Bread: Night Owl Pumpkin Ale Bread

I've been looking for a good pumpkin bread recipe. For awhile I was happy with mixes. Then, I started making some from scratch, but never liked any enough to put it in the Codex. After purchasing a 6-pack of Pumpkin Ale to make some cupcakes, I needed to use it up. I found several pumpkin ale breads, but the Ladies of Craft Beer looked best. Like the original baker, my first try came out a bit doughy. However, with toasting and butter, it was excellent anyway. So baking longer is probably better. My oven cooks some things on the long end and some things on the short end, so it can be hard to tell.

Ingredients (one loaf):

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
½ cup sugar
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. ground ginger
⅛ tsp. ground cloves
3 tbsp. vegetable oil
½ cup pumpkin puree
11-12 oz. pumpkin ale of your choice

Optional 
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup toasted almonds, sliced or finely chopped

Optional Almond Topping
½ cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ cup toasted almonds, finely chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9×5 inch glass pan.
2. Toast almond slices for 10 minutes on an ungreased baking sheet, and finely chop. For almond topping, mix ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves.
4. In another bowl, combine oil, pumpkin puree, and ale.
5. Quickly combine wet and dry ingredients. Add optional ingredients at this point as well. Stir only until you are not able to see any white flacks from the flour.
6. Pour batter into loaf pan. If desired, add almond topping.
7. Bake for at least one hour. The loaf should be slightly golden and will spring back when pressed, if fully baked. Insert a toothpick into the center of the loaf to see if it comes out clean. The first loaf I made came out a bit doughy, so keep an eye on your bread until you find the right temperature and timing for your oven.
8. Allow loaf to cool on a rack before slicing. Store in an airtight container.

Other Details:

• Original Recipe 
• Easily gives 12 nice slices. 
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