On a recent super-rainy, windy fall afternoon I made the comment that it would be a good day to bake bread. Russ immediately ran with that thought and mentioned he had just seen a pumpkin bread recipe from The New York Times.
“Yeah, but we don’t have any canned pumpkin,” was my reply. (When I was actually thinking more along the lines of a crusty whole grain loaf.) “I am capable of driving to the grocery store you know,” he bantered—and so he did just that.
But the only pumpkin purée The Hubs could find at the grocery store was a 29-ounce can which is almost double the amount required. We considered freezing the remainder, but then thought better of it and decided to make two loaves, and either freeze the second loaf or gift it.
We are both fans of pumpkin seeds and happened to have a bag of sprouted seeds on hand which I used as a topping. It is totally optional, but adds a nice little crunch to the velvety soft bread—the BEST pumpkin bread we’ve ever had, BTW.
Premium Pumpkin Bread
Ingredients
- ½ cup vegetable oil, plus more for greasing the pan
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
- ¾ tsp. kosher salt
- ½ tsp. baking soda
- About 2 cups pumpkin purée or 1 (15-ounce) can
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup packed light or dark brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup full-fat sour cream or plain yogurt
- 1 ½ tsp. pure vanilla extract
- Sprouted pumpkin seeds for topping (optional)
Directions
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Oil an 8 ½- or 9-inch loaf pan; line with parchment, leaving a 2-inch overhang on two sides.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the vegetable oil, pumpkin purée, granulated sugar, brown sugar, eggs, sour cream and vanilla.
- Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until fully combined. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth into an even layer.
- Bake until the loaf is puffed and set, and a skewer inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs attached, 60 to 75 minutes. (Ours took the full 75 min.)
- Transfer the bread, in the pan, to a rack to cool for 20 minutes.
- Use a paring knife to cut the two exposed sides of bread away from the pan, then use the parchment to transfer the cake to the rack. Let cool completely.
Accounting for Taste 