulated sugar, brown sugar, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla extract. Mix until well combined.
  15 oz canned pumpkin puree, 2/3 cup granulated sugar, 2/3 cup brown sugar, ½ cup vegetable oil, 2 large eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing until just combined. Be careful not to overmix.
• Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth the top with a spatula.
• Sprinkle the pumpkin seeds evenly over the top of the batter, gently pressing them down to stick better to the loaf.
  1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
• Bake in the preheated oven for about 50- 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If the loaf starts to brown too much on top, you can tent it with foil to prevent further browning.
• Remove the loaf from the oven and let it cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. Then transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely.

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Notes

Doneness by temperature, not time. The bake window on a full-can pumpkin loaf is genuinely wide, anywhere from 50 to 70 minutes depending on pan material and oven calibration. A toothpick can read clean while the center is still underbaked, because the pumpkin holds so much moisture. Pull the loaf when an instant-read thermometer in the center reads 200 to 205F. Below 200 the middle sinks as it cools. Above 210 the crumb starts to dry at the edges.

If the top is browning too fast, tent loosely with foil at the 40 minute mark and keep baking. Do not lower the oven temperature, since the loaf needs the heat to set the center.

Nutrition

Calories: 265Calories | Carbohydrates: 40g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 27mg | Sodium: 208mg | Potassium: 131mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 24g | Vitamin A: 5556IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 45mg | Iron: 2mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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