Fresh pumpkin molasses bread (I wish I could share the fragrance)

I find that many of the recipes I find online have far too much sugar for my taste and the sweetness overwhelms the flavor of everything else. It has taken me a few tries to adapt this until I was satisfied.

I have made it with pumpkin, summer squash, and sweet potatoes and each has worked. Tonight I made it with two 12 ounce (340 gram) cartons of pumpkin purée. (I’ve done it with raw pumpkins but it’s not worth all the extra work)

My recipe:
MIX TOGETHER WELL:

• 1 cup  molasses (1 cup=approx. 236ml)
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 cup vegetable or peanut oil

        ADD: 

• 6 extra large (or 4 jumbo) eggs

       MIX FOR 2-3 MINUTES MORE

SIFT TOGETHER:

• 4 cups flour (whole wheat or white)
• 1 Tablespoon cinnamon (1 Tb =15ml)
• 1 Tb nutmeg

ADD TO LIQUID ALTERNATING WITH ⅔ CUP (160ml) OF WATER MIX UNTIL SMOOTH.

ADD:

• 3 cups of pumpkin or squash purée

POUR INTO GREASED 9″x13″ BAKING DISH

BAKE AT 350ºF (177ºC) FOR 1 HOUR, ALLOW TO COOL

Serving suggestion:

• Goes great with vanilla or pumpkin ice cream or creme fraiche.

(Alas, I’m watching my weight so I’ll skip any of those)

Okay, here’s my Official Serving Suggestion:

Warmed up and served with chèvre cheese and drizzled with molasses.

If I were serving this in a restaurant or to guests I’d slice it about 1.25cm (½”) thick and toast it (2 slices per order), add whipped chèvre with a pastry bag and then drizzled with thickened molasses.

And here’s a collection of delicious images to salivate over: