Simply The Best Pumpkin Bread

Pumpkin bread is one of my all-time favorite Fall treats.  (Do I say that about all Fall treats?  Can you guess what my favorite time of year is?)

I have been making this pumpkin bread for the last seven or eight years and it is always everyone's favorite.  It is probably the recipe that I have been asked for more times than any other recipe.  I based it off of a recipe that I found in a cookbook that a friend gave me years ago and made a few tweaks that make it fit my families taste and my style in the kitchen a little better.

I often make this for my kids' teachers in the Fall or for friends or play dates.  When I am making it for others I often cook it in the cute, small disposable paper bread pans that you can get at the grocery store or craft store.  In fact, I should probably just start attaching the recipe to the loaf because of all of the loaves of this that I have handed out I think that I have only had two people not ask me how to make it.  

One year for Thanksgiving I made four loaves and they were all gone in mere moments.  The bottom line is that if you make this, it will be a hit.

A few things that I think that you should know...

1. The sugar and oil mixture will look like crushed ice when you mix it...it will never get creamy...don't worry.

2. This is my favorite "dry ingredients" bowl.  I don't even know if you can still buy it, my husband got it for me 4 or 5 years ago, but you can find one that is similar.  It is melamine which makes it really easy to handle, and it has the great pour spout which makes dry ingredients pour easily into wet.  It is technically a batter bowl, but try it for dry ingredients and you will see how well it works :)

3. I love Libby's pumpkin puree.  Like the old jingle says, "When it says Libby's, Libby's, Libby's on the label nothings better, better, better on your table, table, table."  A few years ago there was a canned pumpkin shortage and I went to the store nearly every day looking for it, when it finally appeared I became a hoarder and bought almost a whole case.

Simply the Best Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients:

3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 1/2  teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cups sugar

1 cup canola oil

3 eggs

15 ounces of pureed pumpkin

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Grease and flour two loaf pans.

In a small bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.  

Beat the sugar and oil in a large mixing bowl until well combined. 

Add the eggs and beat well, then add the pumpkin and continue beating until incorporated.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well by hand.  

Pour the batter into two the two loaf pans and bake for 50-60 minutes or until a knife inserted into the middle of the loaves comes out clean.

Let the loaves cool for 10-15 minutes and then turn out onto a cooling rack.  Wait twenty minutes, or as long as you can stand it (for me this is about 5 minutes) before slicing and eating.

Freezes well. 

Note: If you decide to cook this in smaller disposable loaf pans shorten the cooking time to 35-45 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the middle of the loaves comes out clean.