Friday, October 23, 2009

Savory Pumpkin Bread





There is nothing quite like the smell of freshly baked bread.  Especially when that bread contains strong hints of pumpkin pie.  Imagine it, if you can - wafts of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves, as well as that warm bread scent, mingling together throughout your house. 

Okay, now you officially need to make this bread.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect of this recipe.  Usually when you think of pumpkin bread, you think of the moist, cakey loaf of gooey cinnamony sweetness.  But not this, my friends.  There is the slightest hint of sweetness, but it is definitely a savory bread.  You can enjoy it warm with a thin layer of butter, or slathered with fruit preserves, or even as a vehicle for a great turkey sandwich post-thanksgiving.  There are many possibilities.

If you don't have a bread machine, you might want to invest in one.  They are so inexpensive, and they make the bread-making process laughably easy.   Mine is not a particularly fancy one, but it gets the job done.  And this bread is a testament to that fact.

Savory Pumpkin Bread
adapted from Betty Crocker's Best Bread Machine Cookbook
makes one 1 1/2 pound loaf

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup water (plus more if needed)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup honey
3 cups white whole wheat flour
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
2 1/4 teaspoons bread machine or quick active dry yeast

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Depending on your bread machine instructions, add all the wet ingredients followed by the dry ingredients, or vice versa.  (Mine requires wet first, then dry).   Set the machine to do a 1 1/2 pound loaf on the Sweet or Basic cycle, and use the light crust color setting.  Push start.

2.  When the machine is done (probably about 3 hours later), remove the loaf from the pan and cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy!

4 comments:

  1. A savory pumpkin bread...I am intrigued! It sounds delicious, and I love your idea of using it for leftover turkey sandwiches -- maybe spread with some leftover cranberry sauce :)

    Just discovered your blog and have been browing through your recipes -- you have some good stuff on here! I'll definitely be back!

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  2. It is delicious toasted too ................

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  3. I used part of this recipe for my TGRWT #20 entry. Thanks for sharing, the savory pumpkin bread turned out the be great!

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