Pumpkin Bread

Last weekend we went to a U-pick farm here in Maryland and got some great pumpkins. Logan became very posessive of his one but we baked it today while he was at school:)

I'm planning on making some bread and muffins out of this one. I found the recipe here but I have tweaked the recipe according to posters to this blog and included my own modified recipe below. Instead of canned pumpkin puree I used the pumpkin in the picture. We cut it in half, cleaned it out and laid it face down in a baking pan with about an inch of water. We then baked it at 350 for 45 minutes.

Recipe:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp ground cloves
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ginger (an added ingredient)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (Original called for 3 cups white sugar, no brown)
• 1 cup butter, really soft
• 3 large eggs
• 1 16 oz can of pure pumpkin or measure 16 oz of pureed pumpkin
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F and spray two medium loaf pans with nonstick cooking spray or muffin pans. (I use liners)
2. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, spices, salt, baking soda, and baking powder and set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the wire whisk attached, dump in the sugar. Take the butter and put it in the microwave for about 30 seconds, so that it is half melted. Dump it into the sugar. Add the eggs. Cream these three ingredients together on medium speed for about 2 minutes or until fluffy. Add the pumpkin and combine well.
4. In three batches, add the dry ingredients and mix gently until each batch is just incorporated. Scrape the sides between each batch.
5. Pour half of the batter into a one of the prepared pans. Fold the pecans into the remaining batter and then pour it into the other prepared pan. Bake side-by-side for about one hour or until an inserted knife comes out clean the top is golden. (I didn't have any pecans)

So step 5 for me went something like this: Fill the loaf pan. Put liners in muffin tin. Move muffin tin to a different counter. Pick muffin liners up off the floor and put them back in the muffin tin. Fill a muffin liner. Sit. Fill 2 more muffin liners. Sit. Fill 3 more muffin liners, make a mess and get frustrated. Sit. Ask Dad for help filling the rest of the muffin liners. The liners were flattish from a 2 year olds prying fingers and the batter was pretty sticky so I was having a hard time. I was alternately having a hard time breathing from this baby still being so high up into my lungs. Super annoying! We got the job done though.

In step 3 I realized I had no nutmeg, so we have no nutmeg in our bread. I also accidently switched to a different measuring spoon for some of the ingredients and I think I fixed my mistake.

The end result was fantastic. Very smooth, moist muffin with a slight crunch to the top. I think pecans and brown sugar on top would make for a really fun addition. It only took 42 minutes for my muffins to be done. I let the bread loaf go longer.