Fall is in the Air
The first day of Fall is a big deal around our house. My family knows about my love affair with all things Autumn and they look forward to this day when they are awakened by the sweet aroma of my homemade pumpkin bread lofting up to their bedrooms.
I started making 3 loaves at a time when my friend Catherine gave me my first pumpkin bread recipe years ago. She was the one who told me to leave one loaf out, hot and freshly sliced for my family to eat, and wrap & freeze the other two for later. Now, with a house full of boys, I’m lucky if those 3 loaves last a week!
More Love to Share
This recipe also works great for the smaller loaves. I love using my mini loaf pan (Wilton makes a really great one) to bake 8 sharing sized loaves at a time. Wrapping them up and dropping them off to friends or freezing them individually to have on hand in a pinch is a great way to put a smile on someone’s face.
No matter what the size, when the loaves come out of the oven, be sure to run a knife around the edges to loosen up any potentially stuck spots and flip them out immediately onto a cooling rack. Let them cool only about 5 – 10 minutes and then wrap them tightly in aluminum foil while they’re still warm. This will lock in the moisture (trust me, you won’t believe how moist and yummy this bread is).
If you want to eat the yummy fresh bread right away (and I know you do), give it another 5 minutes in the foil before cutting it. Then be sure to wrap it back up in the foil when you’re done to preserve the moisture and yumminess! Place the foil wrapped loaf into a gallon plastic bag, remove as much air as you can, seal it shut. This double wrapping system will keep the bread moist and fresh.
Freeze it!
If you plan on freezing a loaf or two, be sure to use a higher quality aluminum foil. The cheaper, thinner qualities tend to break down in the freezer. Also, don’t forget to label the plastic bag with the date before freezing it.
A Note on ingredients:
I typically stay away from recipes that have expensive, or uncommon ingredients. It’s not fun to hunt down an unusual ingredient and pay a small fortune for it only end up only using a tablespoon or two while the rest of it sits and wastes away in your pantry. So you won’t see ingredients like that in my recipes.
There are, however, a few ingredients that I am brand specific to. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve given someone a recipe and recommended a specific brand only to have them come back and tell me it didn’t come out the same or it tasted different. When I ask about the brand used they say they “didn’t think it really mattered” but quickly realized in some instances it does. Sometimes the brand makes all the difference not just in taste, but in texture and color too. If I list a brand, it’s because I know that it makes a difference in that particular recipe and I highly recommend you use it if you can. If I don’t list a brand and is just says “ketchup” for example, then go ahead and use whatever brand you’d like.
When it comes to my pumpkin bread however, Libby’s 100% Pumpkin is the only way to go! Don’t try taking a shortcut and using the Pumpkin Pie Mix either because it’s not the same thing. In case you didn’t know, Pumpkin Pie Mix already has various spices in it as well as additional sweeteners. It’s designed to make creating a pumpkin pie faster & easier which works great for pie, but not so much for quick bread.
Now that you know everything you ever wanted to know about canned pumpkin, let’s get to baking!
Pumpkin Bread
My Homemade Pumpkin Bread is the “yummiest” bread you’ll ever bake!
Ingredients
- 10 oz Libby’s canned 100% pumpkin
- 1/2 cup Canola oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cup C&H sugar
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 cup flour
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 325°F and grease 8×4 loaf pan with baking spray with flour (such as Pam with Flour or Baker’s Joy).
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Pour 10 oz of Libby’s canned pumpkin into a medium sized mixing bowl (you can save the other 5 oz. in the refrigerator for another time). Add oil and whisk together until combined.
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Add eggs one at time making sure to break the yolks with the whisk so they get completely incorporated. Next, add the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt and whisk together until fully combined.
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Once the wet ingredients & spices are mixed together, add the baking soda & baking powder and mix thoroughly with your whisk.
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Add flour 1/2 C at a time, using the whisk to completely blend the flour into the mixture. It will get tougher to stir as you add more flour since the batter will get thicker.
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Pour mixture into prepared loaf pan, and place it into the preheated oven, in the center of the middle rack.
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Bake 60 – 70 mins or until the middle of the loaf springs back when you touch it. (I don’t use the toothpick test like most because your baked goods continue baking as they cool down causing them to be dry or over baked.)
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Remove the baked loaf from the oven and flip the bread out of the pan quickly onto a wire rack for cooling. (If you don’t want the lines from the wire rack on top of your bread, be sure to flip it back over carefully so you don’t burn yourself.) Let the bread cool for 10 mins and wrap in aluminum foil while it’s still warm. This seals in the moisture.
Recipe Notes
To make 3 full sized loaves at a time, like I do, use these measurements…
29 oz can of Libby’s 100% pumpkin, 1 1/2 C Canola oil, 6 large eggs, 4 1/2 C C&H sugar, 4 1/2 C flour, 1 1/2 tsp each of ground cinnamon, nutmeg, & cloves, 3/4 tsp salt, 2 1/4 tsp baking soda, 3/4 tsp baking powder.
