Fall Harvest Apple-Spiked Pumpkin Bread
"When Fall is in the air, nothing quite hits the spot like a slice of fresh baked pumpkin bread. Also, the ready availability of fresh pumpkin makes it hard to come up with a reason NOT to back a loaf. This version virtually fat-free but still retains the moist gooiness that you typically get from quick breads. Fresh pumpkin also has a natural sweetness to it. Rather than covering it up with too much excess sugar, I opted to try and enhance the interesting flavor it provides. If you can't get ahold of a real pumpkin, you can substitute the canned stuff (Using fresh pumpkin is very easy and pretty fun, too. Not only can you taste the freshness, but you get some tasty pumpkin seeds for roasting or adding to the recipe.)"
photo by Matty H.
- Ready In:
- 1hr 20mins
- Ingredients:
- 12
- Yields:
-
1 9x5 inch loaf
- Serves:
- 16
ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1⁄2 cup rolled oats
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1⁄2 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup pumpkin, Prepared
- 1⁄2 cup apple, Peeled and Roughly Chopped
- 1⁄2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 large egg
- 1 egg white
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1⁄4 teaspoon allspice
- 3⁄4 teaspoon salt
directions
- To prepare pumpkin: First of all, use a smaller variety of pumpkin (about the size of a bag of popped popcorn). The lighter the skin, the sweeter the taste. Cut the pumpkin in half and scoop out the seeds and pulp. Save the seeds for drying or roasting (trust me.) Put both halves cut side down on a foil lined baking sheet, loosely cover them with foil, and pop them in the oven for about an hour at 375. When they're done, scoop the flesh from the skin with a spoon and mush up the yummy pumpkin goodness. It should keep in a refrigetator for about a week or so. If you've decided to just go with canned pumpkin: Open the can.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and ready a 9x5 inch loaf pan (cooking spray or oil work just fine.)
- In one bowl, combine the flour, oats, baking soda, salt, allspice, and cinnamon.
- In another bowl, combine the brown sugar, pumpkin, egg, egg white, and apple sauce until the mixture looks like bright orange mush.
- Stir the dry stuff into the wet stuff just until you don't see dry stuff anymore.
- Fold in the chopped apples. At this point, you can also add any solid ingredients (nuts, berries, the like) that you think would taste good inside of a loaf of pumpkin bread. Pour the batter into your loaf pan and sprinkle a few pumpkin seeds on top.
- Bake in the middle oven position at 350 degrees for about an hour, turning once or twice throughout the process. It will look and smell done - just check it with a toothpick. As a precautionary measure, I recommend putting a foil-lined baking sheet on the rack below the bread so it doesn't get so much direct heat from the bottom heating element.
- When you decide that the baking process has completed, cool the bread for about 10 minutes to let the anxiety build. Flip the loaf out of the pan and let it cool a bit more to build up some extra anxiety.
- Enjoy your supprisingly easy to make pumpkin bread and give yourself a hug for a job well done.
Questions & Replies
Got a question?
Share it with the community!
Reviews
-
I followed the directions and i may not have cooked it enough, not what i expected. it wasnt awful but it wasnt great! Next time i may tweak some ingredients. and hopefully next time it will turn out better
