Pumpkin Bread (a lighter version)
In the summer, I make zucchini bread often as a way to make use of the over abundance of this multi-purpose vegetable. Occasionally, I’ll over purchase bananas leaving me some less desirable, soft, brown fruit. At that time, I’ll whip up some oatmeal banana bread. Scrolling around on the Internet, I ran across a pumpkin bread recipe but the sugar and oil levels were too high for my liking. Instead, I created a version that both lower in sugar and fat. Thankfully, I doubled the recipe because our family ate the first loaf in a matter of minutes. I quickly froze the second before it met the same demise.
Pumpkin Bread
- 1 ½ cups flour
- ½ tsp. salt
- ½ cup sugar or xylitol*
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. ground ginger
- ½ tsp. cinnamon
- ½ tsp. nutmeg
- ½ tsp. allspice
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 TBSP oil
- 2 eggs, beaten
- ¼ cup water
- 2 tsp. molasses
- 1 tsp. orange zest (optional)
- ½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 . In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, ground ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the pumpkin puree, the melted better, beaten eggs, ¼ cup of water, molasses, and orange zest (if using). Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined and there is no more dry flour in the batter. Do not over mix batter. Stir in nuts.
- Butter the insides of a 8x4x3 inch loaf pan. Pour the batter into the pan and smooth the top. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean from the center of the loaf.
- Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for about 5 minutes. Loosen from the pan and remove.
Yield: 1 loaf
*Xylitol is a natural sugar substitute that can be used. It has many healthful benefits.
