As Thanksgiving and Christmas approach, many of us become overwhelmed by our busy lives. Today I thought I’d share one of my favorite fall bread recipes that I keep on hand to serve my many guests who come to stay with me in Rome. I find it impractical to make a full breakfast for them everyday, yet I want to serve something special. This bread accompanied by some fruit and yoghurt makes for a pretty nice breakfast without lots of fussing in the kitchen. Even those of us who like to cook, also like to be able to sit down and enjoy our company without stressing over what to serve.
This recipe makes two loaves, so you will have a loaf to serve right away as well as one to keep in the freezer to pull out when unexpected company drops by. It is wonderful with both tea and coffee. The pumpkin and spices nicely complement the apples, and the crunchy topping makes it extra special.
In the recipe section, I listed the weight equivalents for the main ingredients. I much prefer to measure most ingredients this way because it guarantees consistency, is much quicker, and it also makes for fewer dishes to wash. If you have a food scale, give it a try! We now have two scales in my kitchen because the members of my family used to fight over the one scale we had when we were cooking together — especially during the holidays when we were each making a different dish.
Here is the step by step process for making this bread.
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place flour, baking soda, salt, and spices in a bowl. Stir with a wisk.
2. In a separate bowl, combine the pumpkin, eggs, sugar, and oil. Wisk together until smooth.
3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Use a silicon spoonula or a spoon to mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Do not overmix. (Most quick breads should not be mixed for long periods of time. That is how you get those holes in your bread that look like little tunnels.)
4. Gently fold in the chopped nuts, chopped apples, dried apples, and cranberries. Again, do not overmix.
5. Put batter into prepared loaf pans. (You can butter and flour the pans or use baking spray.) The batter will be thick, so you’ll need to spread it out with a spatula to ensure even baking. — You can again use your kitchen scale to make sure that the pans have about the same amount of batter in them.
6. Prepare the topping by stirring together the flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Mix in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
Sprinkle this mixture over the top of the dough in both pans.
7. Place the loaves on a rack in the middle of your oven which you preheated to 350 degrees. Bake the bread for 50 minutes to an hour. A toothpick or bamboo skewer inserted into the bread should come out clean when the bread is done. (Cooking time will vary depending on your oven and the amount of humidity where you live.)
Cool the loaves in their pans for about 40 minutes before removing to a wire rack. When the loaves are COMPLETELY cool, wrap in foil and store for a week in the fridge or several months in the freezer. (Slice the bread before freezing if you would like to be able to thaw just a few pieces at a time. It makes it easy to stick a slice in someone’s lunch or to pull a slice or two from the freezer when a friend stops by for tea.)
Pumpkin Bread with Apples and Cranberries
Bread Ingredients:
- 3 c. flour (15 oz. by weight)
- 2 tsp. baking soda
- 3/4 tsp. salt
- 2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp. allspice
- 1/2 tsp. ginger
- 1 can pumpkin (15 oz.) — NOT pumpkin pie filling
- 3/4 c. vegetable oil
- 2 c. sugar (14 oz. by weight)
- 4 eggs
- 2 c. peeled, cored, and chopped apples (I used Granny Smiths.)
- 1/2 c. chopped dried apples (1.25 oz.)*
- 1 c. dried cranberries (5 oz.)*
- 1 c. pecans (4 oz.), chopped coarsely*
*Optional items — It is fine to include or omit these items depending on your personal taste.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place flour, baking soda, salt, and spices in a bowl. Stir with a wisk. In a separate bowl, combine the pumpkin, eggs, sugar, and oil. Wisk together. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Use a silicon spoonula or a spoon to mix together. Do not overmix; batter should be a bit lumpy. Gently fold in the chopped nuts, chopped apples, dried apples, and cranberries. Put batter into prepared loaf pans (buttered and floured or sprayed with non-stick spray).
Topping Ingredients:
- 1 T. flour
- 1/3 cup sugar (2.25 oz.)
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 T. unsalted butter, softened
Prepare topping by stirring together the flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Mix in butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle over the top of the dough in the two loaf pans.
Place the loaves on a rack in the middle of oven, preheated to 350 degrees. Bake the bread for 50 minutes to an hour. A toothpick or bamboo skewer inserted into the bread should come out clean when the bread is done.
Cool the loaves in their pans for about 40 minutes before removing to a wire rack. When the loaves are COMPLETELY cool, wrap in foil and store for a week in the fridge or several months in the freezer. (Bread can be sliced before freezing so you can thaw a few slices at a time.)
A Few Notes:
I recommend buying your dried cranberries from Nuts.com. Their dried cranberries are whole and actually taste like real cranberries. I won’t mention other brands, but let’s just say that nuts.com’s cranberries are much better than what you can usually find in the grocery store, and they also don’t contain sulfites. (This company is not sponsoring my blog.) I also purchase my dried apple pieces and many other items from them.
Joy Van Eaton
Home Was Not Built in a Day 