Ginger Molasses Pumpkin Bread

Makes 12 mini-loaves + 12 muffins. Recipe can be halved for smaller batch.

Tip: Clearly, autumn is just around the corner. “Pumpkin Spice” is showing up everywhere, from coffee creamer to scented candles to oil changes for your car! 😀 Jump on the bandwagon and enjoy a delicious seasonal flavor when you bake this quickbread!

Buttercream/Cinnamon Glaze
Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 cups powdered sugar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1-2 tsp heavy cream (more as needed for texture)
1-2 tsp cinnamon (to be added later before drizzling over bread)

Whip butter in mixer with a paddle attachment. Add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, beating continuously. Add lemon juice and continue beating until fluffy. Gritty texture will turn creamy as the frosting is beaten (this may take several minutes). Add a few drops of cream as needed to change the texture to your liking. Store covered in refrigerator until quickbread is baked and cooled. See further directions below…

Ginger Molasses Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients
5 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
5 tsp ground cinnamon
3 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground nutmeg
12 oz (2 cups) premium quality white chocolate chips*
*Option: Chopped toasted walnuts or pecans or dried cranberries can be substituted for white chocolate chips, or mix some of each to equal 2 cups.

2 eggs
15 oz. can pumpkin puree
1 cup dark brown sugar
4 tbsp melted butter
½ cup vegetable oil
½ cup molasses
1 cup buttermilk
2 tsp vanilla extract

Prep
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
For mini-loaves, prepare loaf pans with light coating of shortening. For muffins, line muffin tins with paper or silicone cupcake liners.
Whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt & spices together in a large mixing bowl (bowl should be large enough to also incorporate the wet ingredients below).
Mix eggs, pumpkin, brown sugar, butter, oil, molasses, buttermilk and vanilla together in a separate large mixing bowl until well-blended.

Directions
Pour the blended wet ingredients into the large bowl of dry ingredients, then add white chocolate chips. Mix gently with large rubber spatula until all dry ingredients are moist. Be sure to scrape and fold from bottom of bowl to mix well, but do not over-mix or the bread/muffins may be tough.

Using a #20 ice cream scoop (about 1/4 cup), place two scoops of batter into each mini-loaf pan or one scoop into each muffin cup. Bake mini-loaves 14-17 minutes or muffins 11-13 minutes. A toothpick poked into center of bread or muffin should come out clean and not sticky. Do not over-bake. Cool very briefly before flipping bread or muffins out of pans to cool completely on a rack. When bread is cool, take buttercream from the refrigerator and soften in microwave until you can easily drizzle it. Do not overheat. Stir in 1-2 tsp good quality cinnamon (I like Vietnamese) until well-blended. With a spoon or fork, drizzle the Cinnamon Glaze over cooled mini-loaves or muffins. Enjoy a Pumpkin Spice fix!