Pumpkin Bread, a Road Trip & the Beginning of Fall

It started with a candle.

I lit a Pumpkin Cupcake candle one evening, and before long the house smelled like warm pumpkin and spices.

Which was lovely.

It was also a problem.

Because once your whole house smells like pumpkin cupcakes, apparently there is only one reasonable response:

Bake pumpkin bread.

So out came my old pumpkin bread recipe—the one I’ve made enough times that it feels less like a recipe and more like an old friend.

A few days later, the night before we left for our weekend in Chattanooga, my grandson Ethan wanted to bake with me. Naturally, more pumpkin bread was the obvious choice.

We made two loaves together, filling the kitchen with the same warm, spicy smell that had started this whole thing in the first place.

And just like that, a candle had turned into a memory.

One loaf went home with my daughter while it was still warm. The other came along with us to Chattanooga, where we happily snacked on it throughout the weekend.

That’s the thing I love about recipes like this one.

They aren’t elaborate. They don’t require a special occasion. But years later, they have a funny way of becoming attached to the people and places we love.

Someday I may make this pumpkin bread and remember that weekend in Chattanooga. And I hope Ethan remembers standing in Nana’s kitchen making it with me.

My Favorite Pumpkin Bread

This is the kind of pumpkin bread I love—moist, warmly spiced, and just as good with morning coffee as it is when you sneak a slice later in the day.

Makes 2 loaves

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon cloves
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 3 cups sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 large eggs
• 1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin puree

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two loaf pans.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, and salt.

In a separate mixing bowl, combine the sugar, vegetable oil, and eggs. Mix until well combined.

Add the pumpkin puree and mix on low just until incorporated.

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture, mixing until everything is combined.

Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared loaf pans.

Bake for approximately 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Allow the loaves to cool on a wire rack.

Then slice and enjoy.

It’s especially delicious with a little cream cheese—and a cup of coffee certainly doesn’t hurt.

A Little Something From the Studio

Of course, once a favorite recipe has been made enough times, my Running Frog brain eventually starts thinking:

You know what this needs? A towel.

So this pumpkin bread recipe has now found its way onto one of my flour sack towels, too.

I love recipe towels because they’re useful, but they can also become a little piece of family life. Hang one in the kitchen, bake from it, get a little flour on it, wash it, and use it again.

That’s exactly the kind of thing I love to make.

And after photographing this one with the last three carefully guarded slices of pumpkin bread, I’m happy to report that the photo models have officially been released from duty.

I know exactly what I’m having with my coffee.

A little studio note: If you have one of those treasured handwritten recipes tucked into a recipe box somewhere, I can turn the original handwriting into a custom flour sack towel, too. Stains, crooked handwriting and little notes in the margins are welcome. Around here, those are often the best parts.