I’ve gotta say it – pumpkin is just an essential part of my autumn experience. It has been since I was a little girl, before the rest of the world went pumpkin crazy. My mom always made pumpkin cookies with chocolate chips, and a “pumpkin bar” that was really a sheet cake with cream cheese icing. Sigh. So yummy. This is a sweet bread recipe that I’ve modified from my mother-in-law. A few tweaks and it was perfect for our family!
Essential Pumpkin Loaf
2/3 c. vegetable oil
1 c. pumpkin puree {I buy a large can and divide it – store 1/2 in the fridge in a sealed container to make another loaf for the following week}
2 eggs
2 c. flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1-1/3 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
butter
raw sugar
Preheat oven to 350. Grease a standard size bread pan well with butter. I prefer to use a glass baking pan.
Whisk together the vegetable oil, pumpkin puree, and eggs. In a separate bowl, stir together the dry ingredients {flour, baking soda, sugar, and spices}. Using a wooden spoon, hand stir the dry ingredients into the oil/pumpkin puree/egg mixture. Spoon the batter into the greased bread pan. Sprinkle with raw sugar and cinnamon. Place in preheated oven and bake for 1 hour. Test to make sure the batter is cooked through and bake up to an additional 10 minutes if needed.
Cool on rack for 10 minutes before running a knife around the edge of the pan and turning it out on to the rack to cool.
Optional:
Sometimes I feel like adding a bit of chocolate to this yummy recipe. If you feel like it, too, add 1 c. of semi sweet mini chocolate chips.
Another favorite is to top with a batch of our favorite cream cheese icing. I don’t generally do both of these together, because the recipe is already quite sweet…
This recipe also makes great muffins! Just portion into baking cups, sprinkle with raw sugar and cinnamon, and bake for 25 minutes.
Happy Friday!
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