Instant October

a pumpkin pecan crumb loaf for the season

Walk into any grocery store or coffee shop these days and you’ll be bombarded with one message: fall is coming, autumn is imminent. Sure it might be hot as fuck wherever you are but that won’t stop the ever creeping vine of pumpkin patches across this country. The Gourd Lord has spoken: now is the time of pumpkin. Don’t fight it. You will always lose.

Over the next few weeks we’re gonna hit y’all with some seasonal specialities and fall favorites so when the air gets nippy, you’re recipe ready. There is literally nothing better than a home warmed up by a busy oven turning out sweet seasonal treats so the first chance you get, bake this bread. It’s a small luxury in a world where that feels ever more chaotic. Plus, a slice of this goes great with your morning coffee. ☕

Pumpkin Pecan Crumb Bread

Makes one loaf

½ cup chopped pecans

½ cup flour

2 tablespoons cane sugar

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

3-4 tablespoons olive oil or melted nondairy butter

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon ginger

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground cardamom

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

1 cup nondairy milk like almond

½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar or lemon juice

1 cup pumpkin puree*

½ cup white sugar

½ cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons melted nondairy butter or olive oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons ground flaxseeds

First, warm up your oven to 350 degrees and grease and flour a standard 5x9 loaf pan.

Next, let’s make the crumble. In a small bowl, mix together the chopped pecans, ½ cup flour, sugar, and cinnamon until everything looks all mixed up. Then drizzle in the oil while stirring that shit around until you get little crumbed up balls but most of it looks well mixed. Easy. Now it’s loaf time.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, spices, and salt. In a small glass, stir the milk and the vinegar together and set it aside. Now in a small bowl, stir together the pumpkin, sugars, melted butter, and vanilla extract. Stir the ground flax seeds into the milk mixture then stir all that shit into the pumpkin mix you’ve got going. Make a well in the center of the large flour mixture then dump the pumpkin mixture in the center. MIx all of that together until everything is just combined and there aren’t any big dry spots. Be careful to not over mix this because then the loaf turns out gummy and dense. You don’t want that. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and sprinkle the crumb mixture over the top sorta evenly. 

Pop that whole thing into your oven and bake for 50 minute to 1 hour or until a toothpick stuck all over that loaf comes out clean. This loaf takes awhile to cook but it’s totally worth it so fucking be patient.

Let the loaf cool for at least one hour before serving. While this is great the day it’s made, if you can wait until the next day to slice it up, it’s even better, The spices really make their presence known after 12 hours so your loaf will be so much more delicious the next day. Be strong.

*You can just skin and steam some pumpkin then throw it in a food processor or use canned pumpkin puree. Your call.

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Thanks so much for joining us again here in The Broiler Room. We love and appreciate every single one of y’all. Can’t wait to hear what you think of the bread.

Same time next Sunday?

Michelle and Matt