Whole Wheat Pumpkin Bread

I love it when I find a recipe where the amount of the canned ingredient is evenly divisible by the number of cans,--for example 15 ounces of canned pumpkin, three 28 ounce cans of kitchen-ready tomatoes, one 19 ounce can of black beans.  You get the picture.  While the unused portion can refrigerated or frozen, I am usually at a loss on what to do with this leftover amount.  Strange, I know, but true. 

Pumpkin bread is a favorite here from the wonderful aromas of pumpkin, nutmeg and cinnamon which fill the house as this bread is baking to every slice which is toasted, re-heated and slathered with some form of cream cheese, butter or vegan non-dairy spread.

This recipe makes about 5 mini-loaves, 2 medium height 9” loaves or 1 large 10” loaf.  I prefer to make mini-loaves as this bread freezes well and the small mini-loaf size guarantees a quick defrost when company drops by.  Although I will admit there have been times when slices have been cut from frozen loaves and immediately deposited into the toaster oven with no complaint and complete satisfaction.  For freezing, I suggest wrapping each loaf in plastic wrap and then placing the loaves in a freezer safe ziploc bag.  

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Bread

¾ cup canola oil

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 15 ounce can pumpkin puree or 1 ¾ cup pumpkin puree

5/8 cup water

2 ¼ cups whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/8 teaspoon nutmeg

3/8 teaspoon cinnamon

3/8 teaspoon allspice  
1/3 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
1/3 cup dried cranberries (optional) 

Place oven rack in middle position.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees farenheit.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the oil, eggs and sugar.  Add pumpkin and water.  Mix.  Add the flour, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice.  Stir gently but do not mix too thoroughly. Add nuts or dried cranberries. Once again, stir gently but do not mix too thoroughly.

Pour into greased loaf pan, approximately 5 mini-loaves, 2-9 inch loaf or 1 large 10 inch loaf.  Bake 30-60 minutes or until a straw inserted in the center comes out clean.  Turn bread out of the pan and cool on a rack. 

Irish Soda Bread in five ingredients

This was one of the twelve new recipes I tried in 2011 and have made again and again.  I recently made another loaf and realized this recipe would be one worth sharing.  I like this recipe as it comes together quickly, requires ingredients which I always have around the house and not for just this recipe, requires no yeast, no kneading and produces a lovely loaf of bread. 

This is a slight variation of the Irish Soda Bread recipe which appears in the 13^th edition of the Fanny Farmer's cookbook.

Irish Soda Bread  (yield: one loaf)

2 tablespoons vinegar or lemon juice

2 scant cups milk (dairy, soy or rice)

4 cups flour (all-purpose, whole wheat pastry or spelt)

1 ½ teaspoons salt or 1 1/8 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

Place oven rack in middle position.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees farenheit.

Place the vinegar or lemon juice in the bottom of a 2 cup liquid measuring cup and fill the cup with milk to equal 2 cups.  Set aside to allow milk to “sour”.

In a large mixing bowl, stir and toss together the flour, salt and baking soda.   Gradually add the “sour” milk, stirring until the dough holds together in a rough mass.  (Note, you made need to blend with your hands to get one mass as the dough comes together.)

Shape dough into 8-inch round about 1 ½ inches thick and place in the center of medium-sized non-stick baking sheet.

(optional) With a sharp knife, slash a large ¼-inch deep X across the top. 

Bake for about 45-50 minutes or until bread is nicely browned and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. 

Transfer bread to rack to cool, then wrap in damp paper towel.  Let bread cool completely before serving or storing.