Pumpkin bread: enjoyable for all, even those lacking chompers

Yesterday I finished my last wellness workshop for the year.  For six weeks I stress to my participants the importance of exercise and healthful eating, among other things, and try to set a good example by sharing my own health-oriented goals: drinking more water, practicing relaxation techniques, increasing my yoga practice, upping my fruit intake.  To celebrate the last class we always have a party to cheer our success in completing the six weeks.  Tell me how convincing I must be as a wellness educator -- yesterday the potluck table was covered in cookies, cake, deviled eggs, potato salad.  They made me so proud.

My contribution to the mayonnaise smorgasbord was pumpkin bread. Chalk another one up for Hailey in the epic baking battle.  I had a number of people in class who, get this, had no teeth, so I wanted to be sure to bring something everyone could enjoy.  This bread would be delicious with the addition of chocolate chips or even butterscotch chips, pecans would be tasty, too.   

No one was injured in this baking melee.  

Except my shirt.  Dirty little devil.

8 on the cuteness scale.  

9 on the tastiness scale.

Pumpkin bread

adapted from epicurious

3 cups pumpkin -- almost 2 15 oz cans

3 1/2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar, packed

2 tsps baking soda

2 tsps baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 heaping tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

3/4 cup butter milk (or regular milk with a splash of white vinegar)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  In one bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, pumpkin spice, nutmeg and cinnamon.  In a larger bowl, blend the white sugar, brown sugar, pumpkin and vanilla with an electric mixture.  Beat in the oil until combined and then add one egg at a time.  Working in thirds, add the flour mixture to the pumpkin, then add one third of the milk.  Repeat with the rest of the flour and milk until the batter is smooth. Don't overdo it.  

Pour the batter into greased bread pans -- this made one large and three small.  Bake the smaller loafs for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  The larger loaf took about an hour and 20 minutes.