BEST Pumpkin Bread-Fall Spices

Pumpkin Bread & Praline Recipe and Other Ways to Serve It

Moist and delicious pumpkin bread can be dressed up with praline sauce for dessert.

I just love baking this bread, especially with my children.  It is the BEST Pumpkin Bread I have ever tasted. This pumpkin bread is extremely moist.  I increased the seasonings in this recipe, so you can really taste and smell the cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger.  The aroma of this bread baking definitely says, Fall Is Here.  Have fun cooking this with your kids. Before baking it for the first time each Fall, we read the Pumpkin Patch Parable by Liz Curtis Higgs.  It is a great children’s book about the Harvest season and how farmers grow pumpkins.  It also talks about how God plants seeds and Harvests them.  If you are looking for a book to help celebrate the Fall season, try Pumpkin Patch Parable by Liz Curtis Higgs.

For more information about The Pumpkin Patch Parable see earlier posts.

Cooking with your children is a wonderful way to share very special times together and a great opportunity to teach your children about God. You can also save a lot of money by eating at home.  You can teach and reinforce all kinds of educational lessons.  For example, you could teach the difference in all the different types of flour and when they should be used.  You could teach small children ounces, cups, teaspoon, tablespoon, etc.

You could talk about what has protein, what has vitamin C, what has iron, and what all these nutrients do for your body.  You can pass down family recipes and tell your children about your mom, grandma, and other family members.  I hope I can give you recipes and ideas to help make your cooking experiences with your children a lot more pleasurable.  I pray that you will spend more time cooking with your family and eating around your table.  The benefits of keeping communication open around the table are endless.

The first step, especially if you have never cooked with your children, is to ask them to list their favorite foods.  Children will be more willing to learn how to cook if they are cooking something they really enjoy eating. You may think you know what they like, but children’s tastes change or they can really surprise you with their answers.  Once you know their favorite snacks, appetizers, main dishes, vegetables, breads and desserts, you are ready to start cooking with your children.  When cooking try to show them how to cook at least one thing they really enjoy eating.  Soon, they will be cooking it all by themselves.  Our goal as moms is to help our children become more and more independent.  Teaching our children to cook helps teach them some independence.  It is never to late to teach our children to cook.  Your teens and adult children need that time with you no matter what age they are.

PUMPKIN BREAD RECIPE – recipe adapted from Simply Southern cookbook 1996 Columbia Academy in Columbia, Tennessee

• 1/2 cup oil
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups pumpkin or sweet potatoes
• 2  1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• (or 3 tsp allspice)

Beat oil, melted butter, eggs, and pumpkin together. In a separate large bowl, combine the dry ingredients together. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients.

Mix until everything has been incorporated.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes depending on the size of the muffin pan.  Test them after baking them for 15 minutes. As soon as they spring back after touching the tops, remove them from the oven. I bake them in mini muffin tins, regular muffin tins, giant muffin tins, and individual pound cake tins depending on how I am serving the Pumpkin Bread.

IDEAS FOR SERVING THE PUMPKIN BREAD

                                   Maple Sausage Pumpkin BreadMy family loves sausage for breakfast, so I decided to add it to my pumpkin bread.  It turned out unbelievably good.  The sweet pumpkin bread with the salty sausage makes this a wonderful combination.  I have made these in several different size muffin tins.  They always turn out great. I hope you enjoy this as much as we do.

Pumpkin and Sausage Muffins (Delicious!!) for breakfast add:

• 1 pound maple sausage (browned and drained)
• 4 TB maple syrup

Stir in the sausage and syrup with the wet ingredient.  The sweet pumpkin bread with the salty sausage makes this a wonderful combination.

For a great dessert:

Pumpkin Muffin with Praline Sauce

Add the following praline sauce on top of the Pumpkin Bread that has been baked in a 1 cup pound cake muffin tin.  Great Dessert!

TOP WITH PRALINE SAUCE:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup heavy cream or half and half
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Bring butter, brown sugar and heavy cream to a boil in a heavy sauce pan.  Stir constantly for one minute.  Remove from stove and stir in pecans and vanilla.

*THIS PRALINE SAUCE IS GREAT ON PUMPKIN BREAD, ICE CREAM, CHEESE CAKE, POUND CAKE, ETC.

For a Special Brunch:

Pumpkin Bread with Honey Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

Cut an inch circle out of the top of the Pumpkin Bread and fill it with the following Honey Butter Cream Cheese Frosting.

HONEY CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:

• 2 packs (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
• 1/3 cup honey
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp all-spice

Beat cream cheese, honey and vanilla until light and fluffy add vanilla and all spice.

I pray each of my Posts will bring Glory to God.  I love hearing from you.  Please leave a comment and subscribe on the homepage for e-mail updates of new posts.

Blessings Always,