Harvest Pumpkin Bread with Orange and Raisins

I love pumpkin bread and really feel like fall has arrived when I smell the pumpkiny-cinnamony aroma wafting from the oven.   


Not only is pumpkin bread fantastic, but it is loaded with beta-carotenes, carotenoids, fibre, potassium, and zinc.  I really sound like I know what I'm talking about, don't I?  Well I just Googled it and thought I would impress all of you with how healthy pumpkin is.  I'm willing to make it for a lot of less virtuous reasons than that, but all those beta-watchamacallits certainly help convince me I am doing a good thing when I make it.

Just in case you are getting the pumpkin cravings, here is my recipe - quick, easy, and sooo delish.


Ingredients:
2 cups flour (even better would be to use 1 cup of all-purpose flour and 1 cup of whole wheat flour)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp each of allspice, ground ginger, and salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup sour milk (add 1 tsp vinegar to 1/2 cup milk)
1 tsp orange zest 
1 1/2 cups canned pure pumpkin (make sure it is pure pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling)
1/2 cups raisins (optional)

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350F.  Oil a 9 x 5 x 3 (1.5 L capacity) inch loaf pan. 
2.  Measure dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl and stir.  
3.  Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients (the recipe said to combine them together in another bowl first, but between you and me I just dumped them in and it worked).   Stir just until blended - batter will be very thick.
4.  Turn into loaf pan and smooth the top.  Bake in the centre of the oven for about 70-75 minutes.  Turn out of a pan and cool on a rack.  

Very tasty and thankfully the good news about all the health properties justifies my eating seconds and even thirds!