Cream Cheese Pumpkin Pecan Bread

 

It was a cold, rainy morning-- a great baking day and pumpkin was on the menu.  There are so many pumpkin bread recipes out there.  I chose this one because of the addition of cream cheese.  I thought the result would be like a rich, decadent bread with a dense, moist crumb.  It wasn't to be.  Part of that might have been my fault with the addition of whole wheat flour, but really I think it was just a waste of cream cheese.  

In addition to the whole wheat flour, I reduced the sugar slightly and made an adjustment to the salt to account for salted butter.  I also added a touch of coffee, which gives a little more depth to the flavor.  Here's what I used:

1¼ 1 cup granulated sugar 

4 ounces cream cheese, softened 

1/4 cup unsalted butter

2 eggs

1/2 of a 15-oz. can pumpkin puree

1 teaspoon instant coffee

1¾ 1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup white whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

3/8 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

3/16 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease the bottom and 1/2-inch up the sides of a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan; set aside.

In a medium bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat sugar, cream cheese, and butter until well combined. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. On low speed, beat in pumpkin and instant coffee. Sift together 1/2 cup flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices; add to pumpkin mixture and beat until just combined. Beat in remaining flour in two additions, just until moistened. Stir in nuts. Spoon batter into the prepared pan and bake 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool bread in pan on wire rack 10 minutes. Using a narrow metal spatula, loosen sides of bread from pans; remove and cool completely on wire rack.

I was pretty disappointed in this when it first came out.  It was dry, not particularly flavorful, and extremely delicate.  Not the moist pumpkin richness I was hoping for.  It's a good thing I waited to write the post until I'd had it for several days, because it definitely improved.  While it never got any body to it, it did become a lot more moist.  Warmed and slathered with salted butter, it was okay.

Conclusion:  As I mentioned, there are a lot of pumpkin bread recipes out there.  No need to try this one again.

Recipe:  Cream Cheese Pumpkin Pecan Bread via America's Favorite Pumpkin Recipes

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

I don't know why these little cakes are called whoopie pies.  Maybe for the same reason cow patt---   Never mind.  Anyway, whatever they're called, I love them.  Perfect little individual cakes for when you want a treat.

I made these for a Halloween party and they were a big hit.  The only real change I made was to substitute a little whole wheat flour in for the white and an adjustment for salted butter.  For 12 cakes, here's what I used:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature

1 cup packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs room temperature, lightly beaten

1 cup canned pure pumpkin puree

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 1/4 teaspoon salt

1⅔ 1⅓ cups flour

⅓ cup white whole wheat flour

 

Filling

4 ounces cream cheese, chilled

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened

3 tablespoons maple syrup

1 cup powdered sugar

A few pinches salt

Heat oven to 350.° Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In a standing mixer with whisk attachment, mix together butter and brown sugar until smooth. Add eggs, pumpkin puree, spices, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using a spatula, fold in the flour. Using an ice cream-style batter scoop, drop batter by heaping tablespoons, 12 to a sheet and evenly spaced. Bake until springy to the touch, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely. 

 

For the filling, cream together the cream cheese and butter. Add syrup, sugar, salt, and vanilla (see discussion below); mix on low speed until blended, then beat on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Spread the flat side of 12 cakes with the cream cheese frosting. Top each with another cake.

  

I was irritated to find there were some errors in the recipe.  For one, the ingredients called for maple syrup in the filling, but the directions mention vanilla.  So then you have to wonder whether they'd swapped maple syrup in place of vanilla in a standard recipe and forgot to remove it from the directions, or if they'd simply forgotten to include the vanilla in the ingredient list.  It's really up to you whether you want to include it or not; I did not.  

The bigger irritation was that the directions called for using an ice cream scoop with "generous" scoops-- that would give you about four giant cakes.  I initially followed their directions, but of course ran out of batter immediately and then had to start redistributing the batter to get the right number of cakes.  But because the batter contains baking soda, it had started to rise immediately and I deflated some of those air bubbles while I was redistributing the batter.  I don't know what they were thinking. I modified the directions to use the appropriate amount of batter per placement.

Conclusion:  These were delicious!  Very rich and perhaps a bit sweet.  I would be inclined to slightly reduce the sugar in the cake part.  They don't keep too well as the filling soaks into the cake, but that also made them easier to eat-- the cake doesn't squish the filling out with each bite.  And they probably freeze okay. 

Recipe:  Pumpkin Whoopie Pies via PBS Food

Onion and sage rolls

I happened upon an episode of Hairy Bikers, and two of the recipes they made that day appealed to me:  parsnip and apple soup, and these savory rolls.  It's been rainy for days, and one of my new year's resolutions is to cook more.  At the time I was cooking, I did not know there were written recipes available, so I was going off the video of the episode.  They weren't entirely clear in the video of everything they were doing, but nothing left unclear was terribly critical.  Maybe.  (See asterisk.)

The rolls they made had seemed rather small (and didn't use a full loaf's worth of flour), so I made the full recipe, which actually resulted in 8 fairly good-sized, though quite fluffy rolls.  My only known deviations from their recipe was the flour and adding cheese.  Here's what I used:

150ml (0.6 cup) milk
150ml (0.6 cup) water
1½ teaspoon rapid rise yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
400g (2½ cups) bread flour
200g high-protein white whole wheat flour
200g high-protein AP flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter*
1 tablespoon oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, grated or crushed
approximately 12 large sage leaves, finely chopped*
large pinch of black pepper
approximately 1 cup grated pecorino Romano cheese

Heat the milk and water until quite warm; use about 1/4 cup to proof the yeast and sugar.  Once proved, add the remainder of  the liquid, along with the yeast mixture, to the flour and salt.  Knead for about 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic.  Form into a ball; place in a greased bowl and allow to rise, covered, until doubled-- about 1 - 1½ hours.  Meanwhile, heat the butter and oil in a medium frying pan; add the onion and garlic and sweat over low heat for 10 minutes until soft and transparent, but not browned.  Add the sage and pepper and cook for another 2 - 3 minutes.  Set aside to cool.

Punch down the dough; remove from the bowl and flatten out on work surface.  Spread the onion mixture (and cheese, if using) over the dough, then roll up so all the filling is contained.  Knead the filling into the dough until it is evenly distributed, sprinkling with flour where it becomes too wet.  Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces; roll each into a ball.  Arrange the dough balls in a greased baking sheet in a circle with one in the middle and edges touching.  Cover lightly with oiled plastic film and allow to rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 375F (to 400F).  Before baking, brush each roll lightly with milk, then top with a single, small sage leaf.  Bake for about 20 minutes.  Move to a rack to cool.

*Their written recipe calls for "1/2 ounce" of butter (1 tablespoon - I'm sure they used more on the show) and "15 - 20 sage leaves" (probably what I should have used, given the size of my leaves.)

They mixed their dry yeast, salt, sugar, and flour all together, then added the warm liquid.  I decided to proof my yeast first, since I was using less.  The butter and oil measurements weren't given; their pan of onion was liberally oily, but I didn't know the ratio of butter and oil, so I estimated.  (I assume just a small amount of oil is present to prevent the butter from browning.)  The yeast was given as "1 sachet", which is presumably 2¼ teaspoons, though I chose to use a little less.  Their sage leaves were quite large and I suspect I didn't use nearly as much.  They probably had at least 1/3 cup of chopped sage, if not 1/2 cup.  (It was certainly a manly handful.)  I noticed their rolls had probably twice as much green speckled throughout as mine did.  Their oven instructions were for "190C to 200C" (375F - 400F).  I've never seen a recipe with a range for the oven temperature, and both of these are higher than I normally see in a bread recipe.  I don't know why they didn't provide a single temperature.  (He probably couldn't remember the correct temperature at the moment of filming.  The written recipe indicates 200C, which I think would have been better than 190C.)  My oven does not maintain a stable temperature; it was 400F when I was ready to bake, but I tried to cool it down a bit after putting the rolls in and then worked to keep it at 375F.  They looked done at 20 minutes, so I took them out.

I had concerns about the baps being too salty with added cheese, (I used salted butter with the onions, and the dough already tasted a bit salty), but in the end they were okay.  Salty, yes, but not too bad for a savory roll.  (If I used more cheese, I would cut down on the salt elsewhere.)

Conclusion:  Easy enough to make, but I wasn't thrilled with the result.  Surprisingly, they were a bit bland and tasted a little floury.  Something gave them a slightly bitter taste, perhaps the whole wheat flour or the cheese.  They also could have used just another minute or two in the oven-- baking at 400F likely would have been perfect.

Recipe:  Sage and onion tear and share bread via Hairy Bikers (season 1, episode 2 of Best of British)

Apple Walnut Muffins

 

One of my favorite recipes.  These muffins have big bites of tangy apples and crunchy walnuts that scent the kitchen as they bake.  You could change up the recipe to replace the raisins with other fruit, like dried cranberries, or apricots.  I've even thought about adding cheddar cheese.  I did replace most of the white flour with whole wheat, and they're fine either way.

To make eight muffins, here's what I used, with a few modifications:

1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 1/4 cup oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups diced apple, unpeeled (about 1 large)
1/2 1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon molasses
1 cup flour (mix of white with up to 3/4 whole wheat)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup broken walnuts (in large pieces)

In a mixing bowl, add the egg, oil, and vanilla and stir to blend well.  Add the apples, sugar, and molasses and mix thoroughly.  Sift together the flours, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt; add the to apple mixture and mix well.  Add the raisins and walnuts and mix until they are evenly distributed.  Spoon into greased muffin tins.  Bake at 325F for about 25 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.  Serve warm.

Full disclosure:  I made these the moment I got up and, not being a morning person, I made a few mistakes.  First, I dumped the flour in with the apples and had to dig out as much as I could to sift with the other dry ingredients.  (After nearly doing the same with the baking soda and the cinnamon, I had to move the bowl away from my work area until I was ready for it again.)  Then, as I was transcribing the recipe, I realized I used only half the apple amount.  (And yet, they were still delicious.)  I really shouldn't be baking in the morning.  At least not first thing.

Conclusion:  These will continue to be on regular rotation in my house, but I'll be sure to add ALL the apples.  And now that I've thought of it, I'm really anxious to try the cheddar option.

Recipe:  Raw Apple Muffins via The Breakfast Book by Marion Cunningham

November ABC challenge: Persimmon Muffins

 This month's challenge was color.  I'm not sure I achieved it, but I tried.  Persimmons have a deep orange color that definitely warms up the color of the muffins.  The seed envelopes, which are a brighter orange color and showed up well in the raw batter, however, turned darker during baking, so are not visible.  But don't count out the bits of cranberry!

I love these muffins -- I've made them several times.  As I recall, the first time I made them I misread the quantity of persimmon pulp and used twice as much, but otherwise followed the recipe.  The results were dense and rich and chewy and incredibly delicious.  Since then, I have always included extra pulp (until today), but I've tinkered with the rest of the recipe considerably.  I really have to question the amount of sugar and butter in the original and whether I ever followed that instruction.  It's a lot!  Regardless, this is a great recipe no matter how it's done!  One of my favorites.

The recipe calls for 18 muffins, but I made 12.  My changes are in italics and strike out.  Here's what I used:

1 cup persimmon puree (preferably Hachiya)

1 1¹/₂ teaspoon baking soda

12 4 tablespoons salted butter, room temperature

1¼ 1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons molasses 

2 eggs

1¹/₃ cup all-purpose flour (3/4 cup white, remainder whole wheat)

1/2 3/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ginger

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

2 teaspoons lemon juice

Zest of one orange or 1/2 teaspoon orange extract

1 cup walnut pieces

3/4 cup currants dried, sweetened cranberries

Heat oven to 325 degrees; grease muffin tins* on the inside as well as the top edge of each cup.  In a small bowl, mix the persimmon puree with the baking soda; set aside.  In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until mixture is creamy and smooth.  Add eggs and beat well.  Sift together the flours, salt, cinnamon, and ginger.  Add to the butter, along with the persimmon, and beat until well blended.  Beat in the vanilla, almond extract, lemon juice, and zest until combined, then stir in walnuts and cranberries.  Fill each muffin cup and bake 45 minutes, or until a wood pick comes out clean when inserted into the center of a muffin. Remove from the muffin pans and let cool on racks.

*These are very delicate so difficult to remove cleanly. Try using paper or silicone muffin cups. 

I had to use vinegar in place of lemon juice, but that wouldn't have affected anything.  And I didn't have orange zest, so I used 1/2 teaspoon orange extract.  I used two defrosted persimmons that have been in my freezer for two years, unwrapped.  They turned into a liquid pool once they defrosted -- shapeless, deflated lumps of pulp in a sweet syrup.  I used only the pulp, but I lost flavor and sweetness by excluding the juice.  I probably should have added it, since it was original to the fruit, but the pulp was already so wet.

The batter is quite light and fluffy and seems like it would rise into stable, tall muffins, but actually they always come out flat-topped and looking a bit melted.  I overfilled the tins, which created a crispy/chewy ring where it overflowed -- delicious!  This time I had some trouble getting them out.  I had to break a piece of the outer ring off so I could get a knife down and pry them out.

Conclusion:  These are indescribably delicious, especially warm out of the oven.  As prepared, they are plenty sweet, and buttery enough to leave your fingers a little oily.  If made per the original recipe, I think they should probably be served warm with a dollop of vanilla ice cream!

Original recipe:  "Persimmon Muffins" via The Breakfast Book by Marion Cunningham

Pumpkin Swirl Bread

More explorations into pumpkin breads, this one from a magazine I bought last year.  Compared to this yeasted pumpkin bread, it's sweeter because of the swirl center, but otherwise similar in mild flavor.

Here's what I used:

2¼ - 2½ cups all-purpose flour 

1½ cups whole wheat flour 

1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats 

1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar 

1¼ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

3/4 teaspoon salt 

2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast 

3/4 cup water 

1/2 cup canned pumpkin 

1/6 cup canola oil

1/6 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 Granny Smith apple, peeled and grated 

1 egg 

 

Filling 

1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar 

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice 

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened 

In a large bowl, combine one cup all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, oats, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, salt, and yeast.  In a saucepan, stir together water, pumpkin, oil, and applesauce; heat to 120F to 130F.  Add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture; beat with an electric mixer on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.  Add eggs; beat on high 2 minutes.  Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much remaining all-purpose flour to make a firm dough; turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead 6 to 8 minutes to make a smooth and elastic dough; shape into a ball.  Place in a lightly greased bowl, turning to grease surface of dough. Cover with towel; let rise in warm place until double in size (about one hour). 

 

For filling, in a small bowl combine brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice. Set aside.

 

Lightly grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan.  Punch dough down, then turn out onto a lightly floured surface; roll into an 18 x 9-inch rectangle. Spread with 2 tablespoons butter to within 1/2 inch of edges; sprinkle with brown sugar mixture.  Cover with towel; let rise in warm place until doubled in size (about 30 minutes).

 

Preheat oven to 350F.  Bake loaf 50-60 minutes or until bread sounds hollow when lightly tapped.  Cool bread in pan on wire rack 10 minutes, then remove from pan to cool completely.

 

I didn't have applesauce, so I tried shredding the apple and cooking it with the other ingredients, the idea being it would turn into mush in the process.  It didn't exactly fail, but I'd try something different in the future.

Chocolate and pumpkin are always a good combination!

Conclusion:   Not especially pumpkiny, especially after spreading with butter and honey or cinnamon, but still tasty. The filling added just the right amount of sweetness so you didn't need anything more. Could have used a little more salt to counter the sweetness. My only real complaint is that the outside whirl is too dry. Perhaps it was overbaked? Didn't look it, and the sugar that spilled out wasn't burned. 

Recipe: "Pumpkin Swirl Bread" via America’s Favorite Pumpkin Recipes by Centennial Kitchen 

April ABC challenge: Meringue-topped Coffee Cake

 

This month's challenge is coffee. That takes me back to a little place in Charlottesville, Virginia called Sunshine Bakery. They used to have this coffee-flavored cake that was so good! I've never had anything like it before or since, and 30+ years later, I still crave that cake. For one thing, outside of panaderias, I never see coffee-flavored cake. (And trying to look up recipes for one gets you a lot of plain breakfast cakes with streusel topping.) But it also had the most unique texture -- firmer than normal, with really large air holes for a cake, almost like an English muffin. It would probably be considered inferior by a trained pastry chef, but it was delightful. It also had a whipped coffee (perhaps mocha) frosting, not too sweet. Unfortunately, that bakery is long gone, and with it the elusive recipe. Alas.

For this recipe, I halved the original, which called for an 8" x 8" baking pan. I used a pan slightly smaller than an 8" x 4", so the cake was taller, but was done in the same time.  Here's what I used:

1/3 cup milk, warmed
1 tablespoon instant coffee granules
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/8 cup light-brown sugar
1/2 egg plus 1 yolk, beaten
3/4 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 1/16 teaspoon salt

Topping
1 egg white
1/4 cup plus 1/2 teaspoon superfine sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 tablespoon sweetened, shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 325F; grease and line a 7.25" x 3.5" loaf pan. Dissolve coffee granules in milk; cool. In a bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in egg. Fold in flour and cinnamon alternately with coffee-flavored milk. Turn out batter into prepared pan.

To make topping, whisk egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually whisk in 1/4 cup of sugar; spread over batter. In a bowl, mix remaining 1/2 teaspoon of sugar, cinnamon, and coconut; sprinkle over the meringue. Bake 50 to 55 minutes, or until a fine skewer inserted into the center comes out clean and meringue is crisp. Cool in pan 5 minutes, then carefully remove and cool on a wire rack. 

This rose really weirdly -- only on one side. My oven is about 25 degrees hotter from back to front, but it's hard to believe it made that much of a difference across a 4-inch pan! Perhaps it had something to do with how the meringue attached to the pan.  (Was one side greased more than the other?) It also rose a LOT, rising well above the top of the pan, but sunk back down a bit as it cooled. And yet there was no noticeable difference in the crumb from one side to the other. Odd.

This cake was actually was more like a "coffee cake" than a dessert -- mild in flavor and sweetness.  The coffee flavor wasn't detectable, surprisingly -- it tasted more of cinnamon and molasses, even though it contained neither.  The coffee probably added a complexity to the overall flavor. I'd want to at least double the coffee quantity. The meringue was a nice touch, but the coconut topping was unnecessary -- probably more for appearance than anything else. To make this more rich, it could be nicely decadent with a dark chocolate ganache drizzle.

Conclusion:  The cake was very light and fluffy while warm, but firmed up and became more dense and moist the next day. (The recipe directs this to be eaten the same day it's made, probably due to the meringue, but I liked it better the second day and the meringue was fine.) I'd be inclined to leave off the coconut topping mixture entirely and perhaps serve this with a whipped coffee frosting instead of the meringue, particularly in the fall because of its warm spice flavors.

Recipe:  "Meringue-Topped Cake" from A Gourmet's Guide to Coffee & Tea by Leslie Mackley

November ABC challenge: Pumpkin Fruit Bread

This month's challenge was pumpkin. There are a LOT of pumpkin recipes out there to choose from, many of which I've saved to make "one day." To add to the fun, I saw this at the checkout stand and made the spontaneous purchase (setting me back $13, I might add. Seriously?) I even marked a few recipes to try.

Then I remembered I had this little booklet, at least 20 years old, from the experts themselves...

 

I looked through that and found this curious recipe for fruit bread made with yeast, yet prepared more like a quick bread.  So many pumpkin recipes are just iterations of the same three or four recipes -- this was completely different, so I wanted to try it.

I cut the original recipe in half, using the ingredients exactly as the original, but I simplified the preparation.  I hesitated about using cardamom because, although I love it, I find it's wasted when paired with any competing flavors.  I should have followed my instinct, as I couldn't detect it in the final product (and I'm not sure it would have been a good pairing anyway.)  The changes shown in the recipe below (in italics and strikeout) are suggestions for future use.

1¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
2 tablespoons warm water
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup uncooked rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom ginger or cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons orange juice concentrate
3/8 cup (6 tablespoons) chopped dates (and/or cranberries or tart cherries)
3/8 cup golden raisins
3/8 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

Proof the yeast in the water along with 1/2 teaspoon of the honey (or just use sugar). In the main mixing bowl, combine the flours, oats, spice, and salt; set aside. In a small saucepan, combine the rest of the honey, pumpkin, brown sugar, and orange juice concentrate and heat until very warm, but not hot. (It shouldn’t scald your finger.) Add it to the flour mixture, along with the yeast mixture, and mix well. Add the fruits and the nuts and stir to combine. Spoon into a greased loaf pan. (Original recipe calls for an 8 x 4-inch pan.) Cover and let rise for 30-50 minutes, or until doubled. Bake at 325F for 35-40 minutes (original recipe is 50-60 minutes), or until toothpick comes out clean. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack.  Recommended:  serve toasted with a cream cheese spread.

Since this isn't like anything I've ever made before, I'm not sure if my results were what they were supposed to be, but I suspect they were a little off.  The "dough" was actually a thick batter -- very unusual for a yeast bread -- but since the instructions were to "spoon" it into the pan, I expected that.  With all the moisture and the sugar and the fruit, I'm surprised this rose at all.  It did, barely, but didn't puff up like a yeast dough. It retained every dent and peak as when it started out, and with no skin I certainly couldn't do the finger-dent test to see if it was proofed enough.  As it was, I let it rise well over an hour and hoped for some oven spring, but that didn't happen either.

Since I was using a smaller pan (I used a Wilton 4-ounce round baking pan), I wasn't sure about the baking time, and to be honest, now I can't quite remember how long I let it bake.  I think I checked it around 35 minutes and, although it seemed firm and probably would have passed the toothpick test, it felt so heavy and dense that I put it in for another 5 or so.  (I even rapped on the bottom, but I'm never confident about what a "hollow" bread loaf would sound like.)

The final bread appears to have risen enough, but the texture still seems off.  (By appearance more than feel.)  It looks to me as though the dough was too wet, and I don't like the way the oats leave little dry-looking white marks.  (With all that moisture, I'm surprised they didn't just dissolve into the batter.)  I'm thinking maybe adding the oats to the wet ingredients and letting them soak up some of that moisture might help.  Mostly, though, the flavor needs help; there were too many dull, anti-umami flavors.  Everything was earthy:  the pumpkin, the cardamom, the whole wheat, the raisins, the walnuts, and especially the dates!  (Every time I bake with dates, they get a slightly unpleasant taste to them, almost bitter, even though the dates themselves were fine.)  I would use ginger as the spice, or cinnamon (but only if absolutely necessary) and add some tart fruits.  I'd also chop the dates into smaller pieces, about 1/4 inch, so no bite had too much.  I think this would add a nice contrast to the other earthy flavors.

Toasting this bread made all the difference in the world, and adding the cream cheese spread also really improved it.  I just mixed cream cheese with a tiny bit of orange juice concentrate and some sugar, but here's the suggested recipe in the booklet, halved:

Cream Cheese Pumpkin Spread
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1½ tablespoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoon orange zest

Conclusion:  I enjoyed this, but I'm not sure I'd make it again.  I was disappointed at first, but toasted and eaten with the sweetened cream cheese spread, it was very nice, with a crackly crust and a good bite.  It reminded me a lot of this Chocolate Cherry Pecan Bread.  But I would definitely make changes to the ingredients to brighten up the flavor a bit.  As it's an easy bread to make, it's worth trying again for that experiment alone.  This is not a very sweet bread, so it might also be good with a semi-firm cheese.

Recipe:  Oats 'n Fruit Wheat Bread via Libby's Favorite Pumpkin Recipes