Friday, January 7, 2011

Pumpkin Bread

Tonight I made the last of the quick breads I'm giving as Christmas gifts. I can't remember where I got this recipe; the only memory that comes to mind is my family history with the One Pie canned pumpkin and squash brand.

I come from a family of cooks and bakers. Everything we ate (except bread) was homemade. In the summer we had a big garden; when I was very young we lived on a farm with chickens, cows, geese, and pigs - all of which contributed to our food supply. Later, after we moved to a suburb of Boston, my father worked as a salesman for a frozen food company, so if the food wasn't fresh, it was frozen. I don't remember eating anything that came from a can (except tuna fish - my school lunch of choice for 12 years - and the One Pie brand pumpkin and squash that my mother used for her pies). I continue that legacy today - One Pie canned pumpkin is my choice for most of my the recipes that include pumpkin. So, for tonight's pumpkin bread, I ignored the two sugar pumpkins that I purchased at the local farm stand and turned to my stash of One Pie pumpkin...

Pumpkin Bread
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Makes two standard loafs or eight mini loaves.

2/3 cup butter
2 2/3 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 can One Pie Pumpkin (16 ounces)
2/3 cup water
3 1/3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
2/3 cup chopped walnuts
2/3 cup raisins

Grease 2 9x5x3 inch loaf pans or 8 mini loaf pans.
Cream butter and sugar, then stir in eggs, pumpkin, and water.
In separate bowl mix flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cloves.
Gradually add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture, mixing well after each addition.
Last stir in nuts and raisins.
Pour into prepared pans. Bake large loaves for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Bake mini loaves for 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool on wire rack for ten minutes, then turn loaves out of pans. Continue to cool.
Wrap tightly. Loaves freeze well.

2 comments:

  1. One Pie was (and is) always a staple in my mother's kitchen -- and in my kitchen. It is one of the few canned foods in my cupboard, just waiting for the moment when I have a yen for pumpkin bread.

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