Slow Cooker Monday: Pumpkin Bread

/ Recipe, Slow Cooker, Snack / 20 Comments

I’ve always been curious about making desserts in my slow cooker. I’ve seen some recipes for things like pudding and slow cooked fruit (I’ve tried maple apple compote and spiced & stuffed pears) but I was more interested in actually baking in a Crock Pot. I came across an article with simple directions for baking in a slow cooker:

  1. Make sure your pan fits in your slow cooker.
  2. Place a rolled up ball or two of aluminum foil at the bottom of the slow cooker to hold up the pan.
  3. Prepare your recipe, pour it into your pan and place that on top of the aluminum foil ball(s) in the slow cooker.
  4. Turn it to high cook until done (amount of time will depend on how hot your slow cooker gets).

I tried it with a pumpkin bread recipe that makes enough batter for 2 loaves. I put one loaf in the oven and one in the slow cooker to compare them. The difference was huge; the slow cooker bread came out very moist, while the oven loaf was more fluffy and cake like. It was kind of like the difference between brownies with a fudgy texture versus a cake texture.

I’m definitely going to try baking in my slow cooker again. Now I know I can pop a loaf in the slow cooker and leave the house all day, use the oven for dinner, or just avoid heating up the the house when I want to bake in the summer.

Have you ever tried baking in your slow cooker? I wonder how cookies would come out!

Recipe:

Slow Cooker Pumpkin Bread
Adapted from Epicurious
Makes 2 loaves

  • 3 cups sugar
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 16-ounce can solid pack pumpkin
  • 3 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
In slow cooker:
In a slow cooker large enough to fit a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan (I used a 6 quart), place a ball of aluminum foil to hold up the pan. Coat two 9x5x3-inch loaf pans with nonstick spray. (Options: you can bake one in the oven, cut the recipe in half, or store half the batter in the fridge until your first batch is done in the slow cooker).
Combine sugar and oil in a large bowl, beating to blend. Mix in eggs and pumpkin.

In a separate large bowl, combine flour, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, salt and baking powder. Add to the wet ingredients in 2 batches.

Pour half of batter into each loaf pan. Set slow cooker to high and cook for 2-8 hours (until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean).

In oven:

Pour half of batter into a 2 greased 9x5x3-inch loaf pans. Bake at 350°F for around 1 hour (until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean).

20 Comments on Slow Cooker Monday: Pumpkin Bread

  1. sandr
    October 17, 2011 at 4:32 pm (13 years ago)

    I’ve wondered how to use my slow cooker for baking. Thanks for the tips and recipe.

    Reply
    • Stephanie
      October 17, 2011 at 4:40 pm (13 years ago)

      @sandr – you’re welcome! I was so happy to find out that I could bake in my slow cooker. I can’t wait to try more baking recipes in it.

  2. Lindsey@Lindselicious
    October 17, 2011 at 8:22 pm (13 years ago)

    Oh I have always wanted to try to bake in my crockpot. Love this idea, especially since its my favorite- Pumpkin Bread!!

    Reply
    • Stephanie
      October 18, 2011 at 5:34 pm (13 years ago)

      @Lindsey – enjoy! 🙂

  3. Rachel @ My Naturally Frugal Family
    October 18, 2011 at 1:41 pm (13 years ago)

    Man this is a great idea…plus it would make your house smell terrific!!!
    I have to go stock up on some pumpkin tonight and pull out the under used slow cooker 🙂

    Reply
    • Stephanie
      October 18, 2011 at 5:34 pm (13 years ago)

      @Rachel – pull out your slow cooker. You can use it to make so many different things!

  4. Steph@stephsbitebybite
    October 18, 2011 at 3:21 pm (13 years ago)

    Pumpkin bread made in a slow cooker! This is amazing!! I have got to give this a try!

    Reply
    • Stephanie
      October 18, 2011 at 5:34 pm (13 years ago)

      @Steph – isn’t it neat?! I can’t wait to try baking in my slow cooker more.

  5. kita
    October 19, 2011 at 7:03 am (13 years ago)

    I cant even explain how excited I was when I saw the title of this post. Bread in a slow cooker? Rock out! Thanks for all the tips too!

    Reply
  6. Rachel @ Bakerita
    October 20, 2011 at 2:37 pm (13 years ago)

    How cool!
    This is such an interesting concept!
    I’d love to try this.

    Reply
  7. Jean
    October 27, 2011 at 1:45 pm (13 years ago)

    I only have a round slow cooker, not sure that a rectangular pan would fit in it. Do you think I could use a round, ceramic dish instead?

    Reply
  8. Jean
    October 27, 2011 at 1:46 pm (13 years ago)

    I was thinking of a Corell casserole dish. (See last comment.)

    Reply
    • Stephanie
      October 27, 2011 at 3:19 pm (13 years ago)

      @Jean – yes, I think that would work just fine.

  9. Lisa :)
    November 9, 2011 at 8:19 am (13 years ago)

    Stephanie, thank you so much for this idea and amazing recipe! I did an experiment yesterday and baked one in the slow cooker and one in the oven, then did a blind taste test with my family to find out which they thought tasted better. Both loaves were awesome and everyone had a hard time deciding which they preferred. The final verdict in my family of 4 was… a tie! My husband and our 10-year old preferred the oven-baked loaf, while our 7-year old and I favored the loaf I baked in the slow cooker. I think our 7-year old nailed it when he said, “The one from the regular oven is 19 on a scale of 1-20, but the one from Mommy’s slow cooker is a 20!”. Thanks again- this recipe rocks!!! 🙂

    Reply
    • Stephanie
      November 9, 2011 at 2:14 pm (13 years ago)

      @Lisa – that’s awesome!! I’m so happy you did the same comparison as me. It’s funny that you guys were tied down the middle. I have to try more baking in my slow cooker and post more recipes…

    • Lisa :)
      November 11, 2011 at 2:40 pm (13 years ago)

      Stephanie, I thought of you when I was doing our comparison! It was really fun to compare the two loaves (also an excuse to have a slice of each! LOL). I wanted to thank you again for such a great recipe- my 7-year old has been taking the pumpkin bread every day for his morning snack at school and always wants it for his after-school snack. He’s VERY picky so for him to love this as much as he does is amazing! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I can’t wait for you to post more slow cooker baking recipes! 🙂

  10. Michelle
    November 21, 2011 at 2:12 pm (13 years ago)

    such a great alternative to a bread maker!!!

    Reply

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