Pumpkin Bread with Streusel Filling

Fall is my favorite time of year for food. Dishes made with apples, pumpkin, sweet potatoes and flavored with cinnamon and vanilla simply make me smile. Add some whipped cream, ice cream or marshmallows and it only gets better. Here is one of my favorite pumpkin dishes. Enjoy it plain or add the streusel filling to give it a little crunch. Either way, it’s delicious this time of year.

Bread Ingredients
2 cups flour, divided
1 cup brown sugar
1 t cinnamon
¼ t salt
¼ t baking soda
¼ t nutmeg
⅛ t cloves
1 cup pumpkin, canned
½ cup milk
2 eggs
⅓ cup shortening

Preheat oven to 350º and grease a regular sized loaf pan. In a large bowl, mix 1 cup of the flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt, soda, nutmeg and cloves. Add pumpkin, milk, eggs and shortening. Beat with an electric mixer until blended, then mix on high speed for 2 minutes. Add the remaining 1 cup of flour and mix well. Pour half of the batter into the loaf pan, place the streusel on top then pour the remaining batter over the streusel. Bake for 50 – 60 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack to finish cooling.

Streusel Ingredients
⅔ cup flour
⅔ cup pecans, finely chopped
⅔ cup brown sugar
5 T butter, melted
1 t cinnamon
¼ t salt

Mix all streusel ingredients together until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.