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3 1/2 cup flour
1 16 ounce can natural pumpkin
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/ 2 tablespoon nutmeg
1 cup Canola oil
4 eggs
3 cups sugar
2/ 3 cup water
1 cup chopped nuts

1. Preheat over to 350 degrees.
2. Grease 2 loaf pans ( 9 x 5 x 3).
3. Mix together pumpkin, sugar, eggs and oil in a large bowl.
4. Add flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda and baking powder.
Sift together in another bowl.
5. Gradually add dry ingredients to the larger bowl of wet ingredients beating on a low speed. Lastly, add water and chopped nuts. Beat on low or with a wooden spoon until mixed altogether well. Fill ½ to ¾ of the way of loaf pans.
6. Bake on middle rack of the oven for 1 hour. Take out and cool for 20 to 30 minutes before removing from pan. Cool on wire rack for at least an hour or more. This recipe freezes well if frozen in a Ziploc bag after completely cooled.
5. ENJOY- Autumn tastes like pumpkin bread…..

Autumn is that clean, crisp, clear season that’s gone before you know it! I love taking walks on those special days when the sun is shining and nature seems at its brightest. The best thing about autumn and the approaching winter is that after you’ve enjoyed that chilly air, you can anticipate the warmth of your cozy home. That’s what baking does for me; I look forward to the aroma permeating my home and the heat overflowing my oven. A very close friend of mine gave me a candle last year that gives off the scent of pumpkin bread when you light it. It’s such an enveloping, comforting smell, and it makes me feel like all is right with the world.

When I combine the smell of pumpkin with a great spice like cinnamon, it becomes one of those moments when I close my eyes and just focus on the present! I find cinnamon so enticing, that nearly all my pumpkin recipes contain this knockout spice.

This recipe is easy enough to be a success every time. When making moist breads, I find the smaller the bread the better the odds that it will stay intact. I like to bake many smaller breads rather than larger ones – it makes it easier to spread the wealth. I recommend those dollar ceramic loaf pans found in the discount stores so you can give them away without worrying about folks returning a pan or dish. Last time I counted I had 13 of these small loaf pans, ready to be filled and shipped to our American soldiers. Our heroes deserve the best!

Honestly, I find cooking with real pumpkin pulp from real pumpkins is something that’s not realistic for most of us hard working folks who don’t have a lot of extra time. I’ve tried it, but it took way too much time and energy and the bread wasn’t wonderful enough to warrant all that. The timesaver option is to just pop open a can of pure pumpkin and get that ball rolling, all to the tune of about a mere $1.39.

So, after all is said and done, we don’t need to prepare delicious baked goods entirely from scratch – especially not this wonderful Pumpkin Bread. I don’t need to be perfect in the kitchen anyway, just happy!