On Halloween two of my friends gave me all the pumpkin meat from their Jack-o-Lanterns and I got to make some pretty yummy bread and soup.

Here’s the spiced pumpkin bread recipe I used from a local church’s community cookbook, courtesy of LeAnne Sims using real pumpkin:

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 tablespoons molasses
2/3 cup orange juice
2 cups pumpkin
3.5 cups self rising flour (if using all purpose, add 1 teaspoon each of baking soda and baking powder, and 1 1/4 teaspoon of salt)
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1.5 teaspoon vanilla- I actually forgot to add this to my recipe and it was super sweet and flavorful without it.
1 cup chopped pecans

Directions

1) Using a mixer, beat butter until it’s “fluffy.”
2) Gradually add sugar, mixing well after each addition.
3) Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
4) Add molasses, orange juice, and pumpkin, mix well.
5) Add flour, salt, cinnamon, and cloves. Mix until just blended.
6) Add vanilla and nuts with spoon, spoon batter into greased and floured loaf pans.
7) Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes or until wooden pick, when inserted into the center, comes out clean.
8) Cool 10 minutes in pan, then remove to wire rack to cool completely.