This is one of my aunt Sandy’s recipes. I haven’t gotten to bake with her in a while, but she’s got an arsenal of pumpkin up her sleeve.

I brought 7/8ths of this loaf to work on Monday morning (yes I know, late post again) and my coworkers devoured it in 10 minutes. I got emails of “wow that was so delicious” and “when I got to the plate, it was only crumbs! I’m so bummed.” I’d say it was a success, especially considering our resident Chef Clare, who makes waffles and frittatas for us, gave it her seal of approval.

Preheat: 325°F
Cook Time: 50-60 minutes, approximately
Yield: one loaf

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp allspice
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
1 cup pumpkin purée
3/4 cup old fashioned oats
1/2 cup pecans or walnuts (optional)
1/2 cup raisins (optional)
1 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Note: I didn’t have any whole wheat flour, so I subbed out the 1/2 cup for white flour, totaling 1.5 cups of white flour. Also, I wouldn’t recommend using chocolate chips, nuts, and raisins all in the same bread. In this batch, I only used chocolate chips.

Grease a 9×5″ loaf pan and set aside. In a medium bowl, sift together flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices, then set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together the oil and brown sugar until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, blending well after each addition. Add the pumpkin purée and mix until just combined.

Stir in the flour mixture in thirds. Use a spatula to wipe down the sides of the bowl between beatings to make sure all the flour is incorporated. Add the oats. At this stage, you can add the nuts and raisins if you’re using them. This is when I added the chocolate chips.

Pour batter into the loaf pan and bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. You may want to cover the loaf with tin foil when the top reaches the color and texture you want. This will prevent the loaf from burning on the surface while the inside finishes cooking.

Remove from the oven and allow the bread to cool in the pan for 5-30 minutes, then remove the bread from the pan and place on a cooling rack. Enjoy!