Bay and Vanilla infused Pumpkin Bread

This recipe is adapted from my pre-school teachers pumpkin bread recipe! It was soooo delicious and not dry at all. Every fall I ask my mom to send it to me because it’s the only one I’ll ever make. I fancified it a little by steeping the milk with bay leaf and vanilla bean. The bay leaf brings out the pumpkin flavor even more, and the vanilla just adds a nice round warmth to the whole thing. If you don’t feel like being so fancy, you can sub the milk for water and the recipe is still amazing.

Makes 2 loaves of pumpkin bread. You can definitely halve this recipe, but I wouldn’t halve the milk, vanilla and bay leaf, just steep the full 1/2 cup of milk and then just add 1/4 cup to the recipe. You can save the other 1/4 cup for your next loaf, or use it in another recipe!

Recipe adapted from: Mrs. Ingenio’s pumpkin bread

Adapted by Tierney Larson

Ingredients:

For the milk:

1/2 cup (124g) milk

1 bay leaf

about 1 inch of a vanilla pod, sliced down the middle

The rest:

4 cups (480g) All-Purpose

2 tsp (14g) baking soda

2 tsp (9g) diamond kosher salt, if you’re using morton’s it’s heavier so use 4g, or 1 tsp)

2 tsp (7g) cinnamon

1 tsp (3g) ground nutmeg

1 1/2 cups (297g) of granulated sugar

1 1/2 cups (319g) of packed light brown sugar

2 cups (461g) of pumpkin purée

4 large eggs

1 cup (208g) of vegetable or canola oil

Ok so…

For the milk: in a medium pot heat the milk over medium heat until it just starts to simmer. When it is, turn off and remove from the heat. Add the bay leaf and vanilla bean, cover and let steep for at least 30 min, up to an hour for optimal flavor. Remove the vanilla pod and bay leaf before adding it to the wet ingredients.

Preheat the oven to 350F and coat 2 loaf pans with non stick cooking spray. (You can use butter, but use very lightly or else it will burn the sides of your bread) In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, sugars, and spices together, until fully combined. Then in a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, oil and pumpkin purée. Pour the wet into the dry and stir them all together by folding the mixture from the bottom to the top, making sure you get all the flour bits incorporated. Once it is fully incorporated, stop mixing, you don’t want to over mix it.
Then pour the mixture evenly into the two greased loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour and 10 min, then check. May need up to 1 and 30.

Bake until a long skewer or cake tester comes out clean. Cool in loaf pans for 10 min then release onto racks to fully cool.