Moist Pumpkin Bread

My grandmother clipped this pumpkin bread recipe from a magazine over 50 years ago.

It’s the oldest recipe in my family and also the most cherished.

In fact, one of my clearest childhood memories is baking the loaves with my mom and then carting them off to every neighborhood potluck and holiday party.

Now, I bake the recipe all the time with my own kids and it’s just as wonderful today as it was back then.

It’s easy to make — just a bit of mixing and stirring, pop it in the oven, and, in about an hour, you’ll have a house smelling of sweet autumn spices and two scrumptious, pumpkiny loaves.

This is the original recipe from my grandmother’s recipe box; as you can see, it has seen its share of spills!

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1⁄2 cup vegetable oil
1⁄3 cup water
1 (15 ounce) pumpkin puree
1 3⁄4 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1⁄2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1⁄4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

TOPPING:
1 tablespoon butter
1⁄4 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1⁄4 cup pecans, chopped

Directions

In a medium size bowl beat eggs and mix with sugar, oil, water and pumpkin.
In another bowl mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice. Combine wet ingredients with dry ingredients only until just blended. Do NOT overmix.
Pour into a greased and floured loaf pan. This bread fits perfectly in an 8.5 x 4.5 loaf pan. Bake in a 325 degree oven for 50 to 60 minutes.

For topping: In a small saucepan mix butter, brown sugar and milk. Boil only 2 1/2 minutes while stirring constantly. Immediately drizzle on top of loaf. Sprinkle with chopped pecans and press pecans lightly into topping.
Wrap and store until next day for serving. This will keep moisture inside. It is ok if bread “sweats” while wrapped.

Source: Allrecipes.com