moist, dense pumpkin bread with thick, chewy crust

Something about pumpkins says fall. (Something about pumpkins also says yum). They're the shape of a harvest moon, the color of an autumn leaf. As the leaves begin to change, pumpkins begin to line the streets, dot windowsills and lawns, overflow from large crates in front of supermarkets. There's something about their affinity for cinnamon and nutmeg, their secret friendship with apples, their mellow orange sweetness.

But it's spring! you say. You should be talking about daisies and asparagus and sunshine! 

I know. And I'll dance cheerily amid the sweet, fresh flavors of spring in later posts. But I love autumn. I'm missing dry, crackling, vibrant leaves and crisp fall air, but I have pumpkin bread and the world is good.

(If you do want to hear about asparagus, with lovely pictures and hungry-making prose, (and you should): go here).

The recipe I printed out and got orange stains and flour and butter on is found here. As you can see, it doesn't look much like what I actually made, but it gave me a good starting point. This bread came out very moist and very dense. The crust was thick and chewy and darn tasty. I liked it best toasted and buttered.

Pumpkin Bread

1 1/4 C mashed pumpkin (from a can; but make sure it's just pumpkin and there aren't any pie spices added)
3 eggs
1 banana, small
1/2 C applesauce
1 C sugar
1/8 C molasses
1/8 C dark brown sugar

1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice
a pinch ground ginger
1 3/4 C flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat the wet ingredients (that includes the sugars) for 5 minutes. Add the dry ingredients and beat one minute. Pour into two greased and floured loaf pans. Sprinkle the tops with brown sugar. Bake for about an hour.

You can also make this batter into muffins. Fill muffin cups 2/3 of the way full and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

The bread never actually passed the "toothpick test" for me (sticking a toothpick or wooden skewer into the bread and seeing if it comes out dry, which would signal doneness). I baked this poor baby for maybe an hour past the fifty minutes suggested, which for some odd reason didn't do it any harm. When I finally gave up and took it out of the oven, I found it dark, but still sweet, moist and delicious. I don't recommend baking it for as long as I did, as I'm sure it wasn't necessary, but I would bake it for at least an hour, to get a proper chewy crust. You could also add another 1/4 C of flour or so to make it a little drier--but I found I quite liked it the way it was.

What else do you like to make with pumpkin? Do you have a favorite fall snack?