I’m pretty sure you are all familiar with #allthingspumpkin, right??? School is back in session and out come all the pumpkin recipes! Well, that’s true for my house anyway. I attempted a Pumpkin Cheesecake and had leftover pumpkin so Pumpkin Bread happened the very next morning!
Let’s be honest – we can all agree that pumpkin is a healthy squash but we end up putting it in our desserts and taking it down a notch in terms of health. In my opinion….. if you’re going to make a dessert, why not add a healthy ingredient to take the nutrition up a notch in a dessert! Glass 1/2 full, right???? (Are we all on the same page?) I do tend to add it in many other foods, even drinks around this time of year. One being my chili. I often swap out the tomato sauce that the recipe calls for and add pumpkin. I will also add a dollop to my coffee, along with full fat coconut milk, pumpkin pie spice and a dab of pure maple syrup – whip it up with an immersion blender and you’ve got a great version of your local coffee house’s Pumpkin Latte!
So how does this big ol’ orange squash help you out nutritonally? Well, first of all – it’s a low calorie food and has no saturated fats or cholesterol BUT is rich in fiber, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. It’s also contains zea-xanthin which is a natural antioxidant which has helps filter UV rays. And let’s not forget about pumpkin seeds! The seeds are a great source dietary fiber and mono-unsaturated fatty acids, which are good for heart health. AND the seeds are an excellent source of health promoting amino acid tryptophan. Tryptophan is converted to GABA (an amino acid which acts as a neurotransmitter in the central nervous system) in the brain.
So while I think that we need to keep these treats to a minimum, I like that using pumpkin in these occasional treats will offer some health benefits. I’m thinking we should be adding pumpkin to all of our recipes all year long, right??
Without further ado, I will let you have at the recipe! Have fun with it 🙂
- 1 1/2 cups almond flour
- 1 cup date sugar (coconut sugar works too)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup canned pumpkin
- 8 tbsp melted grassfed butter or ghee
- 2 lg eggs
- 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Line a bread pan with parchment paper (I use a dab of coconut oil to keep parchment paper in place)
- Mix all dry and wet ingredients separately (whisk eggs before adding to wet ingredients), except pecans.
- Combine the wet and dry and add in pecans. Mix well & pour into lined bread pan.
- Bake for 45-55 minutes.
- Cool on rack -- it's best to let cool as much as possible before slicing into! It's hard, I know!
