Friday, October 21, 2011

Grain-free Unsweetened Primal Pumpkin Bread.


One of the cool things about Blogger is that I can see what people are searching for on my blog. These past few weeks one of the most popular searches involved PUMPKIN! Must be that time of year! Which makes the timing of this post perfect :)


This past Sunday night I was feeling antsy, and I quickly diagnosed myself specifically with baking antsy. There's really only one remedy for baking antsy and that's... baking!

Baking antsy: a phenomenon in which an individual must bake something immediately to release creative juices and simultaneously make a delicious product

Can you see the flecks of cinnamon and nutmeg?

Have you experienced this before? Fortunately for those in my house, this is not an entirely rare occurrence for me, but on the other hand it's not grossly common either (both of which are probably good ;). One reason why I enjoy cooking so much is the creative aspect. Going to the kitchen, pulling out the mixing bowls and getting something into action and watching to see the turn out is fun. Blogging about it is like sharing the fun, which allows YOU to bake the fun later. What a happy way of viewing baking!


Grain-free Unsweetened Primal Pumpkin Bread.
   makes one medium loaf pan (~4x8)

    1 cup  blanched almond flour
    1/2 cup  organic coconut flour
    3 happy eggs - mine were large
    1/2 cup  coconut oil - mine was spreadable soft, soften on the stove top if your's is rock solid
    1 1/2 cups  pumpkin puree
    1 tsp  baking soda
    1/2 tsp  sea salt
    1 Tbsp  raw apple cider vinegar
    1 tsp  ground nutmeg
    1 Tbsp  cinnamon
    2 tsp  vanilla
    20 drops  clear stevia
    5 drops  vanilla stevia
    Water as needed - probably about 1 cup
    Coconut and almonds, for topping, optional


To make your unsweetened pumpkin bread:
    1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees Farenheit. My oven in my apartment is NOT convection (at least, I think so since there isn't a blower).
    2.  In a large bowl, add almond and coconut flours, baking soda, sea salt, cinnamon and nutmeg, whisking to combine.
    3.  In the center of the bowl, add eggs, coconut oil, pumpkin puree, apple cider vinegar and stevia, mixing with a wooden spoon or spatula. Mixture will have a thick "pate" like consistency.
    4.  Add water to batter to make more fluid. Batter should appear like cake batter, not too runny but not too stiff. Remember coconut flour likes moisture, but too much will affect the action of the leavening agents and prohibit adequate rising height from being acheived.
    5.  Pour the silky pumpkin batter into a medium sized (this is key) glass loaf pan. DON'T forget to GREASE the sides using either coconut oil, butter or olive oil. This time I used olive oil. Pay special attention to the bottom of the pan.
    6.  Smooth out the top, and if desired sprinkle finely shredded coconut and push in some almonds along the top. Bake in oven for 30 minutes or until top begins to brown. Check for doneness with a cake pick. Return to oven with a foil tent for a remaining 10-20 minutes until middle is well cooked. Keep an eye on it, overcooked bread is hard to enjoy and undercooked bread is just soggy!


Overall, I was very pleased with this recipe... how it rose, the texture and mouthfeel of the bread, the color and appearance. The first recipe came out a little on the salty side, so I've decreased the amount of salt here. Next time if I have some molasses on hand, I might add a tablespoon of that; I also want to add some ginger and allspice, but didn't have any in my pantry.

Look at the texture!

I am pleased to finally present recipe for us grain-free individuals who want to watch our sugar intake!

12 comments:

Samantha Nicole said...

Mmmmm looks delicious!! I have been craving all things pumpkin lately so this recipe is perfect! Is there a brand of almond flour you recommend?

Eirik said...

Those pieces of bread looks delicious! I'm impressed by how you manage to get them looking like bread made from grains. Every time I make either coconut or almond bread, they're not as "bread looking" as this. I'll have to try this recipe.

Pure2raw twins said...

wow that bread looks great!!!love that it is grain free and low in sugar!!! YUM

Archer said...

I LOVE seeing unsweetened recipes, by the way. Sometimes I think I'm the only one who eats so, unsweetened! :) Thanks for the recipe.

Kelsey Ann said...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Maryanne MA said...

That looks great. Question: anything I can use instead of stevia? I've tried different brands, & liquid vs. granules, etc., and I can't find one that doesn't leave a yucky aftertaste in my mouth. I've tried to just suck it up and get used to it, but that didn't work either. Maybe I'll try it with good maple syrup - I just don't know what amount to use, since the dry ingredients then have to be adjusted.

Meagan said...

@ Maryanne - If you don't like stevia, leave it out. The finished product will be less sweet. In this bread, which is not sweet at all to begin with, leaving it out may not even matter. I had problems initially with off tasting stevia too, but I have since found SweetLeaf brand. They have the best quality stevia on the market and since then I've had no problems. You could add more maple syrup if you want a sweeter bread but then I would add more coconut flour to the mix. That might throw off the delicate balance of coconut flour to wet ingredients, however, but you're welcome to try it and see how it goes! If you're so adverse to the stevia idea, and if I were you I would just leave it out. If you're worried about the sweetnesss factor throw in a handleful or two of chocolate chips :) Hope this helps!

Anonymous said...

can this be made without the almond flour?? I can't have any nuts, but coconut flour is THE only flour I can have right now. Wondering if it would be okay to double up on that flour. would love to know your thoughts. Thanks!

Meagan said...

I would not sub coconut flour for almond flour in this recipe. It will not turn out the same. Coconut flour requires lots of eggs and fat. Adding more eggs or coconut oil to the recipe to facilitate this would not make bread that is anywhere near this recipe. Try searching for other coconut flour recipes instead. Or you could try subbing in a type of rice flour if you tolerate that, but I don't recommend it because of blood sugar issues since rice is high on the GI.

Anonymous said...

Saw this on the Thanksgivivng roundup , made it instantly and am eating it now!! Yummy!!!

Anonymous said...

I just tried this recipe and made a couple adjustments - I didn't have any vinegar around, so I subbed honey for the acid to help the baking soda rise, and added some extra spices. The bread came out REALLY moist - after baking it for an hour and half I'm done (and it's not - still totally soggy and wet in the center). I only added 3/4 cup of water to the get final texture - what did I do wrong?
Thanks :)

Meagan said...

Anon - You changed the recipe, so what you did just didn't work. Follow the recipe and it will come out fine.