I didn’t grow up with pumpkins as a kid, except watching Cinderella. Pumpkins are not very popular in Sweden it could be because we don’t really celebrate Halloween. However, since I was a kid Halloween has become more popular but nothing like here. I believe in Sweden people celebrate Halloween just because there is a reason to have a party.
The first time I tasted pumpkin was a few years back when someone gave me pumpkin pie and I really thought it was one of the most disgusting things I have ever had for dessert. And not until about two years ago I went to this wine party and had some pumpkin cookies and I thought they were amazing. I was surprised that when I asked for the recipe they told me it was pumpkin. After that I was convinced I had to try pumpkin again. I got the pumpkin cookie recipe and it is one of my favorite cookies of all times. Yes, can you believe that? And yes, I will share it with you soon too. But since then I have also been introduced to pumpkin bread which i really enjoy, so it might have been that I just had a bad pumpkin pie but I have not had pumpkin pie since. So if you have a recipe you want me to try, send it over I would be happy to give it a try, but only if you tell me it is really good.
So back to this bumpkin bread. Yes, I like it but trying to find a recipe that is good is a different story. I have looked over a week for a good pumpkin recipe without oil and tried making 3 different kinds with no luck. So I decided to put things in my own hands. Yes, my husband is tired of testing pumpkin bread and the rest is in the trash.
So after some trial and error this is what I have come up with, and it is the way I like it, not too much pumpkin, no oil, little bit of spice, raisins and walnuts. YUM! I am sure you can tweak it more but this is a winner to me. So I am ready to share my pumpkin recipe with you. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Pumpkin Bread
Adapted from: Horizon Dairy
Yields: 1 Loaf | Prep Time: 25 Minutes | Bake Time: 65 – 75 Minutes
1 3/4 cups unbleached flour (you may substitute up to 3/4 cup whole wheat flour)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
½ raisins
¼ cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1-2 tsp milkPreheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour one 9×5-inch loaf pan. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, soda, salt and spices. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until well combined. Add flour mixture alternately with pumpkin, mixing well between each addition. Stir in raisins and walnuts. Spread batter into prepared pan and bake for 65-75 minutes, until loaf feels firm and springy when pressed in the center and a tester inserted comes out clean. Cool in pan for 15 minutes then remove from pan and cool on a wire rack. Bread will keep well wrapped at room temperature for two days, in the refrigerator for five days, or in the freezer for up to four months.
Privet and Holly says
September 23, 2010 at 5:45 amI’m sorry that you had
bad pumpkin pie; done
right it’s amazing. The
secret, for me, is to use
a lot of spices; otherwise
it’s kind of bland. One
year for Thanksgiving
I made a pumpkin cheesecake
with a bourbon sour cream
frosting and it was divine!
Your bread recipe sounds
delicious ~ it’s the cardomom
that makes it special, along
with the nuts and raisins!
xx Suzanne
Delishhh replied: — November 29th, 2010 @ 12:04 am
Suzanne – I hope you had a good Thanksgiving. Did you end up making this pumpkin cheesecake? Or did you make something else very good? We ended up leaving for some beach and sun instead of cold Seattle.
anabel says
September 23, 2010 at 7:01 amLooks yummy. I made pumpkin cake the other day but substituted with butternut squash. The result was delicious 🙂
Delishhh replied: — November 29th, 2010 @ 12:05 am
Anabel – What a great idea. I should try to do that with some of my recipes. Did you make anything our of the ordinary for Thanksgiving?
Carrie says
September 23, 2010 at 8:15 amI *almost* made pumpkin bread the other night, more to make the house smell delicious though. 🙂 Ended up with pumpkin mousse!
Delishhh replied: — November 29th, 2010 @ 10:51 am
Carrie – I love mousse, never had pumpkin mousse but that sounds good. How was the Seattle get together?
Pretty. Good. Food. says
September 24, 2010 at 3:48 pmI love anything pumpkin but especially pumpkin bread! Looks delicious!
Delishhh replied: — November 29th, 2010 @ 10:54 am
Meredith – Thanks for stopping by. Hope you had a good thanksgiving. Make anything new?
redmenace says
September 25, 2010 at 7:28 amI really love a good pumpkin bread, but I agree with you that pumpkin pies aren’t always what they are cracked up to be. Thank you for sharing this. YUM! I’m glad you found your inner love of the pumpkin.
Delishhh replied: — November 29th, 2010 @ 10:58 am
Robin – Hope all is well with you, and that you had a fabulous thanksgiving. Only one more month of freedom 🙂
ithaca says
October 4, 2010 at 2:43 pmdo you cook the pumpkin before or do you put it in raw ?
Delishhh replied: — October 4th, 2010 @ 7:11 pm
You have to cook it.
There are three ways to prepare fresh pumpkin to be used in recipes:
1. Baked Fresh Pumpkin – Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Cut the pumpkin in half and clean out the seeds and stringy stuff. Cover a baking sheet with tin foil. Brush a little melted butter on the cut edges of the pumpkin. Place the sides cut side down on the cookie sheet. Cook for around an hour or until the pumpkin is soft. Cool. Remove the pumpkin skin. Cut into pieces and blend or put through a food processor until the mixture is smooth like canned pumpkin.
2. Boiled Fresh Pumpkin – Remove the seeds and strings. Peel and cut the pumpkin into chunks. Put pumpkin chunks in a large pan. Cover with water. Bring to a light boil. Cook until tender. Cool. As with the baked method, blend or food process the pumpkin until smooth.
3. Microwaved Fresh Pumpkin – Clean seeds and strings out of pumpkin. Cube with rind on. Place chunks in a microwave safe bowl and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Cook on medium until soft. Check every 5 minutes as microwave times vary. Once chunks are cool, peel off the rind. Blend or food process until smooth just as in the other methods.
If the pumpkin puree looks runny, there are two ways to thicken it up.
How To Thicken Up Fresh Pumpkin Puree
1. Put the pumpkin puree in a saucepan and cook over medium heat. Cook until it reaches the consistency desired. This just takes some of the water out of the fresh pumpkin.
2. Line a strainer with cheesecloth or coffee filters. Place the strainer in a big bowl. Pour the fresh pumpkin in the strainer. Leave this in the refrigerator over night. The excess liquid will drain off and can be rinsed away the next morning leaving you with thicker pumpkin.
Laura @ Family Spice says
October 7, 2010 at 2:50 pmI like that you don’t use a lot of sugar. Totally bugs me that quick breads taste more like cakes!
Carrie says
November 29, 2010 at 10:54 amNow I actually did make pumpkin bread just last week. 🙂 The Seattle get together was good, will send out an e-mail about when and where the next one is soon.
Pretty. Good. Food. says
November 29, 2010 at 4:03 pmHaven’t made anything new in a while! I need to get my butt back in the kitchen I think :)!!!