Good-for-you Pumpkin Bread

I roasted a pumpkin last weekend and now have 5 cups of pureed pumpkin sitting in my fridge. I LOVE pumpkin bread, so I wanted to make a loaf. Have you seen many of those recipes out there? One called for 3 CUPS of sugar! Oh my gosh - can you even taste the pumpkin???? Yikes! But then I ran across one on a blog called Cookie + kate, and it looked quite good and used honey and whole wheat flour.

I like both of those things, but here was my concern. The use of honey and whole wheat flour in most desserts that I've made makes a REALLY dense bread or cookie. Like really dense...not the most favorable texture that I'm looking for. When I looked closer, I noticed this recipe called for Whole Wheat Pastry Flour. Hmm...that intrigued me. Pastry flour has less gluten in it than regular whole wheat flour, so it is possible that this bread might not be too terribly dense. The pictures on the site didn't look too dense either, so I gave it a try.

This bread was DELICIOUS!!! And the whole wheat pastry flour worked in that it cut way down on the denseness of the bread. The bread is not light and airy, but I don't expect a pumpkin bread to be. But it's not a drop-on-your-toe-fruitcake either. Either way, this bread is wholesome, filled with natural ingredients and will be made again and again in my house. Thanks Cookie + kate!

Honey Whole Wheat Pumpkin Bread (via the Cookie + kate blog)
Ingredients:
1/3 cup melted coconut oil (or vegetable oil)
1/2 cup honey
2 eggs
1 cup pumpkin purée
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, plus more to swirl on top
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice or cloves
1 3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup hot water
Optional- turbinado (raw) sugar for sprinkling on top

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit (165 degrees Celsius) and grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan.

2. In a large bowl, beat oil and honey together. Add eggs, and beat well.
Stir in pumpkin purée and vanilla, then the salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice. Stir in flour, just until combined.

3. Add baking soda to hot water, stir to mix, and then mix briefly into batter until it is evenly distributed. Spread batter into the greased loaf pan.

4. Sprinkle with cinnamon, and swirl with the tip of a table knife for a pretty marbled effect. Sprinkle a big pinch of turbinado sugar on top for a light, sweet crunch.

5. Bake for 60 to 65 minutes. Be sure to check that the bread is done baking by inserting a toothpick in the top. It should come out clean. If the top of the bread jiggles when you pull it out of the oven, it’s NOT done! Let the bread cool in the loaf pan for 5 minutes, then transfer it to a wire rack to cool for 30 minutes before slicing.