Whenever I bake anything that calls for pumpkin I think of Thanksgiving and Christmas. I do a lot of baking around that time of year and I usually default to pumpkin because I love it so much. Over the weekend my house smelled like Thanksgiving–full of Moroccan cinnamon, nutmeg and pumpkin. I loved it!
It was a rainy weekend with splashes of sunshine and blue skies mixed with hail and downpour. The kind of weather that makes you want to stay inside where it’s warm and dry. So that’s what I did. I did some baking for my man:
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Despite my last terrible failure with gluten-free baking (it was so bad I didn’t even share the recipe on the blog), I decided to give it another try. It took me a long time to find a gluten-free recipe for pumpkin bread that didn’t have a bunch of odd ingredients.
The recipe called for almond flour but I had brown rice flour. I’m still not sure if all the gluten-free flours are interchangeable but it seemed to work…I used 1/4 cup of maple syrup and 1/4 of a cup of Agave Nectar. I also didn’t have cloves so I used nutmeg. Who knows if that was an okay substitute but it tasted great!
It took no time at all to throw it all together. The recipe said to bake it for 45 minutes. It took mine 40 minutes to be all the way cooked and honestly, I probably could have checked it at 35 minutes and it might have been done. (I’d also added a handful of chocolate chips and a few crushed pecans.)
It was a little dry but not so dry that it was awful or anything. The flavor was good, the texture was ok…I’m still not used to the way gluten-free things taste. The consistency in this was pretty close to regular pumpkin bread, just not light and fluffy. It was denser.
You can see some of the chocolate chips and a few pieces of the pecans. It was a really good addition. Honestly, I think the bread would be a bit boring had I not added some “fun” things. 🙂 A few days later when we had a piece it was a little dry but I heated it up in the microwave and that did the trick. Michael also tried it with cream cheese slathered on it and said that was awesome.
For dessert I had a piece of the pumpkin bread and a scoop of butter pecan ice cream. It went well with the ice cream!
You know you want a piece! So even though I want to try making the bread recipe again with applesauce to see if it makes it moister, I think this recipe is a keeper in my gluten-free recipe rotation!
QUESTION: How do I moisten up this bread?
Marc
I’m not going to pretend to be an expert, but based on the ingredients listed you may have overlooked oil or shortening. That may have made them more moist, maybe not.
Lisa Eirene
You could be right. Maybe adding a little oil will do the trick.
Biz
I add applesauce to my baked breads – that seems to help keep them moist. Looks delish too – and I agree, the “fun” things kick it up a notch!
Brian @ New Me and You
I don’t have any problems with gluten but pumpkin bread? Oh, behave! I have to make this, which means I have to ask someone to make it for me but this looks really good. Pumpkin is one of my favorite flavors and I like that this doesn’t go easy on the spices. The only problem and it’s not really a problem is that this is the quintessential fall dessert. With everything blooming I have too much cognitive dissonance. Oh well and I agree, I think applesauce would moisten it up pretty well.
Lisa Eirene
I don’t care if it’s a fall dessert! I make pumpkin things year round. 😀
I think applesauce is the way to go. I will try that next time. I also added a little more of the spices than the recipe called for. 🙂
Lori
I think it needs fat. Almond flour is almost all fat, so that helps keep it moist. Rice flours are very dry flours and generally are used in a blend with others to help give lift. GF flours are not really interchangeable with each other. Here is a conversion chart that you can look at.
http://www.gygi.com/blog/2012/07/20/gluten-free-baking-the-conversion-chart/
You probably could just go with a GF flour blend like Pamela’s or Bob’s Red Mill and use that in place of wheat flour. They have the ratio of the different flours all done for you.
Lisa Eirene
Thank you for the explanation on the GF flours!! I will probably go to Trader Joe’s or Bob’s this weekend.
Matt @ The Athlete's Plate
Mmm yes please!
Trevor
I love anything pumpkin! And that actually sounds pretty damn good to me. I’d add the applesauce and raisins. And I’d stick with the almond flour. Or maybe a mixture if the 100% almond loaf was too dense.
Thanks for sharing the recipe. I’ll keep it in mind next time I’m avoiding gluten.
Cheers!
p.s. Does your man know how damn lucky he is that his woman is so willing to bake for him? And to roast the pumpkin herself no less? That’s love.
Lisa Eirene
To be fair, I used canned pumpkin. 🙂 But I have roasted it before.
Robyn
I love anything with pumpkin too. It totally reminds me of fall weather, and we have been having a lot of snow here in Minnesota so pumpkin bread would be the perfect warm baked treat for me this weekend …unless it magically turns spring here which I really hope it does, thanks for sharing this yummy sounding recipe
Lisa Eirene
Pumpkin makes bad weather feel better somehow. 🙂
K @ Finding a skinnier me
That looks so yummy! I agree with the above comments, applesauce might help moisten it up. I love to bake so this is a must try recipe!
Lisa Eirene
I’m convinced! Applesauce seems like a great addition. How much would you add?
Beth
Totally going to try this out!!!
Lisa Eirene
Let me know what you think of it.
Miz
so interesting!! after 20 years GF I still have yet to try the breads…
Lisa Eirene
Really?!?!?!
Diane, fit to the finish
Another vote for applesauce here! I have a recipe for applesauce muffins that the family loves, loves, loves.
Lisa Eirene
YUM applesauce muffins sound divine.