Savoury Pumpkin Bread Recipe with Canned Pumpkin

Pumpkin is a versatile vegetable. It can be used in sweet as well as savory dishes. As the weather changes from summer to autumn, the delicious smell of pumpkin starts to fill the air and you know it is time to start experimenting with different recipes. Pumpkin is not just used for pies; it has many other uses such as pumpkin soup, squash, pumpkin gravy dish, cheesecake, pancakes and, of course, sweet and savory pumpkin bread recipe. Here is an easy to prepare pumpkin bread recipe with canned pumpkin that can be served as an entrée or a dessert.

What you will need (for one normal-sized loaf):

• Canned pumpkin – 500 grams
• Egg – 1 large
• Vegetable oil – ⅓ cup
• Water – ¼ cup
• Normal sugar – 1 cup
• All-purpose flour – 1 ¼ cups
• Baking soda – ¾ teaspoon
• Salt – ½ teaspoon
• Powdered cinnamon – ¼ teaspoon
• Powdered nutmeg – ¼ teaspoon
• Powdered cloves – ⅛ teaspoon
• Ground ginger – ⅛ teaspoon

Preparation:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C.
• Grease a bread loaf pan with a little butter or oil and sprinkle some flour over it so that it covers the butter in a light film. Shake out the excess flour.
• In a deep bowl, break the egg and add the sugar to it.
• Using a blender or a food processer, whisk the egg and sugar mix to get a fluffy texture.
• Add the vegetable oil and whisk some more.
• For this recipe, you will need pumpkin puree. To prepare the puree, cut the canned pumpkin in small pieces and boil for a few minutes until tender.
• Puree the pumpkin pieces in a blender then pass the puree through a sieve to get a smooth paste. Add water to this.
• Mix this paste with the oil-egg-sugar mix and again blend well and set aside.
• In a separate bowl, combine the measured flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger.
• You can also add nuts and raisins of your choice at this stage.
• Spoon this mixture, one spoonful at a time, in the prepared batter and whisk well.
• Make sure that there are no pumpkin or flour lumps in the mix.
• Pour the batter in the greased bread loaf pan evenly.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 45-50 minutes.
• At the end of the baking time, the top of the bread should be firm and springy.
• Take the bread out of the oven and cool before cutting.

The oil keeps the bread moist for a long time and you can prepare the bread almost 2 weeks in advance.