It’s that time of year for all things pumpkin!
My daughter reminds me through her pumpkin spice coffee creamer, pumpkin-decorated coffee mugs, pumpkin cake mixes, pumpkin candles, pumpkin socks—you get the picture. Funny thing is, I don’t know if she likes pumpkin pie.
The idea of all things pumpkin usually turns me off. Too much of a good thing?
One pumpkin thing I really enjoy, however, is pumpkin bread.
I’ve made it for decades since it is a quick bread. This in my book means it is simple, economical, and delicious.
A warning, though, for this recipe. It calls for ‘pumpkin pie filling.’ This is a different product from straight canned pumpkin.
Canned pumpkin is simply pumpkin puree with no extras. It can be used to make a variety of baked goods. I usually choose puree from the store shelf to make pumpkin bread (most recipes I’ve found call for canned pumpkin, rather than the filling).
Pumpkin pie filling, in contrast, contains extra ingredients to make pie baking easier—sugar and spices. The only thing you usually have to add is evaporated milk.
After picking up a can of the pumpkin pie filling by mistake (they are positioned next to each other on store shelves, so easy mistake) I had pushed it to the back of my pantry, resolved to use it for pie at a later date.
When I spied this recipe for pumpkin bread that actually called for pumpkin pie filling, I gave it a try. Luckily, the contributor of this recipe – coincidentally a woman called Betty Reusser (no relation that I am aware of) — knew what she was doing. The results were stunning. The bread is light and tasty with no heavy taste of pumpkin which often turns me off. I like just the subtleness of the taste and scent of pumpkin.
this is a good recipe for new bakers since it can be made with no fancy equipment or techniques and in a matter of minutes.
This recipe and hundreds of others were published in a spiral-bound cookbook from Cross Community Church of Berne (then called Cross United Church of Christ) in 1979.
Enjoy!
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3 cups pumpkin pie filling (my can contained 3 1/3 cups so I threw in the one-third cup with no problems)
1 cup water
6 eggs
1-½ cups oil
5-¼ cups flour
3 teaspoons baking soda
2-¼ cups sugar
2 teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
Mix sugar, eggs, and oil.
Add pumpkin and water.
In separate bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Add flour mix to pumpkin ingredients and beat just until smooth.
Fill 5 large (or 10 small) bread tins half full.
Tip: The recipe says to grease the bottoms of coffee pans; I tried the coffee can method once when someone gave me their clean can. The ridges in the can made it difficult to remove the baked goods. I prefer loaf pans lined with parchment paper.
Bake about 50 minutes at 350 degrees, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Smaller pans require less time, maybe 25 minutes. Keep an eye on your oven during baking to avoid burning.
Yield: 10 small pans or 5 (1 pound) coffee cans
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This blog is made 100% by me– photos, text, etc. It is made with NO help from AI.
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