Bread #19: Pumpkin Bread with Salted Maple Butter

[linbakesbread]

Good morning bread bakers.

We are a little obsessed with Bon Appetit videos and recipes in our house, so when I needed a sweet quick bread to make for this week’s bake, I turned to the BA website for ideas.  Even though it is totally out of season, I am making Pumpkin Bread by Molly from the BA test kitchen.  It’s topped with pumpkins seeds and then sprinkled with sugar.  I also like the fact that it’s made with olive oil – one of the “good” fats.  It looks delicious…cannot wait to try it!

Please bake Pumpkin Bread with Salted Maple Butter with me.

 

Special Tools you will need:

Hand mixer

 Quite a few ingredients!

Ingredients
nonstick vegetable oil spray

Dry Ingredients
2 ½ cups flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Wet ingredients
2 large eggs
1 15-oz can pumpkin puree
1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon grated ginger
1 ½ cups sugar
1 cup extra virgin olive oil

Topping
½ cup raw pumpkin seeds
1 Tablespoon sugar

Maple Butter
1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
¼ cup pure maple syrup
¾ teaspoon flaky sea salt

Prep pan and preheat oven: Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Lightly coat a 9x5” loaf pan with nonstick spray.  Line bottom of pan with parchment, leaving a generous overhang on each side.

Whisk dry ingredients:  Whisk flour, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg and cloves in a medium bowl.

Whisk wet ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, pumpkin, ginger and sugar.  Stream in oil, whisking constantly until mixture is homogeneous.

Combine wet and dry ingredients:  Gently fold half of the dry ingredients into the egg mixture until no dry spots remain.  Repeat with remaining dry ingredients, stirring to combine but being careful to not overmix.

Top & Bake:  Transfer batter to prepared pan; smooth top with spatula.  Scatter pumpkin seeds over batter, pressing lightly to adhere.  Sprinkle seeds with 1 Tablespoon sugar.  Bake bread, rotating pan once halfway through, until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 80-90 minutes.

Let cool slightly, then run a knife around pan to help loosen bread.   Using parchment overhang, transfer bread to a wire rack and let cool.

Make Maple Butter:  Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter in a large bowl, scraping down sides until light and fluffy, about 5-6 minutes.  Add maple syrup and sea salt and beat once more just until incorporated.

 The finished bread with the Salted Maple Butter

Reflections on this bake:

Delicious!  This is definitely a keeper recipe that I will make again and again, particularly in the fall when it’s actually pumpkin season.  The bread was super moist and flavorful; the topping crunchy and sweet.  And the maple butter – oh man – I’d love that on anything!  I might reduce the salt a little bit in both the bread and the butter – but not by much.

 

Rating Category	Rating out of 5
Taste	5
Texture	5
Likeliness to make again	5
Overall Rating	5