Nothing beats the smell of pumpkin bread baking in the oven

Pumpkin Bread with Honey and Yoghurt

Tips:  The recipe calls for pumpkin puree.  That is NOT canned pumpkin pie filling.  If you cannot find canned pumpkin puree then you can easily make your own.  Cut open a food pumpkin (e.g. butternut, jarrahdale, long island cheese, etc) and scrape out the seeds and seed pulp.   Drizzle just a couple of teaspoons of oil (vegetable or olive oil) over the inside of the pumpkin and place it open face down on a roasting pan.  Depending on the size you will roast this at 350 degrees F (170 degrees C) for about 30 minutes to an hour.  You can test it by flipping over one of the pumpkin halves and testing for softness using a fork.   Once the pumpkin is done remove it and let it cool until you can handle it safely.  Using a spoon, scrape out the inside of the pumpkin down to the peel.  To make the puree, place the pumpkin in a food processor or blender and mix until a smooth puree forms.  If some of the pumpkin gets a bit browned in the oven that is fine.  It is just a little carmelized and you should go ahead and use it just like the rest.  Save the seeds for separate roasting.  You can find my recipe for roasted pumpkin seeds under Snacks and Miscellaneous.  

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (170 degrees C).   Grease and flour two loaf pans.  Alternatively you can line the loaf pans with parchment paper.  

Mix all of the wet ingredients together with an electric mixer if you have one.  Mix them until they are really well blended.  

Mix the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl.  Add these to the wet mixture and use a spatula or spoon to gently fold them together.  Try not to over mix the batter but do gently fold them as needed to ensure everything is well mixed.  

Split the batter between the two loaf pans.  Sprinkle with pumpkin seeds if you like.  

Bake the bread for 45-60 minutes.  Start testing the cakes for doneness at 45 minutes.  Let the bread cool for at least 30 minutes before removing from the pan.  A warm slice of pumpkin bread with a dollop of butter is delicious.