Canned Pumpkin Bread

I made this last night. Very interesting recipe from Velma R Guffey. There is an introductory page about using the right recipe and equipment to prevent the introduction of bacteria and other bad stuff in the canning process. The canned bread has a shelf life of 4-6 months or can be frozen for a year.



2/3 cup shortening
2 2/3 cup sugar
4 eggs
1/2 t baking powder
2 t baking soda
1 1/2 t salt
2 cup pumpkin
2/3 cup water
3 1/3 cup flour (I used a combination of white & whole wheat)
1 t cinnamon
1 t ground cloves
2/3 cup nuts (optional, and I used walnuts)

Prepare the ingredients like any other bread recipe - cream shortening and sugar, beat in eggs, pumpkin, water. Sift dry ingredients and add to the rest. Stir in nuts.

Now the interesting part. "Pour into clean, greased, wide mouth pint jars" until half full. "Bake in jars without lids at 325 degrees for about 45 minutes. The bread will rise and pull away from the sides of the jar. When done, remove one jar at a time from the oven, clean the sealing edge and screw lid on firmly."

I had 7 jars and all put one rose slightly above the top of the jar. But I was able to cap them anyway. As I was writing this, I realized I didn't grease the jars. It wasn't a problelm last night, but we'll see what happens when they've been canned for awhile. The bread is very flavorful.