Pumpkin Bread, A Darty for Lucky
I bet you are wondering about 2 things right now. What is a “darty” and what’s with the picture of pumpkin bread and dog biscuits? Am I right?
The answers begin with our dog Sammy receiving an invitation to a darty, a doggy birthday party for his buddy Lucky. Yes, even our dog has a social life. We decided only homemade doggy treats would do for Lucky. Sammy’s favorite, which we made for our 12 days of Christmas cookies, are these doggy-licious pumpkin peanut butter treats I found on the blog Use Real Butter. For this batch, I had some applesauce so I added a scoop of it to the dough just to sweeten the deal.
What to do with the extra pumpkin puree and applesauce…Pumpkin Bread of course. It was a no-brainer, despite the fact that we are on the cusp of summer not fall, it would be a shame to let the extra go to waste.
I do have a favorite pumpkin bread recipe but I remembered I had purchased a jar of pumpkin pie spice from King Arthur Flour. So instead of using my favorite recipe, I searched and found a new version on the blog My Baking Addiction that uses pumpkin pie spice. Game on…
This bread is easy to make and delicious I will be baking loaves year around. It is moist not gummy and just sweet enough, perfect with a cup of tea or coffee. The spice mix adds that familiar cinnamon and clove but doesn’t overpower the pumpkin. The flavors develop so it is even better the second day. Toasted with a smear of cream cheese or a pat of butter? Delish. Yummy enough to stand in line for a slice..but behind me, please.
Two for the Time of One
The recipe makes 2 loaves so freeze the second loaf for a rainy day. As with many quick bread recipes, it lends itself well to additions and substitutions, I couldn’t resist tweaking it. I added a cup of chopped apples, reduced the oil to 3/4 cup, and replaced the remaining 1/4 cup with applesauce. To finish the bread I added chopped pecans to the top of the batter and liberally sprinkled the top with cinnamon sugar. In place of apples, raisins, and nuts or chocolate chips would be crazy good.
That’s it for now, oh wait…more mail for Sammy. Ah, the life.
Pumpkin Bread with Apples
Ingredients
- 1 15 ounce can pumpkin puree
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup vegetable oil or 3/4 cup oil & 1/4 cup applesauce
- 2/3 cup water
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups sugar
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 cup diced apples granny smith or pippin or fuji which is less tart
Topping:
- 1/2-1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
- cinnamon sugar 1T granulated sugar + 2 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Grease and flour two loaf pans. 8.5x 4 although with additions use 1 8.5x4 and 1 9.5x5 pan
- Combine dry ingredients flour, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt in a bowl and set aside
- In a large bowl add pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, applesauce, water, vanilla and sugar. Whisk until well combined. This can be done by hand or in a mixer. Fold in dry ingredient mix.
- Add diced apples and half of nuts.
- Divide batter between loaf pans. Top with remaining nuts and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
- Bake 50-60 minutes. Loaves are done when cake tester comes out clean.
- Cool and remove from pans.
- Enjoy!
Birthday party for Lucky!