Pumpkin Gingerbread

Ah, the familiar struggle of trying to find as many pumpkin recipes as I can when I have just made my own pumpkin puree.  I know I can and should just freeze the puree I don't need to use immediately, but first, my freezer is kind of small, and second, freezing sometimes scares me because it requires so much planning ahead.  How long does it take pumpkin puree to thaw?!  I have no idea!

So anyway, this struggle lead to this pumpkin gingerbread.  I had Kenzie and my mother over.  My sister loves pumpkin, and my mom isn't such a fan, but she loves gingerbread, so I thought this would be a good compromise.  I was intrigued at the idea of mixing fall things like pumpkin, cinnamon and nutmeg with gingerbread things like ginger and molasses.  Combining pumpkin bread and gingerbread: these are the things that excite me these days.

The end result is a super dark, moist bread studded with raisins (they were optional but I thought they'd be a good idea).  The pumpkin flavor is more subtle than the gingerbread flavors, but you definitely get the idea that something else is going on in there; it's not your average gingerbread.  This bread also got pretty rave reviews; like I did with the apple cake, I brought the rest of this bread up to Gram's one day, and it got devoured.  Definitely a success.

Maybe I'll freeze my next batch of pumpkin puree... or maybe I will continue my frenzied but successful search for last-minute pumpkin recipes!

Recipe:

pumpkin gingerbread
from Simply Recipes

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 tablespoon fresh ginger
2 eggs, beaten
3 tablespoons water
1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare a 9 x 5 x 13-inch loaf pan with non-stick spray or butter.

2) In a medium bowl, vigorously whisk the flour, salt, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

3) In another bowl, use a wooden spoon to mix together the pumpkin puree, melted butter, sugar, molasses, fresh ginger, and water.

4) Combine the wet and dry ingredients.  Add the raisins if using.  Stir only until incorporated.

5) Place the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 50 - 60 minutes until a bamboo skewer inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.  Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes.  Then gently run a knife around the edge of the loaf and invert the load to remove it from the pan.  Let it cool on a rack for 30 minutes or longer.  The loaf's flavor will improve with time.