Mom's Pumpkin Bread

Sweet pumpkin and warm spices are the stars of this easy quick bread - perfect for breakfast, brunch or a snack. Enjoy it as is, or try it toasted and slathered with butter.

Course Breakfast, Brunch, Snack

Cuisine American

Keyword comfort food, easy, heirloom recipe, pumpkin, quick bread, spiced

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 1 10

Total Time 1 30

Servings

Calories 241kcal

Equipment

2 loaf pans (9x5 inch)
large mixing bowl
medium mixing bowl

Ingredients

3 ⅓ cup flour
2 tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cloves
⅔ cup shortening
2 ⅔ cup sugar
4 eggs large, room temperature
2 cups pumpkin puree
⅔ cup water
⅔ cup nuts or raisins optional

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease your loaf pans and set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices.
3 1/3 cup flour, 2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp cloves
In a large mixing bowl, beat the shortening and sugar until very fluffy.
2/3 cup shortening, 2 2/3 cup sugar
Add the eggs and beat well.
4 eggs
Add the pumpkin and water, mix until thoroughly combined and homogenous in color.
2 cups pumpkin puree, 2/3 cup water
Add the flour mixture and beat just until combined.
If you are using nuts or raisins, fold them into the batter until evenly distributed.
2/3 cup nuts or raisins
Divide the batter evenly between the prepared loaf pans.
Bake in the preheated oven for 60-70 minutes, or until a tester comes out with a few moist crumbs (or ~195°F on an instant read thermometer)
Cool the bread in the pan for about 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Cut into slices to serve, store leftovers in an airtight container.

Notes

Variations:
- Replace 1/2 of the shortening with cream cheese
  - the texture will be a little denser with a more velvety mouthfeel making the bread feel a bit more indulgent
- Replace the water with milk
  - this will create a more tender crumb and a richer flavor
  - it can also make the crust brown more quickly - when the crust is the desired golden brown color, tent the loaf with foil for the remainder of the baking time.
- The original recipe calls for equal parts cinnamon and cloves. However, I distinctly recall mom telling me that she didn't love cloves so in my recreation I reduced the cloves to 1/2 the amount of the cinnamon. If you love cloves, feel free to bump that back up again.
- I know many pumpkin recipes include ginger in the mix of spices - I actually really like that this bread doesn't include ginger, I think it gives the more subtle pumpkin a chance to shine. But if you can't imagine pumpkin without ginger, you could definitely add some to this recipe, I would suggest 1/2 - 1 tsp.

Nutrition