Pumpkin Pecan Bread Recipe

This melt-in-your-mouth quick bread is perfect to bring along as a hostess gift, or to serve family and guests for breakfast or alongside dinner. Moist, spicy, and filled with the beta-carotene goodness of pumpkin (and a perfect use for leftover pumpkin puree!), Pumpkin Pecan Bread is a recipe you’ll want to keep and use again and again.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar, plus some to sprinkle on top
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
finely grated zest on 1 lemon
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans, preferably toasted

1. Preheat oven to 325F. Grease a 5”x9” loaf pan and set aside.

2. In to a medium sized bowl, sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices together.

3. Use an electric mixer in a large bowl to cream butter on high speed, gradually adding sugar. Beat the eggs in one at a time, beating well after adding each one. Blend in vanilla, lemon zest, and pumpkin.

4. In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream and milk. Blend half of this into the pumpkin mixture. Blend half of the dry mixture into the creamed mixture, then add the last half of the liquid, then the rest of the dry, blending after each addition until just smooth. Fold in pecans.

5. Use a rubber spatula to scrape batter into prepared pan, smoothing top with a spoon. Sprinkle top generously with sugar.

6. Bake on center rack in preheated oven until a tester inserted deep into the center of the loaf comes out clean, around 70 minutes. Allow to cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edges to loosen, then turn bread out onto the rack. Allow to cool before slicing. Wrap bread as soon as it is cooled.

One loaf serves 10 to 12.