Hearty Pumpkin Carrot Quick Bread

So now that we are deep into Fall/early Winter, and the bounty of pumpkin is around, you start thinking of what to do with it. I was in the mood for pumpkin bread, which is not quite as sweet as cake and a slice of a hearty quick bread is both a wonderful start to your day for breakfast or a terrific pick me up as a snack. I had some shredded carrot lurking in my fridge as well and wanted to try a combo of the two for a nice harvesty sorta deal.

The only problem is, I have to chop the carrots even though they are grated since DH thinks he doesn’t like carrots baked into anything. This is only if he sees the bits so I’ve learned to chop them finer and then he is perfectly happy to eat them. Shhhh. If you don’t have people with carrot issues, just shred them normally or buy them shredded. I was feeling lazy like a lion so I purchased the pumpkin in a can and bought the shredded carrot. So there.

Preheat the oven to 350.

Take your shredded carrot and chop more if need be.

I chopped some more, you don’t have to. Put aside. Then mix together your dry ingredients.

Don’t be shy about the spices, that’s what gives all that yummy flavor! Add the carrots to the mixed dry ingredients and toss thoroughly.

Take a cup of pure pumpkin puree (no additions in it) I used canned, saved myself a lot of work!

and add to all the liquid ingredients, i.e. eggs, oil orange juice.

Mix thoroughly till you get a thick mixture. It should look like this.

Mix the dry and wet together just till mixed. The mixture will be quite thick.

Prepare a 9 x 5 loaf pan by spraying with oil spray and putting a piece of parchment paper on top of the oil. This causes the parchment to stick to the surface in all the corners, and do do do use parchment paper or you will have a big hassle removing the bread even from a non stick pan. In addition, after you let the bread cool for about 10-15 minutes you will gently lift out the bread with the parchment paper to finish cooling on the wire rack, so don’t skip this.

Bake in preheated 350 oven for 45-55 minutes. The scent of the quick bread baking is heavenly! You don’t want this to be underbaked so check with a wooden toothpick in a few center spots. If you see that it’s still a little gummy, bake an additional five minutes till the toothpick comes out clean. I usually bake mine for the full 55 minutes but check, since everyone’s oven is a bit different.

This is delightful for breakfast as is, with a shmear of cream cheese, with a pat of butter and/or jam or even some cheese. It’s like a taste of Autumn in every bite!

Hearty Pumpkin Carrot bread

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1 cup canned pure pumpkin
1 cup finely grated carrots
2 -4 tablespoons orange juice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Oil spray one 9 x 5 inch loaf pan and line the pan with parchment paper (really do this or it’ll stick and it’ll be hellish to remove and will probably crack on you. Non-stick pans included!! Also, you will pull the bread out this way).
Take a large bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar,baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt, then add the grated carrots and stir to combine. In a second bowl, add oil, pumpkin purée, eggs, o.j. and whisk together, this will be very thick. Add to flour mixture and mix till combined. Mixture will be very thick. Pour mixture into the prepared pan and smooth to the corners. Bake until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, or about 45 to 55 minutes.
Remove from oven and cool on wire rack for about 10-15 minutes and when not too hot to be manageable, use the overlap parchment paper and pull (gently) the bread out of the loaf pan and let continue to cool directly (with parchment paper still on) on wire rack. This actually tastes better when cooled and even better the next day. The flavors mingle and it is delish. This can be lightly toasted as well in a toaster oven or regular oven (not recommended in a regular toaster) and is really yummy too.