Spiced Pumpkin Walnut Bread

About once or twice a month I go through my pantry, fridge, and freezer, and take inventory. I see what I have in stock, and then I also make a itemized list of staples that I need. While doing my pantry check last week, I found a huge, unopened can of pumpkin. It was a total head-scratcher! I think I remember buying a can during Thanksgiving, but obviously, I never got around to using it. Huh.

Anyway, since I cannot waste a perfectly good can of pumpkin, I decided to make some pumpkin bread. I love having homemade baked goods in the house, since they are usually a little healthier than anything you could buy. I did a search on recipezaar.com and found this recipe. I had everything on hand, so it was pretty easy to put together. I made a couple substitutions, and amended the original recipe to include my changes.

Here is a funny coincidence...I told my friend, Claire about my pumpkin find and, ironically, she found a can of pumpkin in her pantry, too. She decided to make some pumpkin cookies, and I went with the bread. Oddly enough, we both decided to do our pumpkin baking today. I still have some pumpkin leftover, so I will probably make her cookies tomorrow.

Spiced Pumpkin Walnut Bread
By Bev, 01/25/02, Recipe #18014
Yield: 2 loaves, 16-18 servings

Ingredients:
3 cups sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup of natural applesauce (4 oz.)
3 large eggs
1 (16 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350ºF.
1. Butter and flour two 9x5x3" loaf pans.
2. Beat sugar, applesauce, and oil in large bowl to blend.
3. Mix in eggs and pumpkin.
4. Sift flour, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg,allspice, baking soda, salt and baking powder into another large bowl.
5. Stir into pumpkin mixture in 2 additions.
6. Mix in walnuts, if desired.
7. Divide batter equally between prepared pans.
8. Bake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour and 10 minutes.
9. Transfer to racks and cool 10 minutes.
10. Using sharp knife, cut around edge of loaves.
11. Turn loaves out onto racks and cool completely.



The Result:
I am tired of typing, so my review is going to be short.

Here it is....

YUM!!!! This bread is awesome. Try it and you will see! Case closed. Over and out.