It’s Fall and it’s pumpkin season! Fall is my favorite season. What about you? I love everything about it – the fresh crisp air, the smell of wood burning, walking on crunchy leaves, sipping a hot cup of tea with a pair of fluffy slippers, reading a book near the fireplace, and of course having a fall inspired healthy snack made with pumpkin (or apples!).
I am not vegan but I have been many years. I still do enjoy eating vegan, and most of my diet is, but I am not vegan anymore and for many reasons (let’s keep this on another blog post if you’d like!).
This pumpkin bread is vegan and very nutritious. It’s not all vegan food that is healthy guys. It all depends how it’s made, the quality and quantity of ingredients in it, etc. This pumpkin loaf is made with organic, high-quality ingredients and is low in sugar. The sugar that I used is ONLY pure maple syrup, which is natural and contains minerals, and without mentioning that it pairs beautifully with pumpkin flavours.
The bread is vegan so dairy- and egg-free. It’s however not gluten-free as I used organic spelt flour.
So…
What’s in this vegan pumpkin bread?
Spelt flour (it does have gluten but it’s an organic, spelt flour, pumpkin puree, almond milk, maple syrup, coconut oil, flax egg and of courses spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger.
No dairy? No eggs?
No. Not in this recipe. I honestly don’t mind about eggs as they are are a very nutritious and complete food but dairy I don’t love, I prefer to bake without it. To replace dairy, I used almond milk (and apple cider vinegar) instead of buttermilk, and coconut oil instead of butter. To replace the egg, I made a flax “egg”.
How to make a flax egg?
To replace an egg, you use 1 tablespoon of ground flax seeds (or chia seeds!) and you mix it with 2 1/2 tablespoons of water. You stir occasionally and let it sit for 10-15 minutes the time the seeds absorb the water and makes a gel. Then, it’s ready to add to the batter. Don’t overuse flax eggs in recipes as it can make the baked good heavy and dense.
How to make pumpkin puree?
If you rather make your own pumpkin puree, which I highly recommend as it’s more nutritious and flavourful, know that it’s pretty easy to make. First, preheat your oven to 400F. Then, rinse and cut a small pumpkin in half (don’t use the large pumpkins to make puree as the flesh is just not the same – use the small ones) and scoop out seeds and stringy flesh, lightly season with salt (although it’s optional) and place cut-side-down onto a baking sheet. Roast 40-45 minutes or until a fork pierce easily right though. Remove pumpkins from oven, allow to cool, scoop out fresh, add in your food processor (or blender) and blend until smooth. Easy!
If you rather buy it, I like the brand Farmer’s Market, which is organic, but any pumpkin puree would work.
If you guys like pumpkin recipes, you may also like:
Vegan Pumpkin Bread
Ingredients
- 1 flax egg (1 tablespoon ground flax seeds + 2 1/2 tablespoons water)
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- ½ cup almond milk
- ½ cup maple syrup
- ½ cup coconut oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 ¾ cup spelt flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon allspice
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Pumpkin seeds, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Lightly oil a loaf pan with coconut oil and line it with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Make the flax egg: Combine ground flax seeds and water in a small bowl. Stir and set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine pumpkin puree, almond milk, maple syrup, coconut oil, vanilla and apple cider vinegar.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and salt. Stir to combine.
- Add the flax egg in the wet mixture and stir again.
- Pour the wet mixture into the dry and stir to combine.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with pumpkin seeds if desired.
- Bake for 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
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