‘Tried and true’ pumpkin bread boasts Grand Champion status

Q: Do you have a recipe for a “tried and true” pumpkin bread? I don’t have time to test those on the Internet.

A: Several years ago during an Extension class, Aliene Bieber from Lawrence shared a pumpkin bread recipe that she had won the Grand Champion ribbon with twice at the fair.

Grand Champion Pumpkin Bread

3 1/3 cups sifted flour

4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

2 2/3 cups sugar

2/3 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

1 (1 pound) can mashed pumpkin (2 cups)

2/3 cup water

2/3 cup chopped dates

Sift together flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, baking powder and salt; set aside.

Beat together sugar and oil in a bowl until light and fluffy, using an electric mixer at high speed. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in pumpkin.

Add dry ingredients alternately with water to sugar mixture, beating well after each addition, using an electric mixer at low speed. Stir in dates. Pour batter into two greased 9-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pans.

Bake in a 325 degrees oven for 55 minutes, or until the cake tester or wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pans on racks for 10 minutes. Remove from pans; cool on racks. Makes two loaves.

Here’s another bread that comes to mind during this holiday season.

It’s a yeast bread made in a bread machine. So, it’s time to dust off that bread machine that you got for Christmas several years ago and get it back into use.

According to Lois Keller, a Kansas Wheat Commission Spokesperson who shared this recipe, the sweet potato adds a wonderful, moist texture and subtle taste to this bread.

Sweet Potato Bread

2/3 cup sweet potatoes, cooked

1 egg

Water as needed

1 1/2 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon allspice

1/3 whole wheat flour

1 2/3 cups bread flour

1 teaspoon rapid or quick yeast

Bread machine cycle: White; sweet; no timer. Setting: Medium.

Wet ingredients should equal1 cup.

Note: Cook and place the approximate amount of sweet potatoes into a 2-cup measuring cup. Add the egg and fill with water up to the given measurement mark. The machine will mash the sweet potato for you. This is a very high-rising bread, which is great for turkey sandwiches.

— Susan Krumm is an Extension agent in family and consumer sciences with K-State Research and Extension-Douglas County, 2110 Harper St. She can be reached at 843-7058.