Pumpkin Spice Bread

I first found this recipe last year when, in the hopes of satiating my friend John Browning's desires for something delicious and pumpkiny, I turned to the Elise Bauer blog, Simply Recipes.

Since making this bread this time last year, I have probably baked this recipe 12-20 times. This number is not an inflation: so many people love this bread that I am often requested to make it again, again, and again, and asked for the recipe.

However, I cannot by any means take any credit for this recipe. In its current form, it's damn near perfect: the recipe calls for a olive oil instead of butter (a minor ingredient that leads to the moistest, tastiest pumpkin spice bread you've ever had), and also calls for a decent handful of spices (i.e., nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, etc.) that give you that perfect Fall feel. Furthermore, the recipe asks that you add a bit of water to add to the recipe's moistness. Trust me, if sweet, melt-in-your-mouth pumpkiny flavour is what you're looking for, this bread is exactly that concoction.

Here is the recipe courtesy of Simply Recipes. You can find the official recipe here.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups (210g) flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 cup (200 g) sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (1/4 L) pumpkin purée*
1/2 cup (1 dL) olive oil
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 cup (1 dL) chopped walnuts

* To make pumpkin purée, cut a pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds and stringy stuff, lie face down on a foil or Silpat lined baking sheet. Bake at 350°F until soft, about 45 min to an hour. Cool, scoop out the flesh. Freeze whatever you don't use for future use. Or, if you are working with pumpkin pieces, roast or boil them until tender, then remove and discard the skin.

Method

1 Preheat oven to 350°F. Flour, salt, sugar, and baking soda should be sifted together.

2 Mix the pumpkin, oil, eggs, 1/4 cup of water, and spices together, then combine with the dry ingredients, but do not mix too thoroughly. Stir in the nuts.

3 Pour into a well-buttered 9x5x3 inch loaf pan. Bake 50-60 minutes until a thin skewer poked in the very center of the loaf comes out clean. Turn out of the pan and let cool on a rack.

Makes one loaf. Can easily double the recipe.