Pumpkin Bread, Cooked in Coffee Cans

Here is a different recipe with a great taste that can be assembled and cooked with your young children.  Depending on their age though you may want to keep the kids away from anything that is sharp or hot.  I found it at The Gourmet Coffee Shop site which is a great place for you to visit and learn even more about coffee.

First; you will need two old metal 1 pound coffee cans.  Wash them out and remove all paper and glue from the cans.

Second; you can make your own pumpkin purée or buy it at a grocery store.  Doing it on your own is pretty simple but the end result may not be what you expect.  You see pumpkins don’t have much taste and the Jack-O-Lantern type are the most bland.  When you are at the store look at the pumpkin pies and you will see that they contain a great deal of squash and seasoning which is the real taste.

Ingredients:

·   2 Coffee Cans (one pound each, no lip)

·   Butter for greasing the cans

·   1 ½ cups   Flour

·   1 cup        Sugar

·   1 tsp         Baking Soda

·   1 cup        Pumpkin Purée

·   2              Eggs, beaten

·   1/2 cup     Olive Oil

·   1/4 cup     Water

·   1/2 tsp      Nutmeg

·   1/2 tsp      Cinnamon

·   1/2 tsp      Allspice

·   1/2 tsp      Salt

·   1/2 cup     Walnuts, chopped (optional)

Directions:

1.           Take all the paper and glue off the coffee cans then wash and dry them.

2.           Grease the inside of the cans with butter.

3.           Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

4.           Combine the flour, salt, sugar, and baking soda in a mixing bowl.

5.           Crack the eggs into a small bowl and beat them (after you have smelled them for freshness and taken out the egg shells.

6.           In another bowl mix the pumpkin purée, eggs, olive oil, water, and the rest of spices.

7.           Now pour the bowl of dry ingredients into the bowl of wet ingredients but don’t over mix them.

8.           Stir in the walnuts if you decided to include them.

9.           Pour the batter into each of the coffee cans. Do not fill more than half way because the bread needs room to expand and you don’t want to spend hours cleaning your oven.

10.      Put the cans into the oven and bake for about 50 to 60 minutes.

11.       You can test the doneness with a toothpick. Insert the toothpick into the center of the exposed bread and if it comes out clean, your good.  Don’t cook until the smoke alarm starts or the Fire Department shows up.

12.      Once done, remove the bread from the coffee cans and let them cool on a rack.