Pumpkin Bread

I think flavored bread is one of my favorite things to make. Banana bread, nut bread, pumpkin bread, buttermilk bread... they are all so good! This leads me into this post all about pumpkin bread!

There are some tips to making a great pumpkin bread:

1) Do. Not. Over mix. - Similar to many bread-like recipes, you don't want to over mix the batter. It will become too dense and not tasty at all. You should stir the dry and wet ingredients together until just combined.

2) Do. Not. Over bake. - You don't want to burn your bread. It will turn out dry and crumbly. That's not how I like my pumpkin bread! I want it moist and dense and full of flavor! When you are baking the bread, you want the toothpick test to come out clean. If you are worrying that the top of your bread is getting too dark, you can lay a sheet of aluminum foil on top of the loaves and keep baking. It will still cook the inside but won't dry out the top of your bread.

3) Don't let it stick to your pan! - I have been foiled by my recipes sticking to my pans. It has happened many times until I learned a new trick! You can easily grease/butter and flour your pans, but to save time and butter, you can line your pans with parchment paper. This does two things. A - It keeps your bread from sticking to your pan. B - You can quickly pull out the bread once it's cooled and not have to worry about cleaning up the mess you make when you don't line it! Awesome!

4) Use a cookie sheet to hold your loaves! - For me personally, I bake these breads in disposable aluminum loaf pans because I sell them (also it's just a lot easier). These disposable loaf pans are kind of flimsy when they are filled with batter and can easily collapse and spill everywhere (true story). To save yourself from panic and worry you can place them on a large cookie sheet side by side. That way you can put them in the over all at once as well as taking them out at the same time. So easy!

Ok I've bored you enough with my bread baking tips. Let's get back to the bread itself. If you look at my pictures, you may wonder why the slices look so tiny. It's because I baked them in a teenie-tiny loaf pan (teehee!). I doubled this recipe for an order, so I had 6 loaves, plus enough batter to make myself a cute little loaf. It was like unintentional portion control. Woohoo!

In this recipe, 1 batch makes 3 - 7-inch x 3-inch loaves. Perfect to give to a hostess throwing a party, or to give it to school teachers who deserve it, or for the holidays as gifts! It's also a very easy recipes and doesn't require a hand or stand mixer! I used a whisk for the entire recipe. I love that! So that means you only dirty your measuring utensils, two bowls, and a whisk. Gotta love an easy clean up!

So now that you've got the tips to making perfect bread, you know that you can make a handful of loaves with this one recipe, and you are super excited that you're only going to dirty a couple of dishes, get on into the kitchen and start your ovens! (Was that too cheesy?)