Pumpkin and Banana Bread

 

Halloween and Thanksgiving time is definitely the time to get out your pumpkin recipes. However, I had a ton of ripe bananas in my fruit bowl and was really thinking about banana bread. So, what about combining the two in a holiday bread - a perfect gift for friends and family.

I found an interesting recipe on my favorite baking site, King Arthur flour, called easy whole grain pumpkin banana bread. It looked delicious and healthy, just my kind of recipe. (By the way, did I mention that I'm off the No grain diet - no fun, too hard!).


Did you know that I'm a caterer and am used to making large quantity recipes? So, please don't be put off when you see the huge bowl of batter in the photos. In fact, it was so big that I had to mix in the dry ingredients by hand - my Kitchenaid wasn't big enough! I figured that as I had 5 bananas and a can of pumpkin, I could triple the recipe and make mini loaves to give away to friends. Btw, those mini foil loaf tins are perfect for this job. By tripling the recipe, I made 7 mini loaves and one regular loaf.

This is a really easy recipe and a truly delicious bread. You will see from my recipe, that I added pumpkin spice and a handful of dried cranberries to add extra sweetness. It's better if you can resist and eat the next day (cool and wrap), I guarantee it will taste a million times better. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

(Makes one loaf)

1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) soft butter

2/3 cup brown sugar

3 tablespoons honey

2 large eggs

1 cup puréed pumpkin

1 cup mashed banana, the riper the better

2 tablespoons orange juice or water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour or mix of wholewheat and all-purpose

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon or pumpkin spice mix

1/2 cup diced pecans or walnuts, toasted

1/2 cup dried cranberries, optional

*Using a scant cup (7 1/2 ounces) pumpkin is fine; that way, you can get two recipes out of a single 15-ounce can of purée.

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf pan.

In a large bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, honey, eggs, pumpkin, banana, orange juice or water. and vanilla.

Looks curdled, but it's supposed to.

Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon (or pumpkin spice) stirring to combine.

Mix in the nuts and cranberries, if you're using them.

Spoon or scoop the batter into the prepared pan. Level the batter, by tapping the pans on the counter a couple of times. Allow the batter to rest for 15 minutes, uncovered.

Bake the bread for approx. 40 mins for mini loaves and 55 to one hour for larger loaf , or until a cake tester or toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Remove the bread from the oven, and cool it on a rack. When it's completely cool, wrap it well in plastic wrap, and store it overnight before serving.

 

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