Pumpkin Pecan Bread

So I'm going to level with you, my first attempt at homemade pumpkin bread was an utter flop! I was so excited when I started out. I made my own pumpkin spice blend which was amazing, the batter tasted spectacular, and I had the cutest loaf pan to bake it in. I was convinced that in a little over an hour, I would have the best and prettiest pumpkin bread. I was so wrong. After an 65 minutes of baking, the outside looked great, the inside looked as if it had never been baked at all. The whole thing was one big sad streak. The taste was superb but to look at it was just so depressing. So the next time I attempted pumpkin bread, I was a little less cocky.

Armed with a new recipe, I went back into the kitchen and set myself to baking. They say that the third time is the charm, but fortunately for me, the second time worked perfectly. The batter came together in no time, baking went smoothly, and this time, there was NO sad streak. I had finally baked a beautiful, fluffy loaf of pumpkin bread. Plus, I got to use a surprise ingredient that I had never worked with before. With only ten minutes of hands on time, this pumpkin bread is the most delicious item you can have hanging around your kitchen in the fall.

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Pumpkin Patch Bread

Time : 70 minutes Servings: 1 loaf

Ingredients:

Bread

• 1 stick of unsalted butter, softened

• 3/4 cup sugar

• 1 egg

• 8 oz. pumpkin puree

• 1 cup all-purpose flour

• 1/4 tsp. salt

• 1 TBS. pumpkin pie spice

• 1/2 tsp. baking soda

• 1/4 tsp. baking powder

• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

• 1/2 cup pecan pieces

I got to use Duck Eggs. Aren't they cute?

Pumpkin Pie Spice

• 2 TBS. cinnamon

• 1 1/2 tsp. nutmeg

• 1 1/4 tsp. ginger

• 1/4 tsp. allspice

• 1/4 tsp. cloves

Directions:

1. Pumpkin Pie Spice: Combine all ingredients together and store in an airtight container

2. Pre-heat oven to 325°

3. In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat softened butter until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes

4. Add sugar to butter and beat until well combined

5. Next, add in your egg and pumpkin to the sugar/butter mixture and beat until fully incorporated

6. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice

7. With mixer on low speed, slowly add your dry ingredients to your wet ingredients

8. Once combined, add vanilla extract and mix in

9. Using a spatula, add pecan pieces and fold them into the batter

10. Pour your batter into a prepared loaf pan and bake for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean

11. Let stand 10 minutes in pan then turn out onto a cooling rack, and if you just can't wait till it's cool, go ahead and slice you up a piece

12. Store in an air-tight container for up to a week

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Tips & Tricks

1. The pan I used to bake my pumpkin bread in is by Nordic Ware. I love their pans. Amazing quality and some of the cutest designs, especially for fall and winter.

2. The surprise ingredient I was able to work with was duck eggs, and I loved them! A friend of mine gifted me a dozen and I could not wait to work with them. Duck eggs are wonderful for baking because they have a higher fat content than chicken eggs and the yolk is larger than that of a chicken egg. They really help to make the bread rise more and give it a richer taste. If you don't have a friend with ducks running around in their backyard, laying eggs like crazy, don't worry, chicken eggs still work great (I feel like Ina Garten); it's a one to one substitution rate. But if you ever stumble across duck eggs, grab some, your baking will thank you.

3. This recipe only makes one loaf of pumpkin bread. However, if you want to make two or more loaves just double or triple everything depending upon how many loafs you want to make.

4. I didn't top this particular loaf of pumpkin bread with anything, I knew I would eat it for breakfast and like mine to be kind of simple. But if you want it a little more sweet, it tastes amazing with the spiced glaze I used on the sparkling apple cider doughnuts.