Pumpkin Apple Bread

Autumn-time means pumpkin-time, but it also means apple-time. Good thing this recipe doesn’t make me choose between the two–we get the best of both worlds: pumpkin and apple in a delicious spiced bread. Not only is the bread simple to make, but it keeps well, making it the perfect treat to make on the weekend and take to that mid-week brunch or party. 

Pumpkin Apple Bread

Makes two 9-by-5-inch loaves
Active time: 30 minutes
Start to finish: 3 hours (includes cooling)

For Topping
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
5 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened

For Bread
3 cups all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
 1½  teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
1 (15-ounce) can solid-pack pumpkin
¾ cup vegetable oil
2¼ cups sugar
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and chopped (2 cups)

Make the topping:
Blend together flour, sugar, cinnamon, and butter in a small bowl with your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal.

Make the bread:
Put a rack in middle of oven and preheat oven to 350°F. Butter two 9-by-5-inch loaf pans.

Sift together flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice into a medium bowl. Whisk together pumpkin, oil, sugar, and eggs in a large bowl. Add flour mixture, stirring until well combined. Fold in apples.

Divide batter between buttered loaf plans. Sprinkle half of topping evenly over each loaf. Bake until a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center of bread comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes.

Cool loaves in pans on a rack for 45 minutes, then turn out onto rack and cool completely, about 1 hour.

Cook’s Note:
The bread keeps, wrapped well in plastic wrap and foil and refrigerated, for up to 1 week. It can also be frozen for up to 1 month.

From The Gourmet Cookbook. (Houghton Mifflin 2004, 599).