In Florida we don’t have much of a Fall – the leaves don’t change color and the weather is still pretty warm; the only thing that feels different to us Floridians during the Autumn season is the presence of harvest time flavors.  Be it a pumpkin spice latte or a butternut squash soup, these seasonal eats are what make this time of year special.

While thumbing through the pages of the New York Cookbook, I landed on Sophie Minkoff’s Spiced Pumpkin Bread, which Nana wrote to be “Incredible!”

I gathered all of my ingredients together. . .

Boiled the raisins.

Whisked together my wet ingredients.

 

Combined my flour, baking soda, and spices.

Then I mixed the pumpkin mixture into the flour, which created a very thick batter!

Once the flour and pumpkin mixtures were well incorporated, I stirred in the boiled raisins.

Warning, this batter smells absolutely delightful!  I could not wait to get this into a loaf pan and baked!

Friends, if you like pumpkin – this is an absolute winner.  Not only do I agree with Nana’s incredible rating, but I can also understand why the original author of the recipe won first place at the Harvest Fair in NY.  This bread, especially warm out of the oven, is moist, flavorful, and comforting.

Here’s the recipe if you’re looking to recreate this at home:

1 cup raisins

2 large eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup unsweetened pumpkin puree

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cups of sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup coarsely chipped walnuts * (I omitted these as I did not have any on hand)

1.) Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Grease a 9 X 5 X 3 1/2 inch loaf pan

2.) Combine the raisins and 1/3 cup water in a saucepan.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Removed from the heat, and set aside to cool.

3.) Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, and 1/4 cup water.  Add the pumpkin puree and stir to combine.

4.) In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, an salt.  Stir the pumpkin mixture into the dry ingredients.  Stir in the undrained raisins and walnuts.

5.) Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf pan.  Bake until a wooden skewer or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 1 to 1 1/4 hours (mine took about 67 minutes).  Cool on a wire rack.

Did you make this recipe at home?  Tell me how it came out in the comments below!