M&M’s Pumpkin Bread

We’re tired.

We’re really, really tired.

We have a baby, see, and all that hooey about sleeping through the night? Like, “Oh, is she sleeping through the night at three months? Great!” Yeah, it’s crap. Because, for one, the technical definition of “sleeping through the night” is 5 solid hours. Which, by the way, actually sounds pretty awesome because we haven’t seen that large a hunk in nearly three months. But it’s also crap because just because your three month old is sleeping through the night doesn’t mean when she’s four months, or five, or nine, she will be. She might just, say, forget she had any inkling that she knows how to sleep for longer than two hours at any one time.

So it’s not like a switch flips and suddenly you are blissfully sleeping through every single night once your baby “sleeps through the night.”

I guess what I’m trying to say is this: 1) We love our baby, very much. 2) Said baby has “slept through the night,” technical definition, maybe 10 times total, sporadically, throughout her life thus far. And that hasn’t happened in a long time. A long, long time. 3) We love our baby. She is seriously the best thing that has ever happened to us. But 4) We are very, very, very tired. Bone achingly, eye sinkingly tired. 5) Oh hey look!  M&M’s Pumpkin Bread! Pumpkin bread with M&M’s! That makes it a little better.

Nice segue? No? Yeah, I know. I’m sleep-deprived, so please just bear with me.

Here’s what I have to say about M&M’s Pumpkin Bread.

It’s divine, one. It’s super-moist pumpkin bread, chock full of nice harvest spices just as a good pumpkin bread should be. But instead of adding chocolate chips, which I love in pumpkin bread, I added M&M’s to the batter instead. Fall color M&M’s, to boot. And then sprinkled some more on top for good measure.

I admit – it didn’t turn out quite as, well, attractive as I thought it would. Turns out the wonderful candy shell that doesn’t melt in your hand does tend to melt in pumpkin bread.

But just take a bite. Or three. I’d venture to say you won’t care about looks, and neither will anyone else. Or much of anything, because M&M’s Pumpkin Bread really does make you forget your woes, if only for a little while.

It’s that good.

Or maybe I just forgot my woes for a little bit due to absent-minded Mommy brain?

Naaaah. It’s the pumpkin bread. It is that good.

5 from 1 vote

M&M's Pumpkin Bread

Prep: 20 minutes
Cook: 40 minutes
Total: 1 hour
Author: Kare
Yield: 1 loaf
Super-moist spiced pumpkin bread packed with delicious milk chocolate M&M's.

Ingredients

  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter (softened)
  • 3/4 cup white sugar
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup pure pumpkin puree
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 cup milk chocolate M&M's plus 1/3 cup milk chocolate M&Ms (divided)

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and butter or spray a 9-inch x 5-inch loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray.
  • Beat the butter on medium until creamy (approx. 30 seconds).
  • Add the sugars and beat 3 – 4 minutes until creamy.
  • Add eggs one at a time, beating on medium after each addition.
  • Add vanilla and pumpkin puree, blending on low speed until combined.
  • In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and spices.
  • With the mixer on low, alternating with the milk, add the flour mixture to the sugar and butter mixture in three additions, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Mix just until well blended.
  • Gently stir in 1 cup of the M&M's.
  • Pour the batter into the loaf pan and gently smooth the top.
  • Sprinkle the remaining 1/3 cup M&M's over the top.
  • Bake for about 40 - 50 minutes, or until the top is set and golden brown, and a toothpick inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean.
  • Remove from the oven and place pan on a wire rack. Let cool for 10 minutes. Using a butter knife, carefully loosen the sides of the bread, then turn it out onto a wire rack and let cool completely.
  • Slice and serve.