Pumpkin Breads

October means pumpkin season! I first discovered pumpkin bread at a grocery store near my college. It was delicious and I looked into making it myself. Always tasty, I eventually looked into reducing the fat and sugar content. No surprise that it still turns out moist and delicious. Now with M, I've looked into a gluten-free version. It turned out a bit ugly (dry on top, not risen as high) but just as moist and delicious on the inside. How can you go wrong with cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves? 

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bread
I forgot to take a picture of this. As noted, it wasn't the prettiest, but it tasted good!

• 1 c rice flour
• 1/4 c millet flour
• 1/4 c starch (potato, tapioca, or corn)
• 1 t soda
• 3/4 t salt
• 1/2 t xanthan gum
• 1/4 c butter (1/2 stick), melted
• 2/3 c sugar (brown and white mix)
• 1/4 c applesauce
• 1 1/4 c pumpkin
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 c orange juice
• 1/2 c raisins

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 9x5 bread pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flours to xanthan gum).
3. In a separate bowl, combine the butter, sugar, applesauce, pumpkin, eggs and orange juice.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until well blended. 
5. Pour into pan and bake for 1 hour.
6. Let cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan. Allow to cool further before slicing. 

Reduced-Fat Pumpkin Bread
"Reduced fat" always sounds like something awful - like they replaced the fat with margarine or just got rid of taste altogether. Don't let my title for this bread fool you. It's just as moist and delicious as typical recipes, just with reduced butter and sugar. 
12/25/12 made this as muffins, but didn't have enough raisins so filled out with craisins. prefer raisins. also used canola oil instead of butter. next time try chocolate chips.

• 1.5 c flour
• 1 1/4 t soda
• 1 t salt
• 1 t cinnamon
• 1/2 t nutmeg
• 1/4 t ginger
• 1 1/4 c pumpkin puree
• 2/3 c brown sugar, lightly scooped
• 1/2 c yogurt (or 1/2 c milk + 1/2 t lemon juice)
• 1 egg
• 2 T butter, melted
• 1/2 cup raisins

1. Mix dry ingredients (up to ginger) in a large bowl. 
2. Mix remaining (wet) ingredients in a medium bowl. 
3. Mix wet into dry, stirring just until flour is moistened. 
4. Pour into 8x4 or 9x5 greased bread pan. Bake at 350 F/175 C for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until done.

Traditional Pumpkin Bread

Much higher in oil and sugar. Compare to above recipe - gives idea of how much ingredients can be bumped up.

• 3.5 c flour
• 2 t soda
• 1.5 c light brown sugar
• 1.5 c sugar
• 1.5 t salt
• 1/2 t nutmeg
• 1 t cinnamon
• 1/2 t cloves (optional)
• 1 c oil
• 2/3 c water
• 4 eggs
• 2 c pumpkin (one can)
• 1 c raisins
• 1 c nuts

1. Mix everything thoroughly.
2. Bake at 375F for about an hour, using two 9x5 bread pans..

Variations

• Try different gf flours: instead of millet flour use sorghum flour, brown rice flour, oat flour or whatever you have on hand.
• Instead of all white flour, substitute half a cup of whole-wheat flour
• If you don't have applesauce, use all butter. If you don't want as much butter, substitute applesauce. If you don't have butter, use oil.
• Add walnuts or other chopped nuts.
• As with any quick bread, bake in muffin form - this reduces the baking time significantly.
• Vary the spices - try more cloves instead of nutmeg or the ginger. Go with the taste you like!