Pumpkin Cornbread (Moist Cast Iron Skillet Recipe)

Name: Pumpkin Cornbread
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 28 min
Total time: 43 min
Ingredients: 3/4 cup cornmeal; 1 cup all purpose flour; 2 tsp baking powder; 1/2 tsp baking soda; 1/2 tsp salt; 1 tsp ground cinnamon; 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg; 1/2 tsp ground cardamom (optional); 1/4 cup vegetable oil (or canola oil); 3/4 cup milk; 1/2 cup brown sugar; 2 tbsp maple syrup; 2 large eggs; 1 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling); 2 tbsp pumpkin seeds (raw, optional)

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The color gives it away before anything else does. Pumpkin Cornbread comes out of the skillet a deep golden orange, pepitas set into a top that has gone crisp at the edges and stayed soft underneath. Fifteen minutes of mixing, under half an hour in the oven, and no mixer anywhere in sight.

This is not a sweet orange cake wearing a cornbread name. It is a real pumpkin cornbread recipe, made in cast iron, with just enough brown sugar and maple to round out the corn without turning the whole thing into dessert. If you enjoy skillet baking, you will also love my Southern Cornbread in a Skillet and my Cast Iron Sweet Cornbread.

Pumpkin cornbread topped with pepitas baked in a black cast iron skillet

Quick Look at this Recipe

✅ Recipe Name: Pumpkin Cornbread
🕒 Ready In: 43 minutes (15 prep, 28 bake)
👪 Serves: 8 to 16 people
🥣 Main Ingredients: Cornmeal, pumpkin puree, brown sugar, maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, pepitas
📖 Dietary Info: Vegetarian. Contains gluten, dairy and eggs.
⭐ Why You'll Love It: All the warmth of a pumpkin bake with the rustic crumb of real cornbread, in one skillet.

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Quick Look at this Recipe
Why You'll Love Pumpkin Cornbread
Why Pumpkin Cornbread Bakes Differently
Cast Iron Skillet Notes
Pumpkin Cornbread Ingredients
How to Make Pumpkin Cornbread
Variations
Expert Tips
Troubleshooting
Storing and Freezing
What to Serve With Pumpkin Cornbread
Frequently Asked Questions
More Delicious Recipes
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Why You'll Love Pumpkin Cornbread

Two Bowls and a Spoon: Whisk the dry, whisk the wet, bring them together. There is no creaming step and no mixer to wash.
It Stays Moist for Days: That is the pumpkin doing the work, and there is a good reason for it that most recipes skip right past.
It Belongs at Dinner, Not Dessert: Half a cup of brown sugar spread across a whole skillet lands this next to a bowl of chili, not next to the ice cream.
The Skillet Earns Its Keep: Cast iron holds heat evenly enough to set the edges into a proper crust while the center stays tender.

Why Pumpkin Cornbread Bakes Differently

Here is the thing almost nobody tells you about pumpkin cornbread: pumpkin puree is roughly ninety percent water, and that water shows up carrying pectin, fiber and solids. It adds weight and it adds moisture, but it adds no structure at all. That is the entire reason this bakes denser than a plain skillet cornbread, and it is worth understanding because three of the recipe's choices follow directly from it.

The first is the ratio. This recipe runs flour-forward, one cup of all purpose flour to three quarters of a cup of cornmeal. Most pumpkin cornbread recipes go one to one. Cornmeal has no gluten, so it cannot hold anything up on its own. Leaning on the flour gives the crumb something to hang onto while all that pumpkin tries to pull it down.

The second is the oven temperature. This bakes at 350 degrees, which is cooler than most. A heavy, wet batter needs time for the center to set. Run the oven at 400 and the edges are past done while the middle is still batter.

The third is that you mix it by hand. This is not a nostalgia thing. A wet batter develops gluten fast when you work it, and gluten is exactly what turns a tender cornbread rubbery. Stir until the streaks of flour disappear and then put the spoon down.

Cast Iron Skillet Notes

A well-seasoned ten inch skillet needs nothing. No spray, no butter, no parchment. If your skillet is new or bare, or you are using a 9x9 pan instead, give it a light coat of nonstick spray or butter first.

You may have noticed this recipe does not preheat the skillet, and that is deliberate. Preheating is the right call for a thin buttermilk cornbread, where you want the batter to hit hot fat and set an instant crust. This batter is thick and heavy and needs every minute of the bake to rise through the middle. Drop it into a screaming hot pan and you set the outside before the center has any chance to catch up. Cold skillet, hot oven.

Pan size shifts the timing more than people expect. A twelve inch skillet spreads the same batter thinner, so start checking at twenty minutes. A nine inch runs deeper and may want thirty to thirty two.

One last thing: cast iron keeps cooking after it comes out of the oven. The bottom crust will keep darkening in a hot pan, so either serve it from the skillet within about fifteen minutes or move it onto a rack.

Pumpkin Cornbread Ingredients

Labeled ingredients for pumpkin cornbread including cornmeal, flour, pumpkin puree, maple syrup and pepitas

Cornmeal and all purpose flour
Baking powder and baking soda
Salt
Ground cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom
Vegetable or canola oil
Milk
Brown sugar and maple syrup
Large eggs
Pumpkin puree
Pumpkin seeds

See the recipe card at the bottom of this post for exact measurements.

Buy pure pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling. The can you want says one hundred percent pumpkin and lists exactly one ingredient. Pie filling arrives pre-sweetened and pre-spiced with extra liquid, and it will throw the whole batter off. If you end up with most of a can left over, my Skillet Pumpkin Dump Cake is a good place to send it.

Check how wet your puree is. Not all canned pumpkin is the same. Store brands and organic purees often run noticeably looser than the big national brand, and a wet puree is the most common reason a pumpkin cornbread comes out heavy. If it looks soupy when you open the can, spread it on a paper towel for a minute and blot it before you measure.

Use raw pumpkin seeds, not roasted. They toast in the oven while the cornbread bakes, which is exactly what you want. Seeds that were already roasted will scorch before the timer goes off. If you want to know what to do with the rest of the bag, my Spiced Pepitas will handle that.

Cardamom is optional and I would not skip it. It brightens the pumpkin and adds an almost citrusy note that cuts the sweetness. Without it the bread is good. With it the bread is balanced.

Go fine or medium on the cornmeal. Coarse grind reads gritty against a crumb this soft.

How to Make Pumpkin Cornbread

Cornmeal, flour and warm spices whisked together in a white mixing bowl

Step 1: Whisk the Dry Ingredients. Cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and all the spices go in a large bowl together.

Eggs, oil, milk, brown sugar and maple syrup whisked in a mixing bowl

Step 2: Whisk the Wet Ingredients. Oil, milk, brown sugar, maple syrup and eggs in a medium bowl.

Pumpkin puree being stirred into the wet ingredients for pumpkin cornbread

Step 3: Add the Pumpkin. Stir the puree into the wet mixture until it is smooth and evenly colored.

Pumpkin mixture poured into a well in the dry cornbread ingredients

Step 4: Make a Well. Push the dry ingredients out from the center and pour the pumpkin mixture in.

Thick pumpkin cornbread batter mixed by hand with a wooden spoon

Step 5: Stir to a Thick Batter. By hand, just until the flour streaks disappear.

Pumpkin cornbread batter in a cast iron skillet topped with raw pumpkin seeds

Step 6: Into the Skillet. Pour, scatter the pepitas across the top, and bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 28 minutes.

Variations

Muffins: Divide the batter into a lined twelve cup tin and bake 18 to 20 minutes.
Gluten Free: A one to one gluten free baking blend swaps straight in for the all purpose flour. The cornmeal is already gluten free.
Savory Version: Cut the brown sugar down to two tablespoons, leave out the maple syrup, and stir in a tablespoon of chopped fresh sage or rosemary. Serve it with a roast instead of chili. If you want to go the other direction entirely, my Cast Iron Sweet Cornbread takes the sweetness all the way up.
The Shortcut Version: If you are short on time, a box of Jiffy corn muffin mix plus half a cup of pumpkin puree and half a teaspoon of cinnamon gets you in the neighborhood. Hold back a little of the liquid the box asks for, since the pumpkin brings its own. It comes out softer and sweeter than this one, but on a Tuesday nobody is complaining.
Not Feeling Pumpkin: My Skillet Creamed Corn Cornbread goes the savory sweet-corn route instead, same skillet, same weeknight timing.
9x9 Pan: Grease it, same oven temperature, and give it an extra two or three minutes.

Expert Tips

A slice of pumpkin cornbread lifted from the skillet showing the moist golden crumb

Look for Moist Crumbs, Not a Clean Toothpick: This is the tip that saves the most pumpkin cornbread. Most recipes tell you to bake until a tester comes out clean, but on a batter this wet, clean means you have already gone a few minutes too far. A few damp crumbs clinging to the toothpick is exactly right. If you bake with a thermometer, the center reads about 195 to 205 degrees.
Mix by Hand and Stop Early: The moment the flour disappears, you are done.
Raw Pepitas Only: Roasted ones burn.
Rest It 5 to 10 Minutes Before You Cut: The starches are still setting when it comes out of the oven. Slice into it too soon and you tear the crumb, which is what people are describing when they say a cornbread came out gummy.
Spoon and Level Your Flour: Scooping the cup straight into the bag packs in a surprising amount of extra flour, and that is a fast route to dry.

Troubleshooting

Gummy or Wet Through the Middle: It came out early, or it got cut early. Give it the full 28 minutes and then let it rest before the first slice.
The Center Sank: Usually an overmixed batter, sometimes an oven door opened too soon. Stir just to combined and leave it alone for the first twenty minutes.
Dry and Crumbly: A few minutes too long in the oven, or too much flour in the cup. Spoon and level.
Heavy and Dense: Nine times out of ten this is a watery puree. Blot it next time.
Pale on Top: Skillet sitting too low in the oven. Move the rack to the middle.

Storing and Freezing

Covered at room temperature, pumpkin cornbread keeps for about three days. The fridge buys you another five, though refrigeration does dry cornbread out, so let chilled slices come back to room temperature before serving.

For longer storage, it freezes well for up to two months in an airtight container. Cool it completely first. Wrapping it while it is still warm traps steam, and that turns into ice on the surface and a soggy slice when it thaws.

The best way to bring a slice back is in the skillet you baked it in. Melt a little butter over medium heat, lay the slice cut side down, and give it about two minutes. You get a fresh crisp face on it that a microwave will never manage.

What to Serve With Pumpkin Cornbread

This is chili and soup territory, and the pairing that makes the most sense is the obvious one: my Dutch Oven Pumpkin Chili puts pumpkin on both sides of the table and somehow does not feel repetitive. If you would rather keep the pumpkin in the bread and go classic with the bowl, Dutch Oven Awesome Chili is the one I reach for most, and Dutch Oven White Chicken Chili is the lighter option. For something with a little more smoke to it, Dutch Oven Ham and Bean Soup is hard to beat on a cold night.

On a Thanksgiving table it sits comfortably beside Herb Butter Turkey and a dish of Southern Style Creamed Corn, and a leftover slice with butter and a drizzle of maple syrup makes a breakfast worth getting up for.

A slice of pumpkin cornbread on a white plate with autumn styling

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you add pumpkin to cornbread mix?

Yes. Stir about half a cup of pumpkin puree into a standard 8.5 ounce box mix along with half a teaspoon of cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg. Hold back a tablespoon or two of the liquid the box calls for, since the puree brings its own moisture. The result is softer and sweeter than this from scratch version, but it works well when time is short.

Why is my pumpkin cornbread dense or gummy in the middle?

Almost always one of three things. It came out of the oven a few minutes early, it was cut before it had a chance to rest, or the pumpkin puree was unusually wet. Pumpkin adds a lot of water without adding any structure, so this batter needs the full 25 to 28 minutes and then 5 to 10 minutes of rest before the first slice. If your puree looks loose in the can, blot it with a paper towel before measuring.

Can I use pumpkin pie filling instead of pumpkin puree?

No. Pumpkin pie filling is already sweetened and spiced and carries extra liquid, which throws off the ratio of the whole recipe. Look for a can labeled one hundred percent pure pumpkin with nothing else on the ingredient list.

What do I do with the leftover pumpkin in the can?

A 15 ounce can holds about one and three quarter cups and this recipe uses one, so you will have roughly three quarters of a cup left over. It keeps five days covered in the fridge or three months in the freezer. Freeze it in quarter cup portions in an ice cube tray and it is ready for the next batch, or stir it into oatmeal, pancake batter or a pot of chili.

Can I make this in a 9x9 pan or as muffins?

Both work. Grease a 9x9 and bake at the same temperature, adding two or three minutes. For muffins, divide the batter into a lined twelve cup tin and bake 18 to 20 minutes. A twelve inch skillet spreads the batter thinner, so start checking it at twenty minutes.

How do I store and reheat pumpkin cornbread?

Covered at room temperature it keeps three days, and the fridge adds about five more, though refrigeration does dry it out. It freezes up to two months in an airtight container, cooled completely first. To reheat, melt butter in a skillet over medium heat and lay the slice cut side down for about two minutes.