Baking Assignment

GF Pumpkin Bread

It's Halloween! Of course that means pumpkin. But if there must be a whole batch of baked something in my kitchen for a while, I want it to be something nutritious. And although not everyone will agree, for me that means low sugar, whole foods, and no grains.

Because I eat this way, I bake rarely, and I'm also wary. I've produced some strange and unexpected results from some very confident-sounding grain-free experts. Still, I could never have survived before the age of Internet searches and food blogs, and I have to thank Wellness Mama for creating an extra simple recipe I could trust enough to try (even if she did leave out the salt).

GF Pumpkin Bread (or muffins)

Prep: 10 mins
Bake: 25 mins
Yield: 9 pieces/6 muffins

Ingredients

• 5 Eggs 
• 1 cup pumpkin puree 
• 1/2 cup coconut flour 
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional) 
• 1/4 cup honey 
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, softened 
• 1 tsp baking soda 
• 1 tsp vanilla 
• 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon 
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg 
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves 
• 1/4 tsp salt

Method

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Breaking the eggs into a separate 

bowl first keeps stray shell

pieces from getting lost.

Place all ingredients except chopped nuts (if using) in a medium-sized bowl.

Using an immersion blender, mix until smooth and well incorporated.

Mix in the chopped nuts, if using. Batter will be thick.

Spread in a greased 8 by 8 baking dish (or greased or lined muffin tins).

Bake for at least 25 minutes (or about 20 minutes for muffins), until set in the middle. The color will only change slightly.

Allow to cool completely before cutting.



Considering all the powdery white substances I've purged from my kitchen, I should mention that leaveners remain essential; and this recipe is no exception.

Leaveners -- substances that produce carbon dioxide gas in doughs and batters -- make the final product light and tender. They may be either live yeast cells or purified chemicals, such as baking powder and soda.

In this recipe, combining my ingredients incorporated air into the batter. The baking soda enlarged the already present air bubbles to make the batter less dense, which is especially important when you're baking grain-free and you want a final product that's not alarmingly heavy or oily.

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