RECIPE: Mild Pumpkin and Pecan Spice Bread

The pumpkin ramen soup I posted last weekend left me with a lonely leftover cup of pumpkin puree. I just have this thing about throwing stuff away. I wasn’t sure I could make pumpkin bread with just a cup of pumpkin puree. Usually, pumpkin bread takes a whole can, at least. But I gave this a try using a Williams Sonoma recipe. What happened was that one cup of pumpkin was just enough for a mild, sweet pumpkin flavor. It was enough to carry pumpkin, but also not overpower the amazing amount of spice in this recipe. I decided to also throw in some pecans, and some vanilla to help mellow out all the spice-a-palooza. These loaves turned out sublime.

1 ½ cups flour

½ tsp. baking powder

¾ tsp. baking soda

¼ tsp. salt

½ tsp. ground ginger

¼ tsp. nutmeg

¼ tsp. allspice

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. vanilla extract

11 Tbsp. butter, melted and cooled slightly

½ cup dark brown sugar

1 cup regular sugar

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup pumpkin puree

¾ cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350˚. Spray 2 bread loaf pans with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

In a small bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and baking soda, salt, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and cinnamon. Set aside.

With a stand mixer, beat the melted butter with both sugars until well-whipped. Add the eggs and pumpkin puree and whip until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and mix well. Turn the mixer to low. Add the flour mix in two steps, mixing until just combined. Finally, mix in the chopped pecans until evenly distributed.

Pour the batter into waiting pans, making sure there is an even amount in both. Bake on the center rack for about 50 minutes to one hour. Turn the pans midway for even cooking. Bread is done when a toothpick at the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pans for 10-15 minutes, then run a dull knife around the edges of the pans and invert the loaves of bread onto a cooling rack to cool the loaves completely. Wrap tightly to keep moist and keep for one week. This bread freezes really well.