Snickerdoodle Pumpkin Bread from Middle East Sector

Snickerdoodle Pumpkin Bread - made October 13, 2025 from Middle East Sector

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

2 large eggs

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cinnamon Sugar Topping

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 9 x 5 loaf pan with parchment paper and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.
4. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in pumpkin puree and vanilla extract until combined.
5. Add dry ingredients in 2 additions, mixing on low speed after each addition, until just combined.
6. Pour half the batter into prepared loaf pan.
7. In a small bowl, combine topping ingredients, mixing until uniform. Sprinkle half the mixture over the batter in loaf pan and top with remaining batter. Sprinkle remaining topping in an even layer over batter. Gently swirl batter and topping with a butter knife, being careful not to overmix.
8. Bake 50-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool in pan for 10 minutes before gently removing from loaf pan, lifting up using sides of parchment paper. Remove parchment paper and let loaf cool completely.

If a quick bread could be both a success and a failure, I nailed it with this recipe. The success part is largely due to the original blog coming up with the recipe itself as the flavor was very good, successfully combining pumpkin and cinnamon sugar to tease the taste buds.

The failure part was mine and mine alone. I'm baking in a new kitchen with a new oven at a higher altitude than I've baked in in awhile. Although honestly, I'm not sure how much the altitude has to do with it as I've baked successfully and unsuccessfully, sometimes with the same freaking recipe, at this altitude over the past few weeks. Huh. But I still own the failure part of this as I didn't bake it long enough. Y'all know my dire fear of overbaking things and ending up with dry baked goods. So I tend to err on the side of underbaking. In the case of this quick bread, the recipe said to bake it for 50-60 minutes. At the 50-minute mark, there was still raw batter on the toothpick test. At 60 minutes, the crumbs still looked a little too moist for comfort. At 65 minutes, I started to break out in nervous hives that it had been there "too long" but the toothpick test and poking the soft center didn't make me feel confident it was done. So I compromised by turning off the oven but left the loaf in for another 5 minutes. That's 70 minutes total baking time if anyone's keeping track.

Alas, the bread was still too underbaked. The ends were okay enough but the middle was too gummy. I should've done what I always tell people; baking times in a recipe are just guidelines and vary depending on your oven (and altitude). Go by the toothpick test and, more importantly, your gut. I will have to try this recipe again to do it justice as the flavor really was good. Now I just need the texture to live up to it and bake it properly.

And, because I still struggle writing these blog posts as if we aren't in the middle of a fascist takeover of our country, I have to put in a plug for the No Kings rallies happening across the country tomorrow, October 18. If you can, please go, assemble peacefully, find your community, build solidarity and exercise your First Amendment rights to free speech and peaceful assembly. There are several rallies in my (new) area and the one I officially RSVP'd for asked us to wear yellow.  I don't normally wear yellow (doesn't suit my coloring) but as it happens, I have an oversized shirt I normally use as a sleep shirt that's bright yellow and says "I just want to bake stuff and watch Christmas movies all day". My shirt does not lie. But, despite my introvert preferences, I will still show up for my community and my country. Tomorrow at a rally and every day after however I can.