Pumpkin Bread: Our Fall Favorite

I love Fall.  Everything about it, from the cooling temperatures, the changing leaves, the comfy sweaters, to all things pumpkin.  Fall picturesquely and fragrantly ushers us back indoors, where books are read near the roaring fires of Winter. Pumpkin is paramount to Fall.

My Mom passed this recipe down to me from her own Grandmother.  I love learning about my ancestry, especially when there are personal stories shared from someone that remembers them with fondness.  Many such stories was shared while I helped my Mom bake this bread when I was a child.

While my baking session included pumpkin from a can, my Mom remembered baking the pumpkin that her Grandmother had grown, scooping out the cooked mash, and measuring it out by hand.  Never liking wet, gooey, dirty hands, I was grateful for my pumpkin, scooped easily from the can.

The warmth of the room, the reminisced stories of one, along with the imagined stories of another, and the scent of the baking bread made our kitchen feel like heaven.

Pumpkin bread is made multiple times each Fall, every time with memories of that treasured kitchen scene.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup shortening
• 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 15 oz. solid packed pumpkin
• 3 eggs/ 1 @ a time
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. allspice

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.  No matter the pan material, you’ll want the lower temperature to slowly cook this bread.

Grease 2 small and 1 large bread pan, or 1 bundt pan.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together shortening and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add in each egg, beating after each addition.

Stir in pumpkin, until well combined.

In a separate mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, ground nutmeg, ground cinnamon, salt, and allspice.  Slowly incorporate dry ingredients into creamed mixture.

Bake at 325 degrees for 60 minutes (small loaves) and 70 minutes (large loaf), or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the loaf.

Allow to rest in the pan for approximately 30 minutes before removing from pan to cool completely on a wire rack.

** Variant: We have also made this with 12 ounces mini chocolate chips.  I am a huge pumpkin chocolate chip lover!

MORE FALL FAVORITES

• Fall Printables
• Fall Mason Jar Inspirations
• Fall Leaf Craft
• Finger painting a Fall Tree
• Fall Pinecone Craft

Happy Fall, Ya’ll!

~Steph