It's a glorious fall morning---the kind that calls for something warm and spicy from the oven. I've had such success with this grain-free banana bread, I wanted to try the recipe with pumpkin so I could indulge during the season without guilt. Bananas have a natural sweetness that pumpkin doesn't have, so I did add some sugar to the recipe (I was out of erythritol) and dried fruit. (I kept the dried fruit minimal in case I didn't like it.)
For round one, here's what I used:
2 cups almond flour
1/3 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon pre-ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 tablespoon molasses
4 large eggs
1/4 cup melted butter/ghee (combined)
1/3 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup sweetened, dried cranberries
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease an 8.5 x 4.5 loaf pan. Combine dry ingredients in a medium-sized bowl and whisk together until is well mixed and there are no lumps. Add the wet ingredients and stir until combined. Add the dried fruit and combine. Pour into loaf pan and smooth the top. Bake for about 45-55 minutes. (Bread is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.) Remove loaf from oven, let it cool in the pan for a few minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling. Store in the refrigerator.
My 8.5 x 4.5 loaf pan is still in storage, so I used a 9x5, which really was too large. But even though the loaf was thinner, it was underdone, heavy and dense. I baked it for 50 minutes, but it needed another 5-10 minutes. I could see that after about 10 minutes out of the oven, as it sunk in the pan. Otherwise, the flavor was good. Moderately pumpkiny, mildly sweet, good spice level, could have used a little more salt (I see I made that observation in the original recipe and had increased it).... I like the raisins, but I'm not completely sold on the cranberries. I've had other pumpkin items turn out heavy and dense; I wonder if cooking down the pumpkin to evaporate some of the liquid would help. (I wonder if Libby's has started thinning their pumpkin puree, because this never used to be a problem.)
Conclusion: Not bad for a first try. I need to find that proper pan size and make a few adjustments. It will be reducing the moisture of the pumpkin puree that will be the trickiest. I'm also wondering if any oil is needed in this recipe at all, since there's so much in the almond flour already.
