Simply Nourishing

Perfect Pumpkin Bread

Welcome to the first edition of Simply Nourishing! I’m excited to join the bloggin’ team here at OC Family to share with you my passion for healthy whole food cooking! And what better time of year than the Fall to share delicious and wholesome real food recipes.

When it comes to fall, pumpkin is definitely one of our favorite fall flavors! That’s why we’re just nuts about this easy whole grain recipe, which captures the moist, delicious flavor of pumpkin, while providing a good amount of nutrients from healthy whole food ingredients.

Following a Real Food Lifestyle is all about enjoying natural whole food ingredients rather than refined or processed foods such as refined flours, sugars and other highly processed ingredients.

By using all-natural, unrefined sweeteners combined with whole grains (or healthy GF flours) and other whole food ingredients, you can achieve a delicious baked good, while adding a significant boost of nutrition.

If you’d like to learn the secret to whole food baking, please join me for my Healthy Holiday Baking class at Whole Foods Market, Laguna Niguel on October 30. I’ll be sharing my tips for using healthy all-natural sweeteners to create delicious and nutritious holiday baked goods that your friends and family will love!

Perfect Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients:

2 cups organic whole spelt flour (or organic whole wheat flour)
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
3/4 cup organic pumpkin puree
2 tbsp butter, melted
2 large eggs
1/2 cup filtered water
1/2 cup plain organic whole milk yogurt
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup organic raisins
1/3 cup chopped crispy walnut pieces

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil a 9×5-inch loaf pan. (Non-stick Tip: Coconut oil works great in keeping bread from sticking to the pan, but you can also use olive oil or butter.)

2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt.

3. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, combine the pumpkin puree and melted butter. Then, mix in the eggs, water, yogurt, maple syrup and vanilla, until well blended.

4. Add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and blend until combined. Next, using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the raisins and nuts.

5. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan making sure to leave at least one-inch from top of batter to top of pan to allow room for bread to rise during bake time.

6. Bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees. Then, lower oven temp to 325 degrees and continue baking for an additional 20 minutes, until bread is a rich brown color and a knife inserted in the center comes out fairly clean. (It should have a smudged look to it, but not thick batter attached to it.)

7. Remove from oven and allow to cool for at least 30 minutes in the pan.

8. Using a knife, gently loosen the bread from the sides of the loaf pan and place a large plate over the top of the pan. Then, invert it to turn bread out upside down onto the plate. Then simply use your hands to gently lift the bread and turn it right side up onto the plate. Allow it to finish cooling before slicing, if you can wait that long. Enjoy!

Recipe Variation: For an extra sweet treat, keep the walnuts, but substitute the raisins with fair-trade 65% or higher dark chocolate chips to create a moist and decadent Chocolatey-Pumpkin Bread. Yum! Also, if you enjoy the traditional practice of soaking your grains for optional nutrition, please check out my Nuts-for-Pumpkin Bread recipe for details.

Happy Fall! Blessings, Kelly at The Nourishing Home

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