I love autumn mornings. As soon I stepped out into the crisp air and swirling yellow leaves, visions of pumpkins and autumn squash started to dance in my head. Spiced pumpkin bread from the Weight Watchers Annual Recipes for Success (2008) cookbook is inspired by days like these.
Spiced Pumpkin Bread
Yield: Serves 16
Details
Prep time: Cook time: Total time:
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 cup canned pumpkin
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons canola oil
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- cooking spray
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 350° F.
2. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups and level with a knife. Combine the flour with the next 6 ingredients in a large bowl.
The recipe says to make a well in the center of the mixture. I am unfamiliar with cooking wells, so I call my mom into the kitchen, and she tells me that my well is too shallow. You must build the sides up so that the moist ingredients are surrounded by dry ingredients. This will make it easier to blend the two. Over mixing causes your bread to be too tough, so the less time you spend mixing, the softer your bread.
Combine pumpkin, sugar, oil, and egg in a medium bowl and stir with a whisk until well blended. I'm shocked that Weight Watchers allows this much sugar. You could lose a small animal in 3/4 cups of sugar.
Add the pumpkin mixture to the flour mixture, hence the purpose of the well, and stir until moist.
Turn batter into an 8 X 4-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Apparently, turn the batter is an elegant term for dump the batter. I am confounded at first, thinking this is a technique that I am unfamiliar with. Again, I call my mom into the kitchen. She says to just dump the batter into the loaf pan. I use a natural stone loaf pan, which distributes heat evenly. In theory, this makes your bread turn out perfect every time.
3. Bake the spiced pumpkin bread at 350° F for 45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean. I stuck it eight time with a toothpick, and it was clean all eight times. I remove it from the pan and cool it completely on a wire rack. Let's eat!
