weird halloween ~ let's bake!

I woke to a sea of green leaves in our side yard and patio this morning. 

A hard frost overnight stripped the trees almost completely bare.

Last year on Halloween, we had a freak snowstorm that dumped several inches of snow on us. Trick-or-treating was cancelled. This year, it's 57 degrees with a brilliant, blue sky.

And a blue moon. And a pandemic.

Spooky for real.

I don't do much baking these days, but my hubby likes an occasional sweet treat. And we both love pumpkin. This pumpkin bread recipe is different in that it's made with whole wheat flour and uses olive oil instead of butter. It's also heavy on the spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves...which make the house smell warm and cozy and fall-like.

The recipe is from the book, "Eat This Poem" ~ which is fabulous. It's filled with poems and short stories with each recipe, which emphasize the love and importance of nourishing ourselves and our family and friends. 

OLIVE OIL PUMPKIN BREAD

1-3/4 cups whole-wheat flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup turbinado sugar (I used coconut sugar)

1 T pumpkin spice mix (recipe follows)

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup water

1 cup pumpkin puree (from a can is fine, preferably organic)

2 large eggs

2 T pumpkin seeds

Preheat the oven to 350F and prepare a loaf pan by buttering or lining with parchment paper. Stir the flour, brown and turbinado sugars, pumpkin spice mix, baking soda, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl. Pour the olive oil and water into another bowl, then whisk in the pumpkin puree and eggs. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and gently incorporate with a wooden spoon, stirring just until no traces of flour remain. Scrape the batter into the loaf pan; sprinkle with the pumpkin seeds. Bake for 50 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool in the pan for 20 minutes, then turn the loaf onto a wire rack to cool completely. 

Pumpkin Spice Mix

(Use the extra to add to oatmeal or pancake batter!)

2 T ground cinnamon

2 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp ground allspice

**********

I hope that you do give this bread a try ~ it goes perfect with a cup of tea or coffee.

Happy Halloween ~ be safe and well.

💓