Pumpkin Spice Bread

This is part of our Christmas tradition in my household, and the making of it surrounding both Thanksgiving and Christmas is very serious business indeed, lest you forget the flour or the baking soda. (Both have been done by various daughters). Most pumpkin breads are super dense and saccarin sweet. This one, while still sweet and still moist, tries to be just a little more bread-like rather than cake-like. 

This recipe is originally called Jenean's Pumpkin Bread, and comes from a falling apart 70s era cookbook of recipes from our hometown in Virginia. However, we might have adapted Jenean's recipe a bit, reducing the amount of sugar and oil and doubling all of the spices, so really, it is just the family recipe now. For those of you who are health nuts, there is a healthier version of this recipe using applesauce that my sister has created, but this is the original version that does not take the health of one's father into account at all, knowing that said father will probably consume at least half of one loaf single-handedly over a forty eight hour period.

Because we make this in bulk every holiday, we often end up freezing a loaf or two for later by wrapping tightly in foil. It will keep for about a month in the freezer. You can also prepare the dry ingredients ahead of time to make a sort of bread mix for later, keeping in mind that for baking purposes, sugar is a wet ingredient. Serves perfectly topped with butter.

Pumpkin Spice Bread

Ingredients
2 cups sugar

1 cup salad oil

2 cups pumpkin (1 15 oz can)

4 eggs

3 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cloves

2 tsp nutmeg

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

Instructions

1. Grease inside of loaf pans with butter or butter wrapper. Be sure to be thorough. 

2. Blend sugar and salad oil together with hand mixer in large bowl. 

3. Add eggs and pumpkin. 

4. Sift dry ingredients together in separate bowl (flour, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt) and add to pumpkin blend.

5. Mix together until well combined. Pour mixture evenly into two loaf pans.

6. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour 15 minutes.

7. Let cool for 30 minutes in pan, then remove and allow to finish cooling on wire racks.