Pumpkin Bread

I know I know it’s February and Fall is long gone, but I’m still not ready to part with my fondness for pumpkin.  Since I’m a hopeless hoarder and bought a few too many sugar pumpkins back in November, I still had one sitting around waiting to be transformed into something more exciting than a frozen puree sitting around forgotten in the back of my freezer.  I noticed that Jennie from Straight From The Farm has been putting up a lot of pumpkin posts recently, and knew I couldn’t go wrong with a recipe from another pumpkin fanatic.  I chose to make her pumpkin bread, which I thought would do an excellent job of satisfying my fall cravings, but it really just intensified them and kept me wishing I had made several loaves instead of one.  I meant to incorporate some into French Toast like Jennie did, but it was so great on its own it disappeared much too quickly…another reason to make twice as much next time!

Pumpkin Bread
A Straight from the Farm Original

• 1 1/4 C. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 C. white whole wheat flour
• 2 t. baking powder
• 1/4 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. salt
• 2 t. cinnamon
• 1/2 t. freshly ground nutmeg
• 1/4 t. ground cloves
• 1/8 t. ground allspice
• 1/3 C. margarin/butter, I used Earth Balance spread
• 2/3 C. sugar
• 2 eggs, room temp and beaten
• 1 C. pumpkin puree

Pumpkin Puree (I prefer fresh over canned any day, but feel free to use either):

1) Preheat oven to 350 F.  Cut pumpkin in half and roast face down for 45 minutes or until all flesh is soft.  Let cool

2) Scoop out flesh and process in food processor till smooth.  

3) Can pour it through a sieve if you want it extra smooth (I’m usually too lazy to do this).  Freeze extras for later use. 

*If you don’t have all the spices in the recipe on hand and don’t feel like buying them all, you can use a pumpkin pie spice blend instead.  Use 1 t. of cinnamon along with 2 t. of pumpkin pie spice. 

1) Preheat oven to 350 F and grease one large or two small loaf pans.  Set aside.

2) Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices 

3) Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add beaten eggs and mix well. 

4) Add a third of the dry ingredient mix, then a third of the pumpkin.  Continue to alternate these two until all is just combined in the batter.  Do not overmix. 

5) Pour batter into prepared pan(s) and bake for an hour or until golden brown and springy to the touch.   

To store for more than two days, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and store in fridge.  You may also freeze it. Delicious warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or turned into French toast.