As I mentioned earlier, our lives are about to change. Lloyd’s business got accepted into the program in California, and we’re about to get a whole lot more crowded in our little house. And in honor of not wanting to kill new house-mates, I’m trying to eat up all the nuts and nut-based foods that could cause serious problems if left lying around. After making the cannoli filling I had a half a can of pumpkin left over, and was also searching for a better way to dig into the peanut butter jar than just serving pb&j for dinner three times this week. I ended up finding a wonderful recipe at allrecipes.com for peanut butter pumpkin bread, and thought I might as well share it (although it was far from mediocre tasting!).

I cut the recipe in half (since I only had that half-empty can of pumpkin), and changed it up a little, so here’s my version:

Ingredients:
1/2 can pumpkin (about 8 oz)
1-1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup and 2 Tablespoons water
1/3 cup peanut butter
1-3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, pumpkin, eggs, oil, water, and peanut butter. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and pie spice. Gradually add to pumpkin mixture. Mix well. Pour into greased loaf pans and bake at 350° for 50-60 minutes.

What’s mediocre about this recipe is the amount of effort you must put in—it’s very little. Emma did most of the mixing. I had originally intended to make this with at least half whole wheat flour, and then forgot to, but one day I may try it again that way (or you can try it and let me know!). If you check out the original recipe, it uses all oil, and I at least wanted to cut that down; it could probably even be made with all applesauce, but I like to tweak things in increments. Another variation I would like to try would be to sub some or all of the sugar with honey.

Also, even though the full recipe called for two loaf pans, this half recipe could easily be made into two loaves. I put it all in one, and it rose almost twice as high as the pan! At the very least, maybe make one loaf and 6 muffins or something. Mine ended up being almost burned on the outside and almost too dough-y on the inside, so I think a little less in the pan would have made it absolutely perfect. And I ended up cooking mine for less time than the recipe called for; as with all things baking, I would simply suggest checking yours for done-ness.

Maybe you’re thinking it’s a weird combination of flavors, and it kind of is, but it is seriously good. I fed it as our special treat at Joy School this morning and the kids were asking for thirds! So it’s definitely a hit with kids. And I used crunchy peanut butter, which added a little more texture to the bread and extra peanut-y goodness (for those of us who can eat peanuts, that is). I’m sure this would also be good with chocolate chips added in, too!

Oh, and here’s a picture I took with my phone, but it really doesn’t do the bread justice (I had to hurry to get a picture before it was all gone, or I might have used a good camera and tried to take a pretty picture).

So yummy I may go buy another can of pumpkin. . .

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