Pumpkin Bread

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I love fall. It is my absolute favorite season. And although we haven't felt that crisp feeling in the air near enough (think more of humid, muggy) I know it is coming soon! I love fall smells and colors. Pumpkins, cinnamon, orange & red leaves. I just love it! It's time for soup in the crock pot, long sleeves, Halloween costumes and pumpkin carving! To add to all of the seasonal things, my birthday and anniversary are in October! It just can't get any better! :)

So, I wanted to share one of my favorite fall recipes with you! Pumpkin bread is a staple in my house in the fall. We have it for breakfast, snacks, dessert. And today I'm making my first loaf of the season! The recipe is from Paula Deens, Savannah Country Cookbook.

Pumpkin Bread *my notes are below
Yields 2 loaves

3 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 cups canned pumpkin
2/3 cup water
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 to 3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two loaf pans. Mix sugar and oil with mixer. Add eggs and blend. Add pumpkin and blend. Add water and blend. Combine remaining ingredients and add slowly. Fill pans equally and bake for 1 hour or until olden brown.

*My notes: I use one can of pumpkin (15 oz) which is almost two cups. I also use 1/2 c vegetable oil and 1/2 c applesauce, instead of one whole cup of vegetable oil. Sometimes I add nuts and sometimes I don't. Luke won't eat nuts and Eli can't yet so I'll probably do most of mine without nuts or maybe do one loaf with and one without. I also never add nutmeg. I usually do one tsp of cinnamon and 1 tsp of pumpkin pie spice. A whole tsp of nutmeg is too much for me. Actually I don't have any pumpkin pie spice yet. It's probably at my moms, I don't think I threw it away when we moved in with them, but I don't really remember. We tried to keep everything that wasn't perishable. Anyway, I'm still restocking my spice cabinet. I need to get some though because the Hubs is a pumpkin pie fan and I usually make a few pumpkin pies in the fall and winter months! :) If you don't have any pumpkin pie spice or nutmeg, just use cinnamon! It will still taste great! I'm thinking of doing pumpkin muffins with this recipe for the boys. They love muffins. I may try to lower the sugar amount too! I'll let you know how that turns out!