This, my friends, is the answer to the question I posed to you this morning on my Facebook page!

Some of you were very close in your guesses with pumpkin! However, I sort of tricked you because I knew none of you would have guessed beer! This bread was made for an article I wrote on creating the perfect Oktoberfest menu, which will be live on She Knows later today!

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You can’t have Oktoberfest without beer, right? And what better way to enjoy your lager than inside a slice of moist, pumpkin whole wheat bread?

If you don’t like beer, you probably won’t like this bread. You can definitely taste it. However, I’m SO glad I used a fall beer, Oktoberfest (by Sam Adams) because it gave it even more of a pumpkiny, spicy flavor. I added in the pumpkin, on a whim, and am equally glad I did. It mellowed out the flavor of the beer and made the bread even more moist and cakey. Oh, and the addition of the pumpkin is a health boost too because you are getting a higher dose of vitamin A, C, K and E, as well as added potassium and iron! Ka-ching!

This is the perfect bread for your next party, brunch or Oktoberfest celebration!

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Beer Bread

Yields: 6-8 slices

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 50-60 minutes

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 cups all purpose flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 – 4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons regular sugar

1 cup of canned pumpkin

12 ounces beer (I used Oktoberfest)

2 tablespoons of melted margarine (you can also use butter)

Cooking spray

How to Make It:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray and set aside. Mix flours, baking powder, sugars, pumpkin pie spice and salt. Add in pumpkin and beer and mix until fully combined. Pour mixture into the prepared loaf pan. Pour margarine over the mixture and bake for 50-60 minutes until the center comes out clean when poked with a toothpick!

Although the melted margarine addition is optional, I URGE YOU to do it. It gives the bread a buttery flavor, so you don’t need to slap any extra butter on it! My roomies paired their pieces with spicy apple butter and it was incredible!

Nutritional information per slice: 280 calories, 6 grams of fat, 8 grams of protein and 50 grams of carbohydrates.