Pumpkin Oatmeal Bread

This is REALLY good - moist, dense, and pumpkiny! Good way to sneak a veggie into your kids, too...

1 cup all purpose flour (see note)
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 heaping tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1/8 tsp. ground ginger
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
1/3 cup shortening (I get the trans-fat free shortening, or you could substitute butter)
1 cup old-fashioned oats

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9x5x3 loaf pan.

Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and spices. Add all remaining ingredients except oats. With an electric mixer, beat on low speed until blended, and then on high speed for two minutes. Stir in the oats.

Pour batter into loaf pan. Bake for one hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the loaf comes out clean. Remove from oven but leave in pan, on a cooling rack, for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool completely.

This tastes even better the next day, once the flavors have had a chance to meld.

Note: to make it even healthier, you can substitute whole wheat pastry flour, cup for cup, for white flour in quick bread and muffin recipes. Doesn't work so well for yeast bread recipes, though.