Spiced Pumpkin Gingerbread

October 8, 2014 Kathleen Henry

This bread! Well, technically it's more like a gooey dessert loaf. Is that a category? This gooey dessert loaf...will make...your house...smell like heaven.

If I was a heaven-believing type of person (I'm not, with the grotesque exception of a doggy heaven), I know it would smell like this bread baking. It's like if Thanksgiving and Christmas were on the same day. That's what it smells like.

Like earthy pumpkin, zesty ginger, sweet molasses, and holiday spices. It's amazing what they can do aromatically when married together and heated.

Spiced Pumpkin Gingerbread — Produce On Parade - This gooey dessert bread is the essence of #Thanksgiving and Christmas combined. Heavenly winter #gingerbread is scented with autumnal spices and moistened with #pumpkin. Bits of candied ginger throug…

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Spiced Pumpkin Gingerbread

by Katie @ Produce On Parade October-8-2014

This gooey dessert bread is the essence of Thanksgiving and Christmas combined. Heavenly winter gingerbread is scented with autumnal spices and moistened with pumpkin. Bits of candied ginger throughout lend a spicy bite. NOTES: Feel free to use 2 cups all-purpose flour if you like. Be sure to let the bread rest, for it will need to settle.

Ingredients

2 Tbsp. ground flax seed
1/4 cup cold water
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat white flour
½ tsp. kosher salt
2 tsp. baking soda
4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp. ground cardamom
1 15 oz. can of canned pumpkin
1 Tbsp. olive oil
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup molasses
¼ cup candied ginger, minced

Instructions

In a small bowl, whisk together the ground flax and cold water. Allow to rest until ready to use.In a large bowl, whisk together the flours through and including the cardamom. In a medium bowl, combine the pumpkin through and including the molasses, as well as the flax mixture.Preheat the oven to 350 F. Now, gently stir the wet ingredients into the dry until just combined. Stir in the candied ginger. Do not over mix. Coat a bread pan with a nonstick cooking spray and pour in the batter. Bake at 350 F for 60 minutes or until set. Allow to rest in the pan on a cooling rack for 10 minutes then remove from pan and allow to cool another 10 minutes.

Details

Prep time: 30 mins Cook time: 1 hour Total time: 1 hour 30 mins Yield: 1 loaf of bread

Dutch Word of The Day

My bread is similar to a Dutch gingerbread called "peperkoek" (pay-per-cooik) or "pepper cake", except that peperkoek usually uses rye flour! Pretty cool huh?

Good Deed of The Day

This is one of the best articles I've read in a long time. Originally published in Cosmologics, the magazine of Science, Religion, and Culture program at the Harvard Divinity School. It's titled, Why Atheists Should be Vegans, and you need to read it.

Rum Spiced Soft Pumpkin Muffins

January 2, 2014 Kathleen Henry

Okay, I have two pretty neat and equally exciting things to share today. Number one, we have over 500 likes on Facebook! Must be all those Alaskan pics. Cool beans, huh? Sometimes it's fun to get excited about such little things. Number two, Swiftype is finally working again! Hurray! Swiftype populates the search bar, which I love. So if you type in "muffins" it will population a list of all my muffin recipes. Or if you type in "spinach" it will populate a list of all my recipes including spinach! I was driven utterly bonkers while it wasn't working. So, anyways, both are...preh-tee, preh-tee, preh-TEE exciting. Happy New Years! I must confess; New Years is my absolute least favorite holiday. Truly, it's the worst. What do I hate more than rambunctious parties? Fireworks. I'm like a dog in that regard, I suppose. Bailey hates them as well. We have to make him a bomb shelter in tub. Plus, staying up until midnight!? Not for this ol' gal. Yes, I'm the The Grinch Whole Stole...New Years. This is not to dispute the fact that I did, however, have a lovely New Years eve.

Todd and I went to a low-key, sit-around-table and talk with the lights low while soft music plays in the background type of party. There may have been vegan spring rolls and oreos and vegan caramel corn involved. I would like to take a moment to thank that special person in my life who made all that possible! Thank you! And I didn't even have to drink or stay up until midnight, either. Man, what a party pooper! We were the youngest there and the first to leave. In bed by 11:30pm, it was all pretty pathetic of us to be honest. Two childless, mid-twenty somethings should definitely be able to do better than that. I'll put it on the list of New Years resolutions. Just kidding...I don't do those...

Any who, to this geriatric little shindig, I brought some fabulous pumpkin muffins! I whipped them right up after work, all in a snap and let me tell you , they are absolutely one of the best muffins I've ever had, truly.

These guys are so incredibly soft and borderline gooey. They almost melt in your mouth! You may think they need a little more time in the oven, but they're supposed to be very moist. With just a whisper of rum, and deliciously spiced these fluffy, sweet muffins are kindred to a perfect pumpkin pie and will be a total hit at any party.

Rum Spiced Soft Pumpkin Muffins

Makes 12

Dry:
1 3/4 cup whole wheat white flour
1 cup vegan sugar (I like Zulka)
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground allspice
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
Wet:
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1/2 cup cartoned coconut milk
1/2 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp. molasses
2 Tbsp. spiced dark rum (optional)
1 tsp. vanilla extract

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.

In a medium bowl, combine the wet ingredients. Do you adore my sweet little measuring spoons? I love them!

Preheat the oven to 400 F and coat a regular muffin pan with a nonstick cooking spray.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. I got The Flavor Bible for Christmas and pretty much died on the spot.

Divide batter evenly in the muffin pan and bake at 400 F for about 20 minutes. The edges should begin brown slightly and the top of the muffin should bounce back when gently poked with a finger.

Allow to cool for a few minutes in the pan, before popping them out. My god! Look how gooey and soft!

I couldn't of pulled it off without my kitchen helpers. Okay, that's not true, they are mostly a hindrance. Like furry, oddly-shaped movable rugs that are constantly tripping me and trying to snatch things off the table when my head's turned. Not pictured: Todd.

Swaying to Ane Brun – Halo

See the Go Dairy Free contest page.

See the So Delicious facebook page

[yumprint-recipe id='58']Inspired by IsaChandra

Simple & Healthy Pecan Pumpkin Pie

November 12, 2013 Kathleen Henry

I love me some pumpkin pie. Do you know what I love even more than my go-to Thanksgiving pumpkin pie? Pumpkin pie that tastes like my definitely-not-healthy and definitely-not-vegan pumpkin pie, but is actually super healthy! There's times when, yes, it can be almost criminal to conjure up some "healthified" version of a cake, pie, cookie or whathaveyou. My birthday cake? That's no healthy affair. Yep, if there's ever been a pumpkin pie purist...it's me. The recipe from the back of the Libby's pumpkin puree can. Every time. No straying. Don't be messin' with my pumpkin pie!

But this pumpkin pie. Oh my goodness. Why keep making an unhealthy, sugar and cholesterol laden dessert when you can have this one? Why?? Just look at it. It's perfect! I couldn't believe how wonderful the texture was and how the pecan crust perfectly complimented it.

And it's even better than my old Libby's recipe. Also, it features a wholesome pecan crust. This recipe couldn't be healthier, easier or tastier!

Oh and did I mention that it's vegan, sugar-free (except for the fruit) and healthy? Whips up in a snap ta boot. Clean eating at it's finest.

I grinned the most impish, ludicrous grin when I asked Todd how he liked it and then told him it didn't have any added sugar or animal products. Muah-ha-ha! He couldn't tell the difference. A wonderful success!

Simple & Healthy Pecan Pumpkin Pie

Inspired by NutritionFacts.org

Makes 1 pie

--Crust--
1 cup pecans
3-5 medjool dates, pitted
1 Tbsp. coconut four (or 1 1/2 Tbsp. of other flour)
splash of maple syrup (optional)
a pinch of kosher salt
--Filling--
1 15 oz. can of canned pumpkin
1 12 oz. box of silken tofu, drained
12-16 medjool dates, pitted
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
a few gratings of nutmeg (to taste)
10 drops of liquid Stevia (optional)
--Notes--
I like the Mori-Nu boxed tofu. It doesn't have a "tofu" taste at all. It's found usually on the shelf (non-refrigerated) in the organic section.

In a food processor, combine the crust ingredients and process for about 3 minutes. The dough should stick together when pressed between your fingers.

In a pie dish coated with a non-stick cooking spray, press the dough to make the crust. Set aside until ready for the filling.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Wash out the food processor and add in the filling ingredients. Process for about 3-5 minutes or until the dates are just tiny little specks. The filling should be very smooth.

Scoop the filling onto the crust and smooth over with a spatula. Bake at 350 F for about 30 minutes. If the top of the crust looks like it's getting a little too brown you can add some strips of tinfoil or a pie crust protector over it.