Homemade Pumpkin Bread

 

We've been doing a lot of things with pumpkins around here lately, and since I love to bake, that also means lots of baked pumpkin goodies! I've made pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. Since pumpkin is a great source of fiber, it's a great fruit to add to your daily meals and I never feel guilty that my kids are scarfing down the pumpkin sweets I make them. Homemade tends to have less sugar than anything storebought, and definitely has fewer preservatives and additives, so it's definitely healthier. I think it's also tastier, but that's just my opinion!

You can buy a kit from the store that has "everything you need" to make pumpkin bread, but really the ingredients are basic pantry staples, stuff you probably already have on hand, and the only special ingredient needed is canned pumpkin puree. Make sure when you buy it that you do not get pumpkin pie mix--that has extra spices, etc. added in; what you want is plain, unadorned solid-pack 100% pumpkin puree. Usually I buy Libby's--that seems the most readily available, and it's good quality pumpkin puree.

Of course, if you really want to go all-out from-scratch, you can cut up and bake the pumpkin yourself. It's actually pretty easy, though the whole cleaning-out-the-pumpkin-slicing-it-up bit can be a little time-consuming. 

Once it's cut up into manageable pieces, simply place in a rimmed baking dish with 1/4" of water in the bottom, cover with aluminum foil and bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour while you go do something else.😉

When it's done, the pumpkin is so soft you can scrape it from the skin and mash it like a potato. I store mine in quart mason jars in the refrigerator, though if you have a big pumpkin that makes a lot of puree, you might want to pressure can them for longer storage. Two cups of puree fills a quart jar and is all you need to make 2 loaves of bread or a pumpkin pie.

On to the bread-making! 

Nut breads are actually some of the easiest baked goods there are--you simply mix everything together, pour into your loaf pans and bake! No kneading, rising or proofing like yeast breads. 

Plus, the possibilities are endless when it comes to nut breads; pretty much any fruit can be put in to make different kinds of breads, and nuts and chocolate chips are great add-ins for more flavor and nutrition. I've noticed people also like to put icing on them, but I don't think that's necessary for a delicious bread, though it is one more option to amp up your recipe if you like. 

The recipe for today is simply straight-up pumpkin bread. Once you get the hang of it, you can play around with it and figure out what you want to add to make it special. 

Note: This recipe is from an old Betty Crocker cookbook I was given for my 12th birthday; it calls for shortening, but you can substitute butter for it easily. Other than that, it's pretty straightforward--it is a nut bread, after all! 

Enjoy!