Bonus Post: Pumpkin Bread Recipe
by Rebecca J on 2012-10-26
Lots of heavy stuff on the blog lately! Time to take it easy for a day. I have
long dreamed of being a food blogger without having gotten any real traction.
Anytime I find a recipe that works, I want to share it with the whole world. It
seems like a good part of the world is reading my cochlear implant blog these
days, so Iʼm going to combine genres and share the recipe for the pumpkin
bread that featured so prominently on Activation Day. This is from
Cooks Illustratedʼs September 2012 issue. Those people do not mess
around. Folks, cream cheese inside pumpkin bread=genius. Youʼre welcome!
Really Good Pumpkin Bread
Makes 2 loaves
The test kitchenʼs preferred loaf pan measures 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 inches; if
using a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan, start checking for doneness five minutes early.
Ingredients
Topping
- 5 tablespoons packed (2 1/4 ounces) light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Bread
- 2 cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 (15-ounce) can unsweetened pumpkin purée
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 cup (7 ounces) granulated sugar
- 1 cup packed (7 ounces) light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 4 ounces cream cheese, cut into 12 pieces
- 4 large eggs
- 1/4 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped fine
Instructions
- FOR THE TOPPING: Using fingers, mix all ingredients together in bowl
until well combined and topping resembles wet sand; set aside.
- FOR THE BREAD: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350
degrees. Grease two 8 1/2 by 4 1/2-inch loaf pans. Whisk flour, baking
powder, and baking soda together in bowl.
- Combine pumpkin purée, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves in large saucepan
over medium heat. Cook mixture, stirring constantly, until reduced to 1½
cups, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove pot from heat; stir in granulated sugar, brown
sugar, oil, and cream cheese until combined. Let mixture stand for 5 minutes.
Whisk until no visible pieces of cream cheese remain and mixture is
homogeneous.
- Whisk together eggs and buttermilk. Add egg mixture to pumpkin mixture and
whisk to combine. Fold flour mixture into pumpkin mixture until combined
(some small lumps of flour are OK). Fold walnuts into batter. Scrape batter
into prepared pans. Sprinkle topping evenly over top of each loaf. Bake until
skewer inserted in center of loaf comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Let
breads cool in pans on wire rack for 20 minutes. Remove breads from pans and
let cool for at least 1½ hours. Serve warm or at room temperature.