Pumpkin Bread

Nothing like a little pumpkin treat to make the house smell amazing on the last day of November. According to the calendar winter doesn’t begin until mid-December but in my heart it feels as if winter starts on December first. Since fall always makes me think of pumpkins I decided to make a loaf of pumpkin bread. I’m not in the mood for anything sweet so I didn’t want to make any cookies. A loaf of hearty pumpkin bread with tangy cream cheese spread on it sounds like heaven.

I found this recipe in a cookbook given to me by one of husband’s former coworkers. The cookbook is circa 1973. The pictures are dated and there is still a price sticker on it that says $2.95. Dated or not, a good bread recipe never goes out of style. I’ve made several bread recipes from this cookbook and I have yet to be disappointed.

For a yeast bread this bread cooks up rather quickly. I mixed the dough together with little one before lunch. He loves watching the stand mixer in action. While the dough was rising we had lunch and little one went down for a nap. I was able to let it rise a second time and bake before little even woke up from his nap.

I still have canned pumpkin that needs to be used and I know that I won’t be able to use it all before tomorrow morning. The nice thing about pumpkin is that it freezes beautifully. I’m looking forward to using this remaining pumpkin for soup, pancakes or perhaps another loaf of this yummy bread.

Enjoy!

The ginger is missing - I used it all in a failed pin.

3 ¼ - 3 ½ cups flour

2 packages yeast

½ tsp. ginger

¼ tsp. nutmeg

¼ tsp. cloves

¾ cup milk

¼ cup packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons butter or coconut oil

1 ½ tsp. salt

½ cup canned pumpkin

In a large mixing bowl combine 1 ½ cups flour, yeast and spices.

In a saucepan heat milk, brown sugar, butter and salt until just warm (115 degrees) stirring constantly to melt the butter. Add to the dry mixture in the mixing bowl. Add pumpkin and beat on a low speed for 30 seconds, scraping the sides. Beat for three minutes on high. Stir in enough of the remaining flour to make the dough moderately stiff.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about five minutes. Shape dough into a ball. Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, turning once. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double, about one hour. Punch down then cover and let rest for ten minutes. Shape into a loaf and place into a greased bread pan. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Bake at 375 for 35 – 40 mints. Remove from pan and cool.

Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Homemade Bread Cook Book