As the summer comes in to a close and leaves start to change with cooler weather the urge for warm spicy pumpkin bread starts up. This recipe came from an older recipe from my mother that has been updated (not by much) for today’s bakers. It took a handful of tries to get it right but it is my all time favorite pumpkin bread moist and stays well for a few days after baking!
The Perfect Pumpkin Bread
Ingredients & What They Do:
1.Pumpkin – There is A LOT of pumpkin in this recipe and this will give it moisture and richness when combined with the holiday spices. We used fresh baked pumpkin for this recipe but often use 1 – 15 ounce can pf pumpkin for quick baking.
2. Oil vs. Butter – Whether you use coconut oil or butter both will give this cake moisture.
3. Holiday Spices – We use a handful of spice to give this pumpkin bread its flavor. Cinnamon, Cloves, Allspice and Cardamom for a lift, all these spices together bring out that yummy flavor in this perfect pumpkin bread.
Canned or Fresh Baked Pumpkin
What to use fresh baked pumpkin or canned pumpkin, and does it make a difference? There are many ways to look at what pumpkin to use (fresh baked or canned) and for the most part we use canned pumpkin for quick baking and consistent results. But sometimes during the fall when fresh pumpkins of all varieties are available we get the baking urge and love to try our recipes with a fresh baked pumpkin.
Measurements
Included in this recipe are key ingredients in both weights (grams) and in cups/tablespoons etc. Try something new and bake with weighed ingredients. There are a number of schools of thought in the cooking world as to which is better and why. Most home bakers, like us were brought up with measured baking to discover later the ability to scale and adjust with weighed baking.
PrintPerfect Pumpkin Bread
- Prep Time: 30-40 minutes
- Cook Time: 15-17 minutes
- Total Time: 53 minute
- Yield: 1-9 inch pan or 2 4 inch loaves 1x
- Category: cakes
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: cakes
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 15 ounces (1 1/2 cups or 340 grams) of canned or baked pumpkin.
- 2 cups (220 grams) of all purpose flour (leveled)
- 1 stick of room temp butter (or 3/4 cup of coconut oil) (120 ml)
- 2 eggs (room temp)
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) of dark brown sugar
- 3/4 cup (100 grams) of granular sugar
- 1 tsp. Vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. cardamom
- 1/2 tsp. cloves
- 1/2 tsp. allspice
- 2 TBSP – Demara or Thick Granulated Sugar (to sprinkle along the top of the loaves prior to baking
Instructions
Blending
Blend the wet ingredients with sugar and spices with a blender until creamy and smooth1. butter or oil2. eggs3. sugar4. pumpkin5. vanilla
Fold in flour until creamy.
Baking:
Preheat the oven to 330 degrees. Bake at 330 for 35-45 minute depending on the toothpick test to see if they are done.
I use a little of the butter in the pans and then a spoon of flour to line the sides of the pans so the breads will come out of the pans easily.
Pass the Toothpick Test
Often called the toothpick test but you can use any long thin skewer or toothpick for this. Poke the cake when it starts to golden around the edges as the baking time comes close to the end and you are not quite sure if you should take the cake out. If there is dough on the toothpick then leave it in the oven. NO dough on the toothpick then it is ready to come out
Pumpkin bread tends to be a more moist cake so depending on the oven it may need more time. Convection ovens tend to need shorter bake times but, you know your oven.
We baked this in a convection oven.
Keywords: pumpkin bread, spice cakes,holiday breads
