It’s The Great Pumpkin Bread, Charlie Brown!
Who else besides me groans at the first sign of the fall season. You walk outside, take in the fall air, admire the color of the leaves on the trees, the golden orange rays of sunlight that filter through…
When you notice
All around, everywhere you look…PUMPKIN, pumpkin lattes, pumpkin soup, pumpkin yogurt, pumpkin ice cream, yes, ALL THINGS PUMPKIN. There is no escape.
Consequently, aside from the mandatory Thanksgiving pumpkin pie, I have developed a slight aversion to pumpkin. This year, still cautious, we needed only one pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. So, what to do with the remaining pumpkin puree (Libby’s of course). I took a family poll, and it was a unanimous vote (except for me, lol) for pumpkin bread. Despite having numerous pumpkin bread recipes on 3Jamigos, I decided to do a search. The first recipe that popped up was Pumpkin Bread from Once Upon a Chef. Her family’s favorite, the recipe was given to her by her grandmother who had clipped it out of a magazine eons ago. With a 5-star rating and over two thousand ratings, this was a no-brainer.
The recipe reminded me of my Best Damn Banana Bread, instead of oil, the recipes call for butter. Hmmm, good start. The butter is combined first with sugar, it’s a lot of sugar, and the mixture will be crumbly not creamy so don’t keep beating it until the cows come home. Add eggs one at a time and combine thoroughly. Beat until mixture is light and fluffy. Add the pumpkin puree. The mixture might look curdled or separated, but that’s ok.
BTW, the recipe calls for 16 ounces of pumpkin, std cans are 15 ounces 🤷🏻♀️. Don’t sweat the one ounce. If you happen to have some applesauce you need to use up, throw in a heaping tablespoon. I had some yummy apple butter so I threw that in. You’ll be fine skipping it. Don’t open another can of pumpkin purée!
At low speed, add the flour. Mix just until combined. The batter will lose that grainy look. This is a pretty thick batter so you will need to scoop rather than pour it into your loaf pans. Divide between 2 8×4 loaf pans.
I mulled over adding a streusel topping but since this was the first time I was making it, I deferred. I’ve included a simple topping for those of us who cannot leave well enough alone.
This bread is delicious! It has a nice crumb, cake-like, not as tight as pumpkin bread made with oil. A nice balance of spices although I’m already tweaking it in my mind (less clove, add ginger) but totally good as is. One note, sift the dry ingredients together. I didn’t, and a few bites had too much clove.
I had forgotten how much I like pumpkin bread and how easy it is to make. This recipe is definitely going in the rotation!
Best Damn Pumpkin Bread
Equipment
- 2-8x4 loaf pans
Ingredients
Da Dry Stuff
- 2 cups all-purpose flour spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground clove or 3/4 tsp clove and 1/4 tsp ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg can substitute mace
Da Butter-Sugar
- 1-1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened 3/4 cup
- 2 cups sugar
Da Wet Stuff
- 2 large eggs
- 1 15-1/2 oz can 100% pure pumpkin
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F and set an oven rack in the middle position. Generously grease two 8 x 4-inch loaf pans with butter and dust with flour, or use a baking spray with flour in it, such as Pam with Flour or Baker's Joy.
- Sift flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, clove, cinnamon, and nutmeg into a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until just blended. It will be grainy not creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Continue beating until very light and fluffy, a few minutes. Beat in the pumpkin. The mixture might look grainy and curdled at this point -- not to worry, flour to the rescue in the next step.
- Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until combined. Do not overmix.
- Turn the batter into the prepared pans, dividing evenly, and bake for 65 – 75 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Start checking at 55 min. Let the loaves cool in the pans for about 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Pumpkin Apple Bread-Here, There, Everywhere for an easy streusel topping
-
Place 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar in a small bowl. Dampen your fingertips with water and work them into the sugar until it just begins to look like snow-if you pinch some, it should just barely hold together. Sprinkle the dampened sugar over the batter, aiming to get it clumped up together in spots. If you want, add a 1/2-1 tsp of cinnamon.
- Right before baking, sprinkle the batter in loaf pans with the nuts and finish with cinnamon sugar. Adds a bit of crunch.
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