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Trader Joe's Pumpkin Bread

Easy★ 4.9Yields: 1 loaf (10 slices)

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Trader Joe's Pumpkin Bread

Every year around September, Trader Joe's (TJ's) goes absolutely feral with pumpkin products. Pumpkin cereal. Pumpkin Joe-Joe's. Pumpkin body butter. Pumpkin ravioli. If they could make pumpkin toilet paper they would and honestly I'd buy it. But the two pumpkin products that actually matter for baking are their Organic Pumpkin Puree (canned, cheap, and exactly the same quality as the expensive brands) and their Pumpkin Pie Spice blend, which is perfectly balanced and saves you from buying five separate spice jars. This pumpkin bread uses both. It's deeply moist because pumpkin puree adds an obscene amount of moisture to baked goods, warmly spiced without being a cinnamon assault on your taste buds, and it has this dark, caramelly top that cracks down the center and looks like it belongs in a coffee shop that charges $6 a slice. Except you just made an entire loaf for less than that. If you've made our banana bread or our zucchini bread, you know the drill. One bowl. No mixer. Fold gently. Don't overmix. Pull it out when a toothpick comes out with moist crumbs. This is fall baking at its most satisfying and I refuse to apologize for being a pumpkin person. We exist and we are valid. Let's fucking go.

Instructions

1
Mix the wet stuff
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x5 loaf pan or line with parchment. In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, oil, eggs, both sugars, and vanilla until smooth. It's going to be a vibrant orange slurry that looks like autumn in liquid form.
2
Add the dry stuff
Sprinkle the flour, baking soda, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and salt over the wet ingredients. Fold gently with a spatula until JUST combined. You know the drill by now. Overmixing is the enemy of moist quick breads. A few small streaks of flour are fine. Stop stirring. Put the spatula down. If adding chocolate chips or pecans, fold them in now with 2-3 gentle strokes.
3
Bake low and slow
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 50-55 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs. The top will crack down the center and that's not a flaw, that's the signature look of good pumpkin bread. Don't touch the crack. Don't try to fix it. It's beautiful the way it is.
4
Cool and slice
Let it cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. If you can wait for it to cool completely before slicing, the texture will be better and the slices will hold together. If you can't wait, join the club. Warm pumpkin bread with butter melting on top is one of the greatest experiences fall has to offer and I won't tell you to deny yourself that joy.

Baker's Notes

PUMPKIN PUREE, not pumpkin pie filling. Pumpkin pie filling has sugar and spices already added and will make your bread cloyingly sweet and weirdly textured. The puree is just pumpkin. Read the label. One ingredient: pumpkin.
TJ's Pumpkin Pie Spice saves you from buying cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice separately. It's already blended in the right ratios. If you already have individual spices, use the breakdown in the ingredients list.
This bread is MOIST. Like, bordering on pudding-moist. That's the pumpkin. If you want it slightly drier and more cakey, reduce the oil to 1/3 cup. But I like mine almost scandalously moist.
Toasted pecans are the elite add-in for pumpkin bread. Toast them in a dry skillet for 3-4 minutes until fragrant, chop roughly, and fold in. The crunch against the soft crumb is unreal. Chocolate chips are the crowd-pleaser add-in. Both are good. Doing both at once is chaos and I support it.
This freezes beautifully. Wrap the cooled loaf tightly in plastic wrap and then foil. Freezes for up to 3 months. Thaw on the counter overnight. You'll never be caught without pumpkin bread during fall if you freeze a few loaves early in the season.

Nutrition

Calories

260

Fat

12g

Carbs

36g

Protein

4g

Sugar

20g

Serving

1 slice

Notes

“The recipes are good. The language is bad. You're welcome.” - fuckingdelicious.co

FAQ

Can I make this as muffins?

Yes. Fill muffin tins 3/4 full and bake at 350°F for 18-22 minutes. You'll get about 14-16 muffins depending on how generous you are with the scooping. The tops get that beautiful domed crack and the centers stay ultra moist. Pumpkin muffins are the fall breakfast that makes you feel like you have your life together even when you absolutely do not.

My pumpkin bread sank in the middle.

Either you overmixed (too much gluten development causes the structure to collapse), your baking soda/powder is expired, or you opened the oven door too early. Don't open the oven for the first 35 minutes. The structure needs that uninterrupted heat to set. Also, a sunken center might mean it's underbaked. Give it 5 more minutes next time.

Why is the top so dark?

The brown sugar and pumpkin puree both contain sugars that caramelize at high heat. That dark top is flavor, not burning. If it's getting too dark before the inside is done, tent it loosely with foil for the last 10-15 minutes of baking. The foil blocks the direct heat while the interior finishes cooking.

When is the best time to make this?

Technically anytime because TJ's stocks canned pumpkin year-round. But emotionally? The first time the temperature drops below 70 degrees. That's pumpkin bread season. Make it in September, keep making it through November, cry a little when spring comes and you have to switch back to banana bread. The cycle of life.

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