The Simplest Pumpkin Bread

by Magdalena Zmudzinska on October 22, 2022

This fall, I decided to prepare a new pumpkin bread recipe. It's just how I imagined it, moist, light and aromatic. This pumpkin bread is easy to prepare since I love simplicity in the kitchen. It is dairy-free, egg-free, and plant-based. The bread is delicious straight out of the oven as soon as it cools down :) Even better the following day.



I let out a chuckle as my son sneezed, and all the flour he was sifting rises like a snowy cloud. “Look, Mom. When the flour settles, it looks like our kitchen has a snowy finish.” He says as he brushes white speckles off his inky black hoodie. My daughter giggles as she glances at the mess he made. The timer rings to indicate that the pumpkin is fully baked. As I open the oven, a gentle, warm, pumpkin scent curls under my nose causing my lips to twist into a grin. Oh, how I love pumpkins.

Sliding my mittens onto my hands, I reach into the oven and take the baking dish of pumpkins out and place them on the counter. “Mom! I’m finished sifting through the flour.” My son exclaims. “Great!” I say, taking the bowl of flour from him. After my daughter mixed in the dry ingredients, we took a break to let the pumpkin cool down.

As we sit around our coffee table, I take out our Polish scrabble board. We have some laughs at my children's attempt on putting together Polish words. My daughter makes us some hibiscus tea that she pours into mugs. I curl my fingers around the mug as she hands it to me and watches as the ruby liquid swirls inside.

As the pumpkin was cooling, we mixed everything together, and my daughter pours the dough into our classic cobalt loaf pan. We insert it in the oven, and for a few minutes, we all huddle in and watch the loaf bake. My daughter's hair tickles my cheek, so I tuck it behind her ear. This is what I love most about all this. Spending time with them. Enjoying the little things in life.

 

Pumpkin bread

Dry ingredients:
1 ¾ cup light spelt flour (or wheat flour)
¾ cup coconut sugar
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp ginger powder
1 tsp ground Ceylon cinnamon
1 tsp orange zest (optional)
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ tsp ground cardamon
1/8 tsp Himalayan salt

Wet ingredients:
1 cup pumpkin puree - see note*
1/3 cup of freshly squeezed orange juice
½ cup extra virgin olive oil

Instruction:
1. Set the oven to 400F.
2. Prepare the 10 x 5-inch loaf pan by lining it with parchment paper.
3. Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
4. In another smaller bowl, mix all the wet ingredients before pouring them into the large bowl with the dry ingredients. Mix everything with a wooden spoon.
5. Once mixed, transfer everything into the loaf pan and bake for about 45 min. To check if the bread is fully baked, insert a wooden stick into the very middle of the bread. As soon as the stick is dry after taking it out, the bread is fully baked.

6. Once the bread is ready, take it out of the oven and leave it out to cool.



When it’s finally cooled, there's nothing left but to enjoy it with a cup of coffee or your favourite tea :)

Notes:

• My 1 cup = 240 ml
• Making the puree is a really easy task which is why I do it myself. The recipe and instructions are here.
• For this recipe, I use butternut squash which is perfect because it brings out the sweetness while baking, thanks to which I can add less sugar. It's also lighter than other pumpkins, so it allows the bread to grow.
• I usually bake the squash the night before or in the very morning, so it has time to cool off before I turn it into puree.
• I personally enjoy this bread even better the next day as it gets extra moisture. To make eating the bread the next day even possible, I need to bake two portions :)
• I highly recommend using organic products for this recipe.

All the best!

Magda

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