Pumpkin Bread

In college, I developed a pumpkin obsession around this time of the year. I don’t know how it started but for some reason I wanted to make pumpkin flavored everything. I made pumpkin butter, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin donut muffins, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin scones, the list goes on. You can say I made everything at least once. But the one recipe that I always went back to was my pumpkin bread.

This pumpkin bread is very moist, has just the right amount of sweetness and will have your whole house smelling delicious. The first couple of times I made this recipe, I actually used butternut squash then sweet potatoes. This was because after I was done making every other pumpkin flavored food that season and I went to go get more pumpkin puree, the season was coming to an end and stores were out. The recipe still turned out well with my replacements. But from that year forth, as soon as the leaves started changing color I would go to the store and dump all the cans of pumpkin puree into my cart. 😂

I am bringing my pumpkin obsession back for the month of November. So expect to see a new pumpkin recipe each week until December. If you don’t like pumpkins or allspice, I challenge you to at least try one of my pumpkin recipes. I have received compliments about this bread from people who are not pumpkin/allspice lovers so who knows, you might find something that you like.

Some Tips

• You can cut down the amount of fat by replacing half of the butter with apple sauce and by using water instead of milk. Back in college I always made the lower fat version of this bread and I used oil instead of butter. It was still always a hit but this time around after making it this way, I felt like it could be better so I made it again with butter, no apple sauce and milk and it did turn out better. But that is my opinion, you can try it both ways if you want and decide which one you like best.
• If you do not have all the individual spices you can use 1 1/4 teaspoon allspice, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon ginger instead.
• With almost all my recipes made in loaf pans, I like to bake them at low heat (300ºF to 325ºF) so they cook more evenly. They may take a little longer to bake but this way I avoid having dry or slightly burned edges since my oven is on the hotter side. If your oven is like mine, you may want to go for the lower heat option.

Pumpkin Bread

This recipe yields one 9 by 5 inch loaf.

• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp cloves
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 1 cup chopped nuts or chocolate chips (optional)

Method

Preheat oven to 325ºF or 350ºF (see notes above) then grease a loaf pan and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix pumpkin puree, eggs, butter, milk, vanilla and sugar together until completely combined. In another bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger together. Carefully mix the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture until thoroughly combined.

Pour the mixture into your greased loaf pan and bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out dry. Let it cool before slicing and serving.