Thanksgiving Pumpkin Bread

I took the pumpkin bread recipe our Lovely Daughter sent me and modified it a little. My modifications are in italics. For example, in place of 1/2 cup of oil in the batter, I substituted applesauce. For the sugar, I substituted a target=”_blank”>sucralose sugar replacement (the most well-known brand name is Splenda®). The rest, apart from the baking method and my insistence on using spices that are at least freshly-ground, is as Lovely Daughter sent it to me.

Since my Wonder Woman is still (after a whole day!) outa town, the trial loaf was mine all mine. 🙂

1 cup pumpkin pie filling—I added a medium egg to the cup measure I used to measure the canned pumpkin purée
1/2 cup applesauce
3/4 cup granulated sugar substitute (I used a sucralose-based sugar replacement)
1/2 cup molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly-ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly-groundnutmeg
1/4 teaspoon freshly-ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon freshly-ground ginger (or crystalized ginger, whichever you can get)

You may also add 1/2 cup of coarsely-chopped nuts. Your choice, although I’d avoid peanuts, since they just don’t seem right according to my mental taste buds. (I certainly didn’t use any peanuts, and I have a bag of raw peanuts to snack on right here. :-)) In the future, I may add raisins and/or chopped dates, as well. Who knows?

Heat oven to 350° F. Oil a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan.

In a large bowl, combine the pumpkin pie filling, oil, sugar, molasses, and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger. Slowly stir the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture. Pour into the prepared pan. Bake for 60 to 65 minutes.

Or, instead of all the mixing and oven baking go with my major modification: place the ingredients in your bread machine, hit the appropriate button (mine is “Batter Breads”) and walk away.

Transfer pan to a wire rack for 10 minutes. Using a knife, loosen the bread from the pan. (Or, in the case of a decent non-stick bread machine pan, just tip it out onto your cutting board.) Invert it onto a cutting board. Serve warm.

In Advance: Bake the bread and let it cool. Wrap and set aside at room temperature for up to 24 hours. Cover with foil and warm in a 250° F oven for 30 minutes.

To Freeze: Place the cooled bread in a resealable plastic bag or cover with 2 layers of plastic wrap. Store for up to 3 months.

To Reheat: Refrigerate the bread overnight. Remove the plastic wrap, cover with aluminum foil, and warm in a 250° oven for 30 minutes.

Yield: Makes 6 to 8 servings

Update on trial loaf: the applesauce replacement for oil does make the bread more “chewy” and the molasses is a rather strong flavor. I might try this with less molasses in the future, but as it is, good eats.