The moist pumpkin bread is full of fall flavor and the kick of all the spices takes it to a whole new level of awesomeness! You can never have enough of it!
It’s full-on pumpkin season on the food blogs around the web and I have been bitten by the bug too! I was simply overwhelmed by the array of possible pumpkin recipes! I mean, really? Pumpkin!?
Yes, pumpkin it is! After trying this pumpkin bread myself, I have high regards for this vegetable now. You can’t help but fall in love with this mildly spicy, sweet & moist pumpkin bread just as we all did.
Even if you don’t love pumpkin as a veggie, and I am sure there are many, you will still go for a second serving of this gorgeous orange pumpkin bread and I can vouch for that!
For making pumpkin bread, you will of course need some pumpkin puree. There also you have 2 options – canned pumpkin puree or homemade.
If you already know me, then you must have guessed that I love to do things from scratch.
Plus, canned pumpkin puree is not easily available in India (at least I haven’t seen any!). So, what could be better than making your own pumpkin puree at home, especially when it is so easy to make.
To make pumpkin puree at home you just need three things – one pumpkin, one oven and one blender/grinder/food processor!
That’s it friends! And you can whip up the most amazing and freshest possible pumpkin puree available anywhere in the world which will essentially let you make the most flavorful pumpkin bread you ever had!
For making a good pumpkin bread, only thing you need to take care of is to choose the right pumpkin for the bread.
There are 2-3 different varieties of pumpkin available in the market but the best one to use for this purpose is the sweet version which has a deep orange colored flesh.
This variety has a high sugar content which gives the puree and the pumpkin bread a natural sweetness.
One large pumpkin will make enough puree for 2 loaves of pumpkin bread and you will still have some left over which you can use for some quick pastas.
This recipe makes 2 loaves of pumpkin bread. I won’t suggest to half this recipe to make one, although technically you can, but logically you shouldn’t!
This pumpkin bread is so addictive that you won’t even realize where the 2 big loaves of pumpkin bread vanished after you placed them on the cooling rack to cool down!
I followed the recipe of my self-appointed mentor Stephanie from Joy of Baking but adjusted it depending on my pantry resources.
I didn’t add any nuts or choco-chips or dried fruits firstly because I didn’t have any handy at the time of making this bread and secondly, I wanted to make a smooth bread to see how it turns out the very first time.
Now since we have fallen for it, I will definitely try other varieties too! I hope you all will love this super delish pumpkin bread as much as we did!
This is a kind of recipe that you must save in your repertoire and surprise you friends & family any time you have some extra pumpkins at hand!
Trust me this will immediately make you everyone’s favorite and you won’t stop getting appreciations!
So, don’t let this fall season get over without filling your home with the incredible aroma of freshly baked spicy pumpkin bread! Enjoy!
- Sweet pumpkin – 1, whole (About 2 kg)
- Olive oil – 2 tbsp
- All-purpose flour – 450 gms (3 & ½ cups)
- Baking powder – 1 tsp
- Baking soda – 1 tsp
- Salt – ½ tsp
- Ground cinnamon – 1 & ½ tsp
- Ground ginger – ¼ tsp
- Ground cloves – ⅛ tsp (optional)
- Eggs – 4, room temperature
- Granulated white sugar – 400 gms (2 cups)
- Unsalted butter – 226 gms (1 cup), melted and cooled to room temperature
- Pure pumpkin puree – 425 gms
- Water – ¼ cup
- Vanilla extract – 1 tsp
- Preheat your oven to 165 degrees C / 325 degrees F.
- Cut the pumpkin into half from step to base. Remove all the pulp and seed from the cavity of both sides.
- Drizzle the olive oil over the cut side of the pumpkin and coat all over with a brush.
- Place the pumpkins on a baking sheet, cut side down. Bake the pumpkins in the preheated oven for about 1 hour and 15 minutes or until the pumpkin meat becomes tender enough to be scooped out easily with a spoon.
- Let the pumpkin cool down completely. Then scoop out the meat and transfer to a food processor or blender. Process the roasted pumpkin in the food processor for about 5 minutes or until entirely smooth.
- Transfer the pure pumpkin puree to an airtight container and refrigerate if you are not using it immediately. You can freeze it for several months.
- Preheat the oven to 177 degrees C / 350 degrees F and place the rack in the center of the oven. Butter and lightly flour two loaf pans.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and ground spices.
- In another large bowl, whisk the eggs until lightly beaten. Add the sugar and melted butter and whisk to combine. Whisk in the pumpkin puree, water, and vanilla extract.
- Add the pumpkin mixture to the flour mixture and stir just until the ingredients are combined and moistened. Do not over mix as it will make the bread tough.
- Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans, smoothing the tops. Bake the breads for about 55 - 65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean (a few moist crumbs are okay).
- Place the loaf pans on a wire rack and let cool for about 10 minutes before removing them from the pans. Remove the breads from pan and let them cool completely on a wire rack.
- Slice and serve the pumpkin bread slightly warm. Store leftovers in the refrigerator or else freeze for later use.
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