Pumpkin Bread
Pumpkins are front and center at the farmhouse once October arrives. I use them to decorate the inside and outside of the farmhouse. I also love to create sweet and savory recipes with them. The simplest is one of my favorites: classic pumpkin bread.
When it comes to fall, there may be no flavor that is more celebrated than pumpkin. Perhaps you can make the case for apples, but only pumpkins are so popular that there’s a spice blend named for them that famously doesn’t actually contain any pumpkin.
I am decidedly not a fan of pumpkin spice. Don’t worry, I love pumpkin and I adore cinnamon. I add it to both sweet and savory dishes so often that cinnamon is the only spice outside of salt and pepper that has a permanent spot on the kitchen counter. Yet I actively avoid things labeled “pumpkin spice” because I feel like the spice overwhelms everything else. Pumpkin spice is just not for me.
If you love pumpkin spice, please continue to do so. In fact, if pumpkin spice can add a bit of happiness to your days each fall, I hope that you seek it out regularly because we could all use a bit more of that sort of joy in our lives.
For me, I’ll stick to recipes that are mostly pumpkin with just a hint of spice. This Pumpkin Bread is just that sort of recipe. It’s such a nice way to begin the morning on a crisp fall day with a cup of steaming hot coffee or tea. It’s a true quick bread, so it comes together easily without the need for a mixer. You’ll have it put together in minutes and ready for the oven by the time it comes up to temperature. Then comes the most difficult part of making this pumpkin bread: doing the dishes and waiting for the warm bread to be ready to slice and eat.
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Pumpkin Bread
Fall recipes often include nutmeg, but it tends to be just on the outside of our family’s food allergy boundaries. I use cinnamon because it’s a flavor that we all love and tolerate well. If you like to include nutmeg in your fall recipes, you can easily add a bit to this recipe. You can also add in a cup of your favorite chocolate chips for a different twist on this bread. Fold them into the batter just before you fill the loaf pans for baking.
Ingredients
- 1 stick butter melted
- 1 cup pumpkin puree approximately ½ can
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup dark brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 cups All-purpose flour
- ½ cup cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 Tablespoons raw sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare your standard-sized loaf pans (8.5 by 4.5 inches) by lining with parchment, spraying lightly with pan spray, or brushing with homemade pan release spread. Place the prepared pans on a baking sheet to catch any drips of batter and to make it easier to transfer the pans in and out of the oven.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the melted butter, pumpkin, sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Stir with a large spoon or spatula until the mixture is well combined. Add the buttermilk and stir until smooth.
- In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients: flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. I like to use a dry whisk to combine the dry ingredients and break up any small lumps. You can sift them if you prefer.
- Add the dry ingredients to the bowl in one addition. Stir to combine, mixing only until smooth. Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf pans, dividing the batter equally between the two pans.
- In a small bowl, combine the raw sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle the mixture over the top of the loaves, dividing it equally between the two. This cinnamon sugar topping will give the baked loaves a shiny appearance with just a hint of spice and sugar on the top surface.
- Transfer the pans to the warm oven. Bake for 45-55 minutes, rotating the pans around halfway through the baking time to ensure even baking. The loaves are finished when they have developed a light brown color and a toothpick inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean or with small crumbs attached. The baking time required for this recipe can vary due to the moisture content of the pumpkin puree. The loaves may require a few extra minutes to bake fully.
- Remove the baked loaves from the oven. Allow the loaves to cool in the pans.
- This cake can be stored for several days covered at room temperature. Slices are delicious toasted and topped with a pat of butter for breakfast.