Fall Baking Re-Do: THE Pumpkin Loaf

"Hey Willy! THIS is fall baking"

TLDR: go make this loaf.

If you, like my brother, missed the fall baking mark last week – or perhaps just wanted to wait until we were a bit deeper into the season before diving in – you no longer have to go searching for which fall loaf to bake.

Here, I present to you, on my proverbial platter: the only pumpkin loaf recipe you will ever need.

I’d say that I’m somewhat of a loyalist when it comes to my recipe research. If there’s something new I want to make there are a few standard sites I like to check before I start cooking.

At the top of my list (after checking with Willy to see if he happens to have an ingredient list he can throw my way) is Smitten Kitchen.

To call her my spirit animal may be a bit bold, but I mean it in only the most honorable way possible. Deb’s recipes are well thought out, delicious, and they always work.

She almost always has what I’m looking for and her sense of humor is a bonus – let’s just say, she gets me.

This is my go-to loaf. I’ve made it every fall for the past several+ years and I don’t see myself seeking out a new one any time soon.

It’s everything you want in your pumpkin bread (plus a couple of things you probably didn’t even know you wanted). It’s super moist, and perfectly balanced in flavor with a crunchy-craggy cinnamon sugar topping. It mixes up nicely in one bowl, all with ingredients you most likely have on hand, plus pumpkin (which, since it is fall, you too should have.)

This loaf is huge – so you can share it with your less-up-to-fall friends, or freeze individual slices and have delicious easy-peasy breakfasts and/or snacks for the foreseeable future.

Recipe Notes:

*The aforementioned large size is no joke. If you are even slightly concerned that your pan isn't big enough, scoop out some batter and make a couple bonus muffins. You can also put a sheet tray under a precariously full-looking loaf pan, for good measure.

*The loaf stores great at room temp with a piece of foil covering just the cut end of the bread.

Pumpkin Bread

• 1 15 oz can    Pumpkin Puree (or 1.75 cup homemade)
• 115 g           Neutral cooking oil, or melted butter
• 3 ea            Eggs, large
• 330 g         Granulated Sugar
• 1.5 tsp        Baking Powder
• .75 tsp       Baking Soda
• .75 tsp       Sea Salt
• .75 tsp        Ground Cinnamon
• .25 tsp       Nutmeg (freshly ground if possible)
• .25 tsp       Ground Ginger
• 2 pinches     Ground Cloves
• 295 g         AP Flour

To finish:

• 12 g            Granulated Sugar
• 1 tsp           Ground Cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 and butter a 6-cup loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs, and sugar until smooth.
3. Sprinkle baking powder, soda, and spices over batter and mix well.
4. Add flour and stir until just combined.
5. Scrape batter into prepared pan and spread flat. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon
6. Bake your loaf for 65 to 75 minutes (the hardest part is waiting) until a toothpick or cake tester poked in several different spots comes out clean.
7. Let it cool for at least ten minutes before cutting.