Pumpkin Cranberry Bread with Streusel Topping

Yes, another pumpkin recipe......are you getting tired of me sharing them yet? lol  I just had to try this one, because I LOVE cranberries.  I have to admit that I even eat them raw, by the handfuls.  I have since I was a kid......they are so tart, but I just love them.  ;-)

So, yesterday I knew that I was going to have the oven on later to make cornbread muffins, so I decided to go ahead and make this quick bread, too.  I found the recipe at All Recipes and after reading through some of the comments, I went ahead and used some of their suggestions for changing up the recipe.  You can find the original recipe here at All Recipes.  As I was making this, I discovered that I had less than 1/4 cup of vegetable oil.  Someone said they used half applesauce/half vegetable oil and I didn't have any of applesauce either.  But, I do have a cupboard full of Cranapple Butter that I made in August, so I used that.  I also decided to add a streusel topping.  I absolutely adore streusel and couldn't resist putting it on top of this bread!  When I make this again, I will probably add more cranberries, because I love them so.  You could also add some chopped walnuts or something like that, but I'm not a huge fan of nuts in my quick breads. ;-)

This makes two loaves, so I sliced one of them up for my husband to take to work today.  I told him to share and make some friends. lol  They always love getting homemade treats there. ;-)

Pumpkin Cranberry Bread with Streusel Topping:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 5 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 (15 ounce) can LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup apple sauce
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, sliced in half

streusel topping:

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup butter

ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 9 x 5-inch loaf pans.

Combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Combine sugar, brown sugar, pumpkin, eggs, vegetable oil, apple sauce and orange juice in large mixer bowl; beat until just blended. Add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture; stir just until moistened. Fold in cranberries. Spoon batter into prepared loaf pans.

Mix together the sugar and flour.  Using a large cheese grater, grate the butter into the bowl with the flour and sugar.  Add in some ground cinnamon.  I didn't measure it, I just added it until it looked good. lol  Using my hands, I mixed everything together until it started coming together in large pea sized pieces.  Sprinkle the streusel on top of each loaf.  

Bake for 60 to 65 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

This smells so good when it's cooking!  I sliced one up last night for my husband.  It was still really moist and a little hard to handle.  But, the slice that I cut this morning from our loaf was just perfect!  So, letting it sit overnight really helped it a lot.  

I hope you enjoy this one!  It's so yummy!  Humm.......now, what pumpkin recipe can I try next?

God Bless, 

di

Simple Pleasures and a recipe share.....

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. - Hebrews 12:11

Dayle, from A Collection of This and That, has a wonderful link share every Thursday called, Simple Pleasures, and I'm so happy to be participating this week for my first time.


I chose the Bible verse above, because I have honestly been struggling with disciplining my prayer life for quite awhile now.  A lot of struggles have been hitting me one after the other and instead of sinking myself into prayer and trust in the Lord, I've been wallowing in despair and sadness.


When I started thinking about my Simple Pleasure for this week, the first thing that I thought of was pumpkins.  I've been making all sorts of yummy goodies since October using this humble squash.  And, pumpkins naturally make me think of Autumn and harvest.  So I went to my favorite online Bible resource, Bible Gateway, and searched on the word Harvest.  This verse from Hebrews really spoke to me, because discipline is exactly what I need and has been the hardest thing for me to do.  Reading this verse and it's promise of righteousness and peace for those who practice discipline is exactly what I needed to hear.  Isn't that the more important and special Simple Pleasure of all?  When the Bible speaks to you about what you really need to hear?


And, since I have been making so many pumpkin desserts lately, here is one that I made yesterday.....and has definitely been a Simple Pleasure for my whole family.....Spiced Pumpkin Fudge.  It is simply delicious and smells heavenly!

Spiced Pumpkin Fudge - 
(original recipe can be found here at All Recipes)

• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 3/4 cup butter or margarine
• 2/3 cup NESTLE® CARNATION® Evaporated Milk
• 1/2 cup LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 2 cups NESTLE® TOLL HOUSE® Premier White Morsels
• 1 (7 ounce) jar marshmallow creme
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• Line 13 x 9-inch baking pan with foil.
• 
  
• Combine sugar, brown sugar, evaporated milk, pumpkin, butter and spice in medium, heavy-duty saucepan. Bring to a full rolling boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil, stirring constantly, for 10 to 12 minutes or until candy thermometer reaches 234 degrees F to 240 F (soft-ball stage).
• 
  
• Quickly stir in morsels, marshmallow creme, nuts and vanilla extract. Stir vigorously for 1 minute or until morsels are melted. Immediately pour into prepared pan. Let stand on wire rack for 2 hours or until completely cooled. Refrigerate tightly covered. To cut, lift from pan; remove foil. Cut into 1-inch pieces. Makes about 3 pounds.

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you try the Spiced Pumpkin Fudge.  It's really yummy!  Also, be sure to visit all of the wonderful blogs who are sharing their Simple Pleasures at A Collection of This and That, you will be be happy you did!

God Bless, 

di

Pumpkin Banana Bread

A good friend of mine gave me a large can of pumpkin last weekend and I have been having lots of fun finding new recipes to make with it.   I had a few banana's on my kitchen countertop that needed to be turned into banana bread, so I went searching for a pumpkin-banana bread recipe and I found this one at the Taste of Home website.  It had great reviews, but I still made a little change to the recipe.  I'm not a big fan of baking w/ shortening, unless it's for pastry, so I substituted butter for the shortening.   I also cooked my bread in a bundt pan.  I started doing this a few months ago, when my little "I can do it myself" 3-year old wanted to cut her own bread from the loaf pan.   Having it in a bundt shape is a lot easier for her to slice (with a butter knife, don't worry!) and it has also solved my problem that I was sometimes having of my bread not being totally cooked in the very middle.   I also had to add 10-15 minutes to the cooking time, because the original recipe is baked in mini loaf pans.

This bread is really yummy, but I wish it had a bit more pumpkin flavor to it.  I might add some pumpkin pie spice next time.   But, I will definitely be making it again!

Pumpkin Banana Bread-


1/2 cup butter
1 - 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 - 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cups chopped walnuts or pecans

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar.  Add the eggs and beat well.  Beat in the bananas, pumpkin and vanilla.  Combine the flour baking powder, baking soda and salt; gradual add to creamed mixture.  Fold in the nuts.

Pour into a greased bundt pan.  Bake at 350F for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.  Cool before removing from the pan.

I hope you're having a wonderful day today....it sure is a beautiful Autumn day here!

God Bless,
di