Once upon a time, a girl went to Boston, and she got some treats from Flour Bakery. One of those treats was banana bread. What does that have to do with this pecan pumpkin bread? Stick with me…
This girl thought she had a really great banana bread recipe, and had searched the land, but had never found one she liked more than her own. Until she bit into that slice of banana bread from Flour.
Thankfully, the chef at Flour published her recipes in a cookbook. The girl made and loved this banana bread she’d tried. Then she took it to another step…
Jump to Recipe
Enter this pecan pumpkin bread. It’s based on that banana bread recipe, but it uses pumpkin and the spices you’d expect from a pumpkin bread. It also includes toasted pecans. People, if you use the pecans, toast them. It really does make all the difference.
I made this recipe (yes, shocker, the girl was me!) to use a full can of pumpkin, so it makes two loaves. The bread freezes very well, though, so have some now and some later.
To freeze it, I let it cool completely then slice it and wrap those in little parcels of a couple slices. That way, I can thaw out just a portion and enjoy it whenever I want.
A couple things about this recipe…
- Like almost all things in baking, technique matters. Take the time to fluff the sugar and eggs together, then drizzle the oil in slowly. It’s called the mayonnaise method, and it makes all the difference to this recipe.
- Toast the pecans! – I know I said it before, but it bears repeating. The flavor is remarkably better after the pecans are toasted. I line my loaf pans with parchment, so to shortcut things…
- I throw the pecans in the oven at 350 degrees for about 9 minutes, until I start to smell them being toasty, and I use the parchment I’m going to use in the pans.
- While they toast, I work on the batter and let them cool
- I chop them on the parchment and funnel them into the batter, then use that parchment to line the loaf pans. I think it gives the bread a little extra pecan flavor from the oil that toasted out of the pecans.
Adapted from Joanne Chang’s Flour bakery banana bread recipe. Now with pumpkin, pecans and pumpkin spice, natch.
Servings: 2 loaves
- 400 grams All-purpose flour 3-1/3 cups for you volumetric types
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tsp salt
- 2-1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cups canola oil or other flavorless oil
- 15 oz pumpkin puree
- 1/3 cup creme fraiche or sour cream
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1-1/3 cups toasted and chopped pecans
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Line two 9×5 loaf pans with parchment paper or spray with non-stick spray.
Toast pecans, let cool and roughly chop.
Combine dry ingredients and set aside.
With a whisk attachment, beat together sugar and eggs until light and fluffy – medium high on a stand mixer for approx. 10 minutes.
Continue to whip sugar/egg mixture and very slowly drizzle oil in, creating an emulsion.
Add pumpkin, vanilla, and sour cream and mix until combined.
Fold in dry ingredients and nuts.
Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake for 60-75 minutes until internal temperature reaches a 205-210 degrees. Check bread after about 45 minutes, if it’s browned, tent lightly with foil to prevent over browning, and untent about 5-10 minutes before bake time is complete.
Cool in pans about 10 minutes. Remove from pans, peel off parchment and let cool completely on a wire rack. If you can resist, wrap tightly and wait to slice it until the next day.
Devour!