Perfectly Tasty Pumpkin Bread

When everyone joins the Pumpkin Spice bandwagon for their coffees, cookies, peanut butter, and cereal (yikes!), I’m over here rolling my eyes. I don’t like pumpkin; it comes across too squashy for me. I can’t believe I’m sharing that bit of news, especially when I’m sharing a perfectly tasty pumpkin bread recipe.

Now that peppermint and chocolate season is here (yes, I’m rolling my eyes), I’m sharing my recipe for this perfectly tasty pumpkin bread. This recipe makes 2 loaves. So you can freeze one for later on.

Several years ago, I was given a can of pumpkin puree; I had no clue what to do with it. After the canned pumpkin sat in the cabinet for several weeks, I found a recipe for pumpkin bread, in an old recipe box that I have. I thought, why not? I tried it and fell in love with pumpkin bread. The recipe called for nutmeg and since I’m not a fan of nutmeg; I left it out in the first batch. And still do!

While most bread and cake recipes call for all-purpose flour, you know you can use self-rising flour and just skip the soda and salt, right? Did you know you can make your own self-rising flour? Yep, you can!

When I bake any sweetbreads or cakes, I always use solid shortening to grease my pans and I flour them. I’ve tried sprays and regular liquid oil, but nothing compares to Crisco and flour. Our grandmothers knew what they were doing!

We all know weather plays a part in our baking. I have found sometimes I have to let my bread bake a wee bit longer. You can always check the inside by inserting a toothpick, it if comes out clean, it’s done.

Sometimes I need a little extra oomph when eating pumpkin bread. I make up a small batch of thinned Creamy and Sweet Cream Cheese Frosting and pour it over the bread. Just enough to give it a little extra sweetness.

PERFECTLY TASTY PUMPKIN BREAD

Ingredients:

• 3 ¼ cup self-rising flour
• 3 cups granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 cups solid pack pumpkin puree (15oz can)
• ⅓ cup water
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs
• ½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease and flour (2) 9 ¼ x 5 ¼ loaf pans.

In a large mixing bowl, add flour, sugar, and spices and blend together. Add pumpkin, water, oil, eggs, and nuts and mix well.

Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake for approximately 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Let cool before removing from pan.