How to Make Jennifer Garner's Favorite Pumpkin Bread Recipe

Jennifer Garner first made her "favorite" pumpkin bread recipe on a 2020 episode of her "Pretend Cooking Show." The endearingly sweet and joyous Garner rose bright and early (5:37 a.m.!) to make the bread for, what we assume, is a house full of equally sweet and joyous friends and family. Before her more than eight million Instagram followers, Garner measured, poured, divided, added, and subtracted her way to a perfectly fluffy loaf of our top-rated Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread. (There was a lot of math. Garner reduced the recipe from three loaves to just one. Don't worry, she shares her calculations on screen so you can make just one loaf, too.)

Despite a little sticky situation with the loaf pan — it happens to the best of us, Jennifer — the pumpkin bread looked positively perfect. When in doubt, give it a little more grease. And yes, let it rest for a bit before turning it out onto your cooling rack.

Between all the fractions and math speak, Garner shared that she loves this recipe because it's "indestructible." It's clear her love for the recipe has withstood the test of time, as she recently made our pumpkin bread again on another episode of the "Pretend Cooking Show." This time, she uses the "toddler-proof" recipe to make three lovely loaves for early holiday gifting.

The first time Garner made our pumpkin bread recipe, she had eight million Instagram followers, today her following has grown to a whopping 13 million followers. Just like the beloved actress, our pumpkin bread recipe has gotten more love over the years. In 2020, more than 7,000 Allrecipes users had rated the bread, today more than 10,000 users have rated it — and it's nearly perfect sitting at a 4.8-star rating.

Jennifer Garner's Favorite Pumpkin Bread Recipe

The original recipe for Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread makes three 3-x-7-inch loaves. In 2020, Garner shared her scaled-down version in her Instagram caption.

However, when she made it this time around, she used the original recipe — just replacing the canned pumpkin with one small sugar pumpkin that she bakes and purees herself.

Ingredients for One Loaf:

• Rounded 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 egg + 1 tablespoon egg
• 3 1/2 tablespoons water
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/8 teaspoon ginger

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease a loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, egg(s), oil, water, and sugar until well combined.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger.
4. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended.
5. Pour into prepared loaf pan.
6. Bake for about 50 minutes, until a toothpick (or knife) comes out clean.
7. Yum.