With the official arrival of fall, I decided that it was time to do a little baking. I always feel as if baking gets pushed to the back-burner during the summer months… and I welcome the opportunity to get back into the kitchen to make delicious + healthy treats for our little family. I decided that for our inaugural fall baking experience, something pumpkin was on the menu (I know, I know #basic….) so I pulled out an old favorite pumpkin loaf recipe and created my own little (well, they weren’t so little, but you know…) tweaks to it to create a “cleaner” pumpkin loaf version…..

Back to the pumpkin goodness in a minute. I love having Harper help in the kitchen with me for so many different reasons. We get to bond, it increases her feelings of accomplishment + independence (always great for a toddler), and she gives me a built in “taste tester.” If it can pass a toddler’s palette, then I think it’s pretty good for anyone…. So Sunday morning we busted out all of our baking supplies…. mixer, measuring spoons/cups, whisk, loaf pan, tons of paper towels for inevitable accidents (#ToddlerBaking adventures) and we got to it. I’ve been using this KitchenAid mixer for several years for all my baking adventures and I’m always so happy with the results every time I use it… and eBay has such a great selection of them, at discounted prices (they actually have so many amazing deals/sales running all the time that you can likely always find what you’re looking for at an excellent price point….). That’s one of the great benefits about shopping at eBay…. I don’t have to “bid” on products, can “Buy Now,” (in fact, 81% of the products sold on eBay are purchased via this method)… and there are so many items that are available brand new (right from the comfort of my own couch….). Some of my favorites for fall cooking include this Le Creuset loaf pan, OXO wire whisk, All Clad measuring cups + spoons, muffin tin (in case I want to make fall muffins….)…. and, when I’m not baking in mass quantities (which is basically never) I use my favorite Breville Smart Oven (you can read more about that in this blog post)…..

Now, back to the pumpkin bread goodness. After it cooled, and I got around to slicing up the pieces, it quickly passed Harper’s taste test (as in wanting seconds and thirds….) and somehow bigger hands got ahold of it (ahem, TJ) and he happily helped himself to seconds as well. I’ve been eating it topped with almond butter, crumbled on oatmeal, or even on my favorite non-dairy ice cream. With all the ingredient substitutions, I do want to note that you’ll be left with an incredibly moist loaf of bread, that will mold quicker… so be sure to cover and refrigerate if you think yours will last longer than a week (our first loaf only lasted 5 days….). I also wanted to mention that it’s dairy free/gluten free for all those who can’t have those ingredients.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

Dry Ingredients
2 ¾ cups almond flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
½ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
1 tbsp flax seed

Wet Ingredients:
1 ½ cups pumpkin puree
½ cup grade a maple syrup
2 tbsp applesauce
2 egg whites
1 ½ tsp vanilla

½ cup of Cacao Nibs

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9×5 inch loaf pan with cooking spray
2. In a medium bowl, combine all dry ingredients with a wire whisk.
3. In a large bowl, mix together all wet ingredients at medium speed, until thick.
Scrape down sides of the bowl.
4. Combine the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients, and toss in the cacao nibs. Blend at a low speed until combined.
5. Pour batter into the loaf pan, cover with tin foil so the top does not burn, and bake for 60-70 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
6. Let the pan cool for about 15-20 minutes before removing and devouring….
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