Pumpkin bread deliciousness

Oh, help me. I love this bread, as in eat-half-the-loaf-then-blame-the-dog love this bread. Just kidding.


*wink*

Anyway, I decided this weekend was the perfect time to make some quick breads, because the weather can't quite decide what it wants to do and I figure it's my duty to help Fall along. Also, my hips need to be a bit wider.

So here's what you start with:

(let's all ooh and aah over my fine photography skills okay? ... okay? Rude.)

Mix the pumpkin, eggs, oil, applesauce, water & sugar together until well blended. Yes, I realize the can of pumpkin in the photo is twice the amount necessary for the recipe, it's all the store had. (I even had to go to 3 stores to find it, seasonal-shmeasonal. It's September, people!)

When you mix it, if it looks like something orange and slimey, you've done it right:

In a separate bowl mix the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, ginger, baking soda and salt. Don't forget the baking soda!! (because I did yesterday).

Side note!! And by side note I mean Incredibly Important Note:

Please have real nutmeg (nuts?) in your spice cupboard. It is perhaps the most fabulous little thing out there, and I'm not being paid big bucks by a secret underground pro-nutmeg militant society to make this up. When you buy it whole it lasts forever, and it smells heavenly when you grate it. Run right out to the store and buy some, I'll wait here... and you can thank me later.

Got it? Good. Just use a microplane to grate it into the bowl, and then pause for a moment of olfactory bliss.

Stir this up, add it to the wet ingredients and mix. Or just dump al the dry ingredients all on top of the wet ingredients and mix them around a little bit before stirring the whole thing together... I don't judge. It should end up looking like orange slime that's a wee bit thicker than it was before. Don't overmix!

Now just spoon the finished batter it into something. Hopefully into something oven-safe and not say, your open mouth. ('Cause it's raw, friends. Raw-with-4-eggs is a game I'm not a big fan of playing.) Bonus points if the pan is old and on the ugly side like mine.

Bake at 350 for a while, and voila! I was able to get 12 muffins, a regular-sized loaf, and a mini-loaf from this recipe. Delicious!

Pumpkin Bread

(adapted from an Allrecipes recipe)

1-15 ounce can pumpkin puree

4 eggs

1/2 c. canola or vegetable oil

1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce

2/3 c. water

2 c. granulated sugar

3 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon (I use a heaping teaspoon)

1 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. ground clove
1/4 tsp. ginger

In a large bowl, mix pumpkin, eggs, oil, applesauce, water & sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. Stir them into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into 2 regular loaf pans that have been greased. Bake at 350-degrees for 60-70 minutes until done.

P.S. Really, don't forget the baking soda, or you'll end up with hockey pucks flatter-than-ideal, oddly textured muffins that look like this:

I'm linking this to Remodelaholic's Recipe Swap Sunday and Under The Table And Dreaming's Sunday Showcase... click through and cehck out some of the other great submissions!!