This year my kids wanted to use the pumpkin flesh to make pumpkin bread. So we saved the cutout from the eyes and mouths and I scooped out a extra from the inside. Now, I am sure that sugar pumpkins, grown for their flesh, would have also been good, but….. we like to see what we can do with what we have. 🙂 (And I wasn’t going to run back to the store for yet another pumpkin…)
We used the pressure cooker (Instant Pot) to cook the pumpkin, then mashed into a puree. You could probably also bake or boil it, but I didn’t want any browning to tinge the flavor of the finished bread and thought boiling it may water down the flavor.
The youngest was in charge to the actual bread making. He smashed. and stirred and plopped the batter into the pans. Pans into the oven for a a bit and…presto… Yummy, warm pumpkin bread to offset the chill in the fall air. Kids are genius sometimes 🙂
Yum…
- Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1-1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups cooked, pureed pumpkin
- Preheat the oven to 325°F and set an oven rack in the middle position. Generously grease two 8 x 4-inch loaf pans with butter and dust with flour (alternatively, use a baking spray with flour in it, such as Pam with Flour or Baker’s Joy).
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Whisk until well combined; set aside.
- In a large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until just blended. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Continue beating until very light and fluffy, a few minutes. Beat in the pumpkin. The mixture might look grainy and curdled at this point — that’s okay.
- Add the flour and mix on low speed until combined.
- Turn the batter into the prepared pans, dividing evenly, and bake for 65 – 75 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the loaves cool in the pans for about 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Adapted from Once Upon a Chef.
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