Baked in a cast-iron pan. Or a round cake pan. Made with butter or oil or lard. Sweetened up with sugar, honey or maple syrup. Or done without.

If you’ve made corn bread every which way, you definitely need to give “Pumpkin Corn Bread” a go.

It mixes up in a flash, bakes up with a delightful crustiness along with a moist, tender crumb, and entices with an understated sweet, earthy taste.

The recipe is from “The Great Little Pumpkin Cookbook” (Clarkson Potter), of which I received a review copy.

This compact little cookbook, which could fit in a purse, was written by New York City cookbook author Michael Krondle.

It’s a collection of 50 recipes ideal for this time of year that have you covered for every course of any meal. Krondle includes instructions for making your own homemade pumpkin puree, too. Or take the easy way, and use canned.

Go pumpkin crazy with everything from “Indian Pumpkin Fritters,” “Roasted Pumpkin Stuffed with Bread and Gruyere Cheese,” and “Turkey Pot Pie with Peas and Pumpkin” to “Pumpkin Tamales with Smoky Tomato Salsa,” “Pumpkin Oatmeal,” and “Pumpkin Coconut Flan.”

For this corn bread, preheat a cast-iron pan in the oven.

While that’s happening, mix together flour, cornmeal, baking soda, and salt. Then, stir the dry ingredients into a bowl of pumpkin puree, buttermilk, corn oil or any neutral oil, two eggs, and a touch of brown sugar.

Carefully remove the cast-iron pan from the oven, and add in the corn bread batter. Return the pan to the oven and bake until firm and golden. The recipe stated that would take 30 to 40 minutes, but mine was done in 25, so I amended the recipe below.

This warm corn bread is fabulous slathered with butter, a drizzle of honey, or even a smear of your favorite jam or marmalade.

Marigold in color, it’s got a delicious heartiness, with that distinctive little bit of grittiness from the corn meal, while still being so plush. It doesn’t taste like pumpkin bread; it’s more subtle than that with the pumpkin puree adding a more complex flavor to the grain.

Enjoy it for breakfast or as a side to chicken, pork, chili or soup.

Best yet, use it in place of regular corn bread to make your Thanksgiving stuffing extra memorable.

Pumpkin Corn Bread

(Serves 8 to 10)

1/3 cup corn oil or other neutral oil

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup cornmeal

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon table salt

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 large eggs

2 tablespoons packed brown sugar

Brush the inside of a 9- to 10-inch cast-iron skillet with 1 tablespoon of the oil. Place in the oven, then set the oven temperature to 425°F.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cornmeal, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, stir together the pumpkin puree, buttermilk, remaining oil (1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon), the eggs, and brown sugar. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined.

Carefully remove the skillet from the oven, spoon in the batter, return to the oven, and bake until the center is firm, 25 to 35 minutes.

Serve warm in wedges.

Adapted from “The Great Little Pumpkin Cookbook” by Michael Krondl

More Pumpkin Recipes to Enjoy: Spiced Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

And: Pumpkin Almond Cake with Almond Butter Frosting

And: Pumpkin Nutella Bread

And: Pumpkin, Sage, and Browned Butter Cake

And: Pumpkin Spice Latte Cake

And: Really Good Pumpkin Bread

And: Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

And: Pumpkin Carbonara with Paccheri