Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bread

Hello Dear Readers!  It's been a while! I've had an incredibly busy fall, filled with lots of work and play.  I've been baking, but I haven't had much time lately to document my baking journey. Things are freeing up a bit now and I'm hoping that with the Holidays fast approaching, I can catch up with some recipes that are extra special to me at this time of year.

I have to start with the ultimate family recipe--probably the first thing I ever helped my mom bake as a kid: her world-famous pumpkin bread.  This is a true classic, adapted by my mom from Irma Rombauer's Joy of Cooking.  If you haven't heard if it, this is the original American cookbook, and the version my mom has--with her hand-written notes in the margin--was printed in 1979.  

This recipe is special to me for many reasons.  Some of my favorite childhood memories are of getting off the school bus in October and walking up our long, steep driveway when suddenly, the smell of pumpkin and spices would hit my nose and I'd know it was pumpkin bread season.  My mom would make huge batches and freeze the loaves to last us all the way through Christmas.  

When I got diagnosed with Celiac, literally the first thing I thought of was, "Oh no -what about pumpkin bread!?"  So, long story (not so) short, I began to make a gluten-free version a couple of years ago, and when I eat it now, it still tastes like childhood.  

The most noticeable difference between this version and the original Joy of Cooking one is that there's a lot more pumpkin, which is what makes it so flavorful and moist.  Other than that, it's a pretty faithful, old-school classic--it even uses vegetable shortening instead of butter.  I've occasionally covered the top with roasted pumpkin seeds (an idea I blatantly stole from Starbucks), which adds some nice crunch, but the version I took pictures of was what I made for our family Thanksgiving and I went strictly traditional.

So, without further ado, here's the recipe for my gluten-free spin on a family classic:

Ingredients:

• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 1/3 cup soft vegetable shortening 
• 2 large eggs 
• 1 1/3 cups of pumpkin puree
• 1 3/4 cups all purpose gluten-free flour blend (with xanthan gum)
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 heaping teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/3 cup milk 
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 cup toasted pumpkin seeds (optional)

Directions: 

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease an 8.5 inch loaf pan, and coat the sides and bottom with flour by sprinkling a tablespoon of flour in the bottom of the pan and gently shaking it around to slide up the sides, discarding the excess.  
2. Beat the sugar and shortening in a large bowl until fluffy.
3. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.
4. Stir in pumpkin puree and beat until combined.
5. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cloves.
6. In another small bowl, mix together the milk and vanilla.  
7. Alternate adding the dry ingredients (in three parts) and the wet ingredients (in two parts) to the pumpkin/butter/egg mixture, starting and ending with the dry ingredients.  Beat after each addition.  
8. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan (optionally sprinkle pumpkin seeds evenly over the top) and bake for 45 to 55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  
9. Allow the loaf to cool in the pan for at least 15 minutes before removing and cooling completely on a wire rack.  Eat right away or wrap in aluminum foil and store in the fridge.  I personally think this bread tastes better the next day!