April is Pumpkin Month. Right?

Yep.  More pumpkin.  This time, pumpkin bread.  I told you the can of pumpkin I opened was GIANT sized!  It came from Sam's Club if that gives you any idea as to how big it is.  But pumpkin is good for you!  So no harm in jam-packing it into everything you eat, right?

Easy-Peasy Pumpkin Bread:
-1 c. all purpose flour
-1 c. packed brown sugar
-1 tbsp. baking powder
-1/4 tsp. baking soda
-1/4 tsp. salt
-1 tsp. ground cinnamon
-1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
-1/4 tsp. ground ginger
-dash of cloves
-1 c. canned pumpkin
-1/2 c. milk
-2 eggs
-1/3 cup shortening (or butter/margarine)
-1 cup flour (no this is not a typo, you add ANOTHER cup of flour in at the end)
optional: 1/2 cup walnuts, 1/2 cup raisins, 1/2 cup chocolate chips, 1/2 cup craisins, 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds, ya know... what ever you like!

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease bottom and sides of a 9x5x3 loaf pan (your standard loaf pan).
In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 cup flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. 

Add pumpkin, milk, eggs, and shortening.  Beat with an electric mixer for 2 minutes, or until batter is smooth.  Add the additional 1 cup of flour.  Beat again until blended in.  Fold/stir in your optional ingredients, if you choose to.  Pour batter into your prepared loaf pan.  Spread it around to make it level and even.  Here's a trick I do:  Pick the pan up about 2-3 inches off the table, and drop it/slam it down.  This helps the batter smooth out and gets out any air pockets you might have accidentily poured in there.

Bake for 60-70 minutes, or until a toothpick/knife inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool completely before removing from pan (resist the urge to dive in!!!!).  Run a knife along the edge of the pan to loosen the loaf.  Turn the loaf out of the pan, catching it with your hand (in the past when I have turned it out onto a plate, it cracked :( ).  Ta-Da!  Pumpkin Bread Goodness!

I forgot to take pictures after it cooled and I took it out of the pan.  Mostly because I was greedy and dove in before pausing to snap a photo.  Oh well.  Enjoy!