Every fall, I roast, puree and freeze several farmers market pumpkins (we’ve never had much luck growing our own). So pumpkin bread, pumpkin scones, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin soup are all, always, just a trip to the deep freeze away. You can certainly use canned pumpkin in this recipe and save yourself a few steps. Along with blueberry muffins and banana bread, this recipe is one I make regularly as a healthy option for breakfasts and snacks, a way to work just a few more fruits and veggies into our daily diet.
Makes 36 servings. It’s easy to cut this down to one third of a batch if you’d like just one loaf.
Ingredients
- 3 cups pumpkin puree
- 1 1/2 cups unrefined coconut oil (You can substitute applesauce for some or all of the oil. The more applesauce you use, the heavier the bread becomes.)
- 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 6 eggs
- 4 3/4 cups flour (I use a mixture of all purpose and whole wheat pastry flour; can substitute gluten-free flour to make this recipe gluten-free)
- 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
- 1 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
- 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease three 9″x 5″ loaf pans. (You can also make muffins or mini muffins).
- In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin, oil, sugar, and eggs. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until well blended. Fold in chocolate chips if using. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans.
- Bake for 45 minutes to an hour. Insert a knife into the center of the loaf to test. If the knife comes out clean, your bread is ready.
Note
- If making muffins rather than quick bread loaves, cut the baking time to 15-25 minutes.