Pumpkin Bread

There’s nothing that says fall quite like a loaf of homemade pumpkin bread. This one bakes up tender, moist, and beautifully fragrant with cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. It smell fills your whole house with the best smell of the season. The recipe comes from Jennifer Segal, who shares on her wonderful blog Once Upon a Chef that it was originally clipped by her grandmother from a magazine more than sixty years ago.

Ingredients for two loafs:

250 g all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon ground cloves
1½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
170 g (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
400 g sugar
2 large eggs
425 g (1 can or 15-oz) 100% pumpkin purée

Optional mix-ins per loaf:
½ cup chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts)
½ cup chocolate chips
2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds for topping

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 325°F and place a rack in the center and generously butter two 8 x 4-inch loaf pans.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg until well combined. 

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until just blended. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Continue mixing until the batter is very light and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in the pumpkin. The mixture may look slightly curdled at this stage, but that’s perfectly fine.

Reduce the speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans and smooth the tops. Top with seeds or sugar if desired for crunch.

Bake for 50 - 60 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the center of each loaf comes out clean. 

Let the loaves cool in their pans for about 10 minutes, then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!

Freezer-friendly tip: Once completely cooled, loafs can be frozen for up to 3 months.