I walked into Trader Joe’s yesterday and was immediately hit by a wave of orange. Pumpkin to be specific. Pumpkin waffles, pumpkin bread, pumpkin coffee, pumpkin body butter…the list goes on. I’m not the world’s biggest fan of pumpkin flavored things. Don’t get me wrong, I love pumpkin pie. But Pumpkin Spiced Lattes end up tasting…well, sub-par. Not what I wanted. But orange desserts? Count me in. It’s hard to saw pumpkin bread actually tastes like pumpkin. This bread has a little earthiness to its taste, but really what you end up getting are the spices reminiscent of fall. That cozy feeling that is the hallmark of the fall and winter seasons.
It’s also carb-y goodness that comforts you when the awareness that winter is coming hits you.
Wonderful things about this recipe: you don’t need a stand mixer, it takes less than 15 minutes to put together, and you can futz with the spices all your want as long as you’ve got the cinnamon and nutmeg.
Pumpkin Toffee Bread
Adapted from joythebaker.com
2 cups all purpose flour or whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp baking powder
0.5 tsp baking soda
0.5 cup butter, melted
1 cup pumpkin puree
splash of vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
0.5 tsp nutmeg
0.25 tsp anise (if you have the whole seed, just grate some of it)
0.25 tsp black pepper
1 egg (or to make it eggless add in 0.25 cup vegetable oil + 0.25 cup plain yogurt)
0.5 cup light brown sugar
0.5 cup toffee chips
0.25 cup chopped walnuts
Preheat oven to 350F
Mix all the dry ingredients in one bowl.
Mix all the wet ingredients in another bowl.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.
Fold together to mix (don’t overmix, meaning just mix till it comes together).
Line a bread pan (9×5) with parchment paper or spray with non-stick spray
Pour your batter in there
Bake for 45-55 minutes
Cool, slice, and eat with a cup of black coffee.
The Clumsy Cook 