Fall Time Treat: Pumpkin Bread

One of my favorite things to do is bake and/or cook. I find that it calms me and helps me relax. I appreciate instructions and working towards a goal or end product...especially when it ends with food. But I am also not (completely) afraid in switching a recipe up or adding something new to it for a different spin.

This past weekend I made Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen's Pumpkin Bread and I thought I died and went to heaven. It was very easy to make and is full of flavor. It was almost like pumpkin pie....but in cake form. I think the next time I make it I am going to throw some chocolate chips in there, but until then if you make it and do it...let me know the results.

Pumpkin Bread

via Smitten Kitchen

What you need for the bread...
1 15-ounce can (1 3/4 cups) pumpkin puree
1/2 cup (120 ml) vegetable or another neutral cooking oil or melted butter (115 grams)
3 large eggs
1 2/3 (330 grams) cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon fine sea or table salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Heaped 1/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
Heaped 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
Two pinches of ground cloves
2 1/4 cups (295 grams) all-purpose flour

What you need to finish (OR you could omit and make a cream cheese frosting instead...just saying...)
1 tablespoon (12 grams) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 6-cup loaf pan with nonstick spray.

In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs and sugar until smooth. Sprinkle baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves over batter and whisk until well-combined. Add flour and stir with a spoon, just until mixed. (Here is where I would put those chocolate chips or walnuts or pecans or maybe even white chocolate chips) Scrape into prepared pan and smooth the top. In a small dish, or empty measuring cup, stir sugar and cinnamon together. Sprinkle over top of batter.

Bake bread for 65 to 75 minutes until a tester poked into all parts of cake (both the top and center will want to hide pockets of uncooked batter) come out batter-free, turning the cake once during the baking time for even coloring.

You can cool it in the pan for 10 minutes and then remove it, or cool it completely in there. The latter provides the advantage of letting more of the loose cinnamon sugar on top adhere before being knocked off.

***Note: I used an 8x4 loaf pan and mine semi overflowed (a little). Make sure you put a cookie sheet under your loaf pan to catch any extras. It did not overflow a ton, but it did have quite the muffin top when it came out.

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