Pumpkin Bread
Today’s recipe was a bit of an experiment. I have a Zucchini Bread recipe I have been playing with most of the summer to help increase the wheat flour and decrease the amount of sugar in the recipe without losing the flavor. The experiment went a step further today where I decided to sub out the zucchini for pureed pumpkin and the cinnamon for pumpkin pie spice, I’m happy to report, the experiment was a success and I’m excited to share it with you today!
To start, I would have 2 cups of pureed pumpkin on hand, then move on the making the recipe.
A couple of notes: for the flour, you can use all-purpose flour if that is what you have on hand, this recipe is not fussy. For the oil, a liquid oil works best. I most often use vegetable oil, grapeseed oil also works well as it has a neutral taste. Olive oil has too much flavor for this recipe and will not work. I would presume coconut oil would work, but have not tried it (yet).
Also at the beginning, go ahead and preheat your oven to 350° and prepare two loaf pans by greasing the bottom and sides with butter or oil. I got a pair of glass loaf pans from Walmart a couple years ago, the pans come with a lid on top which is really convenient for keeping your bread fresh (assuming it lasts more that one day).
*Side note* The pans as of writing this show as out of stock on Walmart’s website, I’m not sure if that is temporary or permanent, but the link should give you at least a visual idea of what I’m talking about. I’m sure there are several similar options on the market.
First the recipe starts with a list of “cream” ingredients. You will add of those those ingredients to your mixing bowl then cream all of them together on a medium to high speed for about a minute. You can use a stand mixer, hand held mixer or a hand held whisk for this recipe.
Next, you will add the remaining ingredients. If you add all the flour at once, you may want to fold it into the cream ingredients with a spatula first so the four doesn’t explode everywhere when you turn on the mixer. Trust me. Regardless, when mixing these together, turn your mixer on the slowest speed and mix until combined, but do not over mix.
The bread mixture before incorporating the “remaining ingredients”
A short video at the end showing all ingredients incorporated and hopefully you can see the consistency of the dough. Also, at the very end, you can feel free to add some fun mix ins! Nuts, chocolate chips or blueberries are fun and yummy. I tend to dump (and not measure) these mix ins, but adding ½ to 1 cup would be appropriate. Today, we mixed in chocolate chips.
Finally, divide your dough into two loaf pans and bake for about 50 minutes. When a toothpick inserted comes out clean, the bread is done.
Let the bread cool (if you can stand it) for at least 30 minutes, an hour would be better. This will help prevent the bread from crumbling when you slice it.
Pumpkin Bread Recipe
Active time: 15 minutes | Bake time: 50 minutes | Total Time: 65 minutes
Ingredients
Cream Ingredients:
1 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
1 cup oil (vegetable oil works well)
1 teaspoon salt
Remaining Ingredients:
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
2 cups pureed pumpkin
3 cups flour ( I do 1.5 cups unbleached white flour and 1.5 cups wheat flour)
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 cup optional mix in (chocolate chips, blueberries, nuts)
Directions
Preheat oven to 350°
Prepare two loaf pans, grease bottoms and sides with oil or butter.
Cream the "cream ingredients" listed above on medium speed until well combined.
Mix in remaining ingredients at a low speed until combined.
Split batter evenly between the two loaf pans
Bake at 350 degrees for about 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
