Whole Wheat Pumpkin Bread

This is a wonderful recipe I have made for years, it’s a very dense yet moist bread, full of nuts, fruit and those spices we love around the holidays. It’s been a family favorite for years and I hope you’ll add it to your holiday baking 🙂

First, lets have a chat about Pumpkin… I like to use fresh roasted pumpkin but do have a special place in my heart for canned. When I simply don’t have time for fresh, canned is a great go to. I like to roast mine and put them in freezer bags for when that baking bug bites..(it’s pretty often!)
How do you use fresh pumpkin? Wait?! You thought the pumpkin chat was over? Ohh nooo! I love my pumpkin and I love to talk about it.. There are mostly two kinds of pumpkin readily available, those lovable Jack-o-lanterns to be that light up our walkways to scare away the goblins n ghosts of all Hallows Eve and the revered (sounds of awe) PIE PUMPKIN! That is the smaller one, that is the one you want for this…yes indeedy! It’s a denser, meatier pumpkin and is much less stringy and well, it’s good eatin’ I tell ya!

“Gie, how do I use a fresh pumpkin?” GLAD you asked!

First, take one of those little cutie pies and whack it in half! well, cut it carefully.. they are round and love to roll around so brave help may be required..just watch the fingers!

You didn’t tell me you were gonna kill it! Ahhh! Cutting the fresh pumpkin

Now, we clean out the seeds, make sure you grab as much of the strings as you can, if you don’t, that’s ok, they will soften with roasting and will be smoothed out with puréeing.

I like to use a big spoon to really clean out the strings

Pumpkin innards, minus the seeds 🙂

Pumpkin halves, roasting happily in the toasty oven!

now doesn’t that put a warm feeling in your heart?Roast at 350 for 45 minutes, after 40 minutes, I poke them with a wooden spoon to check for tenderness. they feel slightly softer than a baked potato when done.

This is how you know they are cool enough to handle, the middle caves in! Easy! and kind of funny, (giggle)

now, you literally turn the skins inside out and pull the pumpkin off the skins

ok sports fans, now to the fun part. What? you didn’t think that was fun? (big grin)
Now we take our Wondermill Grain mill and make some wonderful Fresh milled Flour!
Firstly, I have to say (or rather, shout from the mountain tops) that I LOVE, I mean it, LOVE my Wondermill! Just had to say that, all this holiday baking has me giddy and I am feeling the love!
So here is the set up, My wonderful grain mill, my red wheat and within seconds…
Fresh milled Flour! Milled so fast, it’s warm:)
HURRAY! now go grab the eggs n sugar, we’re making Punkin’ Bread!
Measure out the flour, add the spices, I like to use a pumpkin spice blend of cloves, Saigon and Ceylon cinnamon, ginger, allspice… it’s on my top ten list of favorite smells, for sure!

It’s Beginning to Smell like lot like Christmas!

Mix it together, as a rule, I like to mix in all of my dry ingredients together first (remember, sugar is a wet) then mix all my wet ingredients together. Then add the dry to the wet to avoid little yucky blobs of flour at the bottom. That causes overmixing, the #1 culprit of dry, chewy quick breads… (shaking fist in air) DARN YOU, Overmixing!! We Shall overcome! Ahem, ok, back to baking!
Add the baking soda, salt etc and mix..

Now, to the Wet ingredients , this is where the magic happens..

Add the Oil and water…

Add the Sugar..

And Add the eggs

and MIX MIX MIX! at this point, preheat the oven 🙂

Ok, so if you’re a pumpkin bread purist, stop here, mix in the dry ingredients and bake, ORRRRR, if you’re like me and like your pumpkin bread with tons of goodies, by all means, read on.. Warning, this is not for the faint of heart, add what you’d like, you cant go wrong, unless you add, maybe pocket change or something…lol! hmm Bread that pays you to eat it.. hmmm…

Now we add the……(wait for it…)

Creamy White chocolate chips

Cinnamon chips…(these are great, they literally melt in but add a spicy oomph!

Crushed Pecans, as always, a Southern Favorite!

Toasted Pumpkin seeds

Sunflower seeds..ohh yes…

Doesn’t that look GOOD?

Ok, add in the dry ingredients a 1/3 at a time, when you add the dry, don’t overmix, just go around the bowl three times. Trust me, it’ll be ok, I promise!

ok, so this is part where you really trust me, use a whisk, or a spoonula but go around the outside then the inside, then across the middle making an X. That’s one stroke, do this 20 times. Count if you must, it’s possible to get it all mixed in. The reason why I say this is because using flour, especially whole grains, it has natural glutens that stretch when wet, making that lovely chewy texture we prize in a crusty French bread… (sigh) but this is a short crumb quick bread and we need to stir as little as possible…if you MUST do a little more stirring, try to keep it under 25 mixes. using the outside, inside X method. That really should do it. I use a big whisk most of the time. That seems to do the trick. You’ll thank me later!

This is just moments away from being your favorite thing ever…minus sweats, fluffy socks, finding money in the dryer and all green lights on your way to work…

This does really well as muffins, I recommend the cups, but I love love love it in a nice big loaf. With muffins, you can ration, and hide the loaf in your closet…muhahahaa!!

Fill cups 3/4 full, I sprinkled on Pumpkin seeds for fun 🙂

This is my favorite way..
I love my rustic stoneware pan. As you can see it’s very well seasoned=Loved..and makes one heckuva loaf…meatloaf, pumpkin loaf, Banana Bread….Ohh I could go on…. sorry, I think I did… (blush)

Bake..and…

TADA!!! Look what we made!
I didn’t get a chance to take a pic of the loaf, Hubby and the kiddos demolished it, lol. So here’s the clincher, like any quick bread, it’s always better the next day so wrap it up while it’s still just warm, and, yes, I am truly sorry, wait…it’ll be worth it. Remember that whole trust relationship we formed at the mixing part..stick with me on this 🙂

I hope you make it, I hope you love it:) More recipes to come…

I’d love to hear from you! Leave me a comment!

Thanks! Gie

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Bread ~ Hurray! Just in time for the holidays!

Author:

Gie

Recipe type: Quick Bread

Cuisine: Americana

Serves: 12

Pumpkin Bread, spiced and loaded with goodness!

Ingredients

1.5 C pumpkin Puree or 1 15 oz can of pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
4 Large Eggs
⅔ C Very cold water
1 C Oil (I used vegetable)
3⅛ C Sugar
3½ C Flour
2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
3 Tblsp Spice blend or
1 Tblsp Cinnamon
½ Tblsp Clove
1 Tblsp Ginger
½ Tblsp Allpice
Optional
⅓ C each
White Chocolate Chips
Pumpkin seeds
Sunflower seeds
Cinnamon chips
Add anything you love!

Instructions

In Med Size bowl>Mix all Dry ingredients (except Sugar)
In Large Bowl> Mix all wet ingredients (including sugar)
add Dry to wet ingredients, mixing 20 times around - once around outside, then make an X on the inside - 1 stroke)
Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes 25-30 min for muffins, depending on the size.