Yummy Pumpkin Bread Recipe – With a Pumpkin Lesson

wmf_orchard_038c It's October!  The perfect time for pumpkin recipes.  I am searching through my recipe files for some of my favorite recipes that involve that great big orange fruit so popular in October, the pumpkin.  I would love to share this delicious pumpkin bread recipe with you; but first, let's have a little pumpkin lesson:

The pumpkin is more than a Fall and Halloween decoration; it is a wonderful fruit to use in recipes.  From urbanext.uiuc.edu,

The name pumpkin originated from the Greek word "pepon" for "large melon".  It was changed by the French into "pompon".  Then the English came along and changed it into "pumpion".  Shakespeare referred to the "pumpion" in his Merry Wives of Windsor.  The American Colonists changed "pumpion" into what is is refereed to today, the "pumpkin".

Native Americans dried strips of pumpkin and wove them into mats.  They also roasted strips of pumpkin on the open fire and ate them.  The origin of pumpkin pie occurred when the colonists sliced off the pumpkin top, removed the seeds, and filled the insides with milk, spices and honey. The pumpkin was then baked in hot ashes.

Okay, now time for the good stuff.  This is my favorite pumpkin bread recipe and I bet if you make it, it will be yours too.  

PumpkinBread

Ingredients

  • 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 2 cups solid pack pumpkin puree (you can use canned or fresh pumpkin)
  • 1 cup vegetable oil (I use 1/2 cup oil and 1/2 cup applesauce)
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 2 cups white sugar
  • 2/3 cup water
  • 4 eggs (you can substitute egg beaters)

Directions

  1. Grease and flour three 7 x 3 inch pans. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
  2. Measure flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and spices into a large bowl. Stir to blend. Add pumpkin, water, oil and/or applesauce, eggs, and nuts. Beat until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.
  3. Bake for approximately 1 hour.

 

 This recipe is a great way to bring in Fall.  I hope you enjoy this pumpkin bread as much as my family does.  If you have a favorite pumpkin recipe please share it with us.