Peace & Joy get baked for the holidays

Harvest Loaf reminds us why oven rhymes with lovin'

Tis the night before the night before Christmas. Wanna fill your house with flavor and aroma to quash any grouse? The oven is warm; the kitchen is bare. Do a little baking; show them you care.

Rhyme isn’t the reason for the season. Truth is everyone, and I mean everyone, derives joy from it in their own way.

Straight from the hearth is a good place to start whether the decking of your halls is driven by Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa, winter solstice, Boxing Day, my birthday or a chance to reset the calendar.

For the decade and a half I wrote about food for The Oklahoman, I followed the holiday tradition of sharing the recipe for Aunt Bill’s Brown Candy. Happy to see JaNae Williams has carried that tradition forward.

I also started one of my own in 2009 when my dear, dear friend and kitchen mentor Anne Ferlo passed away. We lost her in October of that year, just as I was preparing for my second Christmas as Food Editor. In Anne’s honor, I shared a bread recipe of hers she called Harvest Loaf.

She made them seemingly by the dozen each year for friends and family, including my kids Kate and Luke, at Christmas. Chocolate chips and a sugar glaze turn a simple pumpkin bread loaf into a decadent treat that works for dessert, breakfast, and high tea.

If you’re not yet sick of pumpkin spice, Harvest Loaf is just the thing to bake on Christmas Eve with the family. Staying home might be a good call as we wade through another frustrating spate of COVID-19 cases and hurtle towards 2024. Cheers to those of you recovering through the holidays now.

Made a fresh Harvest Loaf this morning with a few tweaks to Anne’s original recipe, including extra glaze. Happy holidays!

Nonny's Harvest Loaf

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 cup canned pumpkin

• 1 cup sugar

• 2 eggs

• 1 cup chocolate chips

• 1 cup chopped walnuts

• ½ cup butter, softened

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• ½ teaspoon salt

• 1½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (ginger, nutgmeg, cloves)

GLAZE:

• 1 cup sifted powdered sugar

• ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

• 2 tablespoons heavy cream or half and half

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Sift together flour with soda, salt and spices

2. In a large bowl or stand-up mixer gradually cream the sugar and butter together.

3. Blend in eggs until thoroughly beaten and combined then add pumpkin.

4. Fold in the dry ingredients, chocolate chips and ¾ cups of the walnuts.

5. Grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with butter, then pour in batter. Sprinkle top with remaining walnuts.

6. Bake 60 to 65 minutes. Use the toothpick test to ensure the center is done.

7. While loaf is baking, make glaze by whisking together the ingredients until well-incorporated.

8. When the loaf is cool enough to move onto a parchment-covered cooling rack, drizzle it with glaze.

9. Let stand an hour. Wrap and refrigerate for storage.

Source: Dave Cathey from a recipe by Anne Ferlo