This moist, flavorful pumpkin bread makes a great holiday gift, and no one will suspect it’s vegan and oil-free.
Reading other food blogs over the past couple of weeks has made me think a little about how being vegan has influenced my gift-giving. While lots of cooks, vegetarian and non-vegetarian alike, merrily bake and pack up goodies to give as gifts, I’ve become a little hesitant about giving gifts of food.
It’s not that I don’t think that vegan food can be as tasty as non-vegan—I’ve had plenty of people ask me for recipes, not even realizing that the dish in question was vegan. It’s just that being vegan has made me see that we all have different food preferences, restrictions, and needs and that what might be a treat for me could be a disappointing reminder of something they can’t eat to people who have, for instance, diabetes or celiac disease. I’ve been on the receiving end of many gifts of goodies that I don’t eat, and while I’m happy to pass them along to someone who will appreciate them, I would hate to give a gift that resulted in someone else being disappointed.
On the other hand, there’s just something about a homemade gift of food that is so much more personal than anything you can buy. So, when I saw these cute ceramic loaf pans at Michael’s, I decided to put my concerns aside and make little loaves of pumpkin bread, one of my favorite recipes, for my daughter’s teachers and bus driver. I put them into baskets, along with a few Lindt Excellence Dark Chocolate Squares* and some candy canes.
I’m just going to hope that none of the recipients are following low-carb, gluten-free, or sugar-free diets or are allergic to pecans or pumpkin. But I figure that even if they have to pass the edibles along to someone else, at least they’ll have the little loaf pan and basket to enjoy or re-use .
Pumpkin Spice Bread
Ingredients
Wet ingredients:
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar packed
- 1 cup canned pumpkin
- 1/2 cup apple sauce (you can use half canola oil if you want)
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tablespoon Ener-G Egg Replacer mixed well with 4 tablespoons water
Dry ingredients:
- 1 2/3 cups unbleached white flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon powdered ginger
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4-1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly oil 1 regular sized loaf pan or 4 small ( approximately 3 1/2 X 5 1/2-inch) loaf pans or a dozen muffin cups. (Or use silicon pans or cups.)
- Combine the wet ingredients in a medium-sized mixing bowl and blend well. In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Add the liquid mixture to the dry, and stir well. Stir in the nuts, if desired. Pour the batter into the pan(s) and place on the center rack of oven. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean–about 15 minutes for muffins, 35 minutes for small loaf pans, and 60-70 minutes for one large loaf. Allow to cool before removing from pan. Makes 8 servings.
Notes
Nutritional info is approximate.
I’m sorry I don’t have a gluten-free version, but if any of you gluten-free bakers out there have any suggestions, I’d love to give them a try.
* Lindt Excellence chocolate is non-dairy, though made on equipment used to process products containing milk.
Please share:
Cheryl
I made this bread for a cookie exchange. It was sooooo good and a big hit. Thank you so much for keeping up the web site. It is so helpful with my quest to become 100% fat free vegan. It is a work in progress.
Stacy
I eat gluten free and have made this recipe using Cup 4 Cup gluten free flour. It’s fabulous! And seriously, you just sub the Cup4Cup for whatever flour any recipe calls for. No one can tell the difference. One of my daughters is a professional baker and they use Cup4Cup in their bakery.
Stephen Timmons
I notice nutritional info does not list any sugar yet my there is sugar in recipe. Please advise. Recipe looks great.
hillary
Man I just cannot get the large loaf to bake through! I’ve made two attempts, the first pretty much following the directions and baking for 70 min. The second attempt I baked a little higher temp 360, and 80 min, and at that point I turned off the oven but left the bread in there to cool so it would stay hot longer. It’s kind of strange because its like the whole bottom of the bread is what doesn’t get done, about 1 1/2 in up from the bottom through the whole loaf. So sad because the flavor and texture of the part that is done is amazzzinggg Anyone have any tips?
hillary
I think I identified my mistake!!! I was adding 1 CAN (15 oz) of pumpkin, when skimming I didn’t see it says 1 CUP! I made it again, but this time I ran out of PAM so couldn’t make it in a big loaf, used cupcake liners to make muffins and they are 5 stars for sure!!! Thank you!
Susan Voisin
I’m so glad you figured out the problem! I admire how you stuck with the recipe even after it wasn’t successful at first. Thanks for coming back and letting me know.
val Anderson
Hi there I would love to make this but unsure of where to get canned pumpkin – would pumpkin soup suffice. I am in New Zealand
Karle
I made four small loaves of Pumpkin Spice Bread. I taste tested one of them, delicious. The rest are going to my neighbors. Thanks so much for this moist tasty bread recipe. I’m making a large loaf later today.
Cherie
I made this recipe. The ener-g-replacer I dissolved in water as directed but it still leaves little balls , I stirred wet ingredients but could see them throughout the batter so I decided to blend in vitamix. I baked the loaves in little pans and they are a little gooey. I am thinking maybe this was because I blended the wet ingredients. I am not sure if the texture of the ener-g-replacer was normal. Any feedback would be helpful.