Pumpkin Bread: Catching up from the weekend

Saturday was a beautiful autumn day here in Davidson, NC. Bright, sunny skies with a crisp breeze made for the perfect backdrop to a wonderful day filled with friends, baking, good food and conversation, and productivity. It was everything a Saturday should be.

With some friends from RUF, I baked pumpkin bread. ‘Tis the season! The recipe was from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook, a cookbook that will surely not lead you astray.

Here is the counter with all of our ingredients laid out (before flour, batter, and dirty dishes were everywhere).

Me with my baking buddy (and fellow pumpkin lover) Alexandra.

 

The final product…

All of our hard work paid off. We finished our meal with the wonderful pumpkin muffins and coffee or tea. I chose a fruity orange tea to compliment my muffin…. ok, muffins. The recipe was supposed to make 2 loaves but we didn’t have two regular-sized loaf pans, so in the spirit of improvisation we made a tin of 12 muffins, a pan of mini loaf bread, and a medium-size loaf bread. The mini one was cute but slightly deformed on top, not quite as picture perfect as these muffins, and I totally forgot about the larger one since it baked for longer. The muffins were especially light for pumpkin bread, which was a nice change from the especially dense pumpkin bread that I have had in the past. The taste wasn’t overly sweet but the pumpkin was definitely the star. It is a perfect fall recipe and the ingredients are ones that most people already have in their cabinets.

Best Ever Pumpkin Bread

(adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook)

3 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

2/3 cup water

3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 15-ounce can pumpkin

Optional: 1 cup of dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips, raisins, or walnuts

Preheat oven to 350^o. Grease the sides of two 9 x 5 x 3 loaf pans. Combine sugar and vegetable oil in a bowl and beat until combined. Beat in eggs until completely incorporated. In another bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Alternate adding in flour mixture and water to the mixing bowl. Then, add stir in pumpkin until the batter has an even consistency. (Optional: add chocolate chips, nuts, or raisins) Do no overmix! Bake for 55-65 minutes, or until a toothpick can be inserted and come out clean. If you choose to make muffins these will take considerably less time, about 30 minutes.

Enjoy!