We’re going full fall with an easy pumpkin bread recipe today. It’s been great to extend the vacation vibes after Greece, but it’s back to reality, back in the kitchen. I’ve got a few past vacation recreations coming at you (one is probably one of the best things I’ve eaten THIS YEAR) but for now, how about a recipe redux?
Well, not exactly a redux. I’ve been making pumpkin bread for years but realized last week that the only recipe I have on the site is a gluten free version. Not that it’s terribly hard to make it non-GF, but after making it a few times in the past few weeks (yup, it’s that good), I realized that I have veered enough from the OG recipe to warrant a reboot.
Plus, it’s fall. Making pumpkin bread seems almost as critical in these Midwest parts as a trip to the apple orchard (check) for some cider (check) and donuts (check). The only thing left for me seems to be pumpkin carving and I may forego that messiness this year, because #lazy.
Ok, though – I know that there are 1 million pumpkin bread recipes out there and what makes this one special?
The spices: It’s loaded with so much more than cinnamon and the flavors just give it so much more than others that I’ve tasted out there.
The oils: One of my beefs with sweet breads in general is that they tend to be SO full of fat, almost to the point of making them greasy rather than moist. I’m using a combo of coconut oil and applesauce to make it actually moist and not greasy.
The sugar: it’s just got less. My original recipe had a whopping 1 ½ cups of sugar! In one loaf! The 2022 me was appalled to see this- I’ve cut it in half here and it stands on its own.
In any case, I don’t see any reason to not have one more solid pumpkin bread out there. I’m not pumpkin obsessed (I’m in the hard-pass-for-me club on the PSL front, and don’t particularly love pie), but this is a good one.
Easy Pumpkin Bread
Easy pumpkin bread is a fall staple -pure pumpkin is richly spiced and perfectly moist for a delicious treat.
Ingredients
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup canned pure pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix!)
- ¼ cup coconut oil
- ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour, sifted
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp ground allspice
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ½ cup chopped nuts, optional
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat the oven to 375F.
- Step 2 Grease and sugar and line a 9 x 5 loaf pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Step 3 In a medium sized bowl, add the sugar, pumpkin, oil, applesauce, vanilla and eggs and beat well and thoroughly.
- Step 4 Gently fold in the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and spices. Mix until just well combined and no flour streaks remain. Be careful to not overmix.
- Step 5 Pour the mixture into the loaf pan and bake for 55 minutes until a tester comes out clean. Leave to cool in the pan for about 30 minutes. Remove from pan and allow to cool the remainder of the way on a cooling rack.
