Moist and spicy, this pumpkin bread fills your house with a tantalizingly delicious aroma while baking. It's a great snack and disappears almost before your eyes. Yummy for breakfast with tea or coffee.

This is a healthier pumpkin bread that calls for less sugar than most recipes and absolutely zero oil. Oil is what makes quick breads and muffins so fat-laden. By replacing the standard cup of vegetable oil used in similar recipes with a cup of unsweetened applesauce, you reduce the calories from fat by 75 per serving! While oil adds moisture to the bread, so does the unsweetened applesauce.

Spicy Pumpkin Bread

Makes 24 servings.

Ingredients

1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree
4 eggs
1 cup unsweetened applesauce (no sugar added)
⅔ cup orange juice
¼ teaspoon vanilla
2¾ cups brown sugar

3½ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1½ teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cloves

1 cup chopped pecans, walnuts or raisins (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350˚ F (175˚ C). Grease and flour two 9" x 5" loaf pans.
2. In a large bowl, mix pumpkin puree, eggs, applesauce, orange juice, vanilla and brown sugar until blended.
3. In another large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves.
4. Stir dry ingredients into pumpkin mixture until just blended. Don't over mix.
5. Stir in nuts.
6. Pour into prepared pans.
7. Bake for about 60 minutes. Bread is done as soon as toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Serve plain, or indulge by adding cream cheese frosting.

Hints & Tips

Great to make ahead of time, this bread is actually better the next day. You can also use a bundt pan which may require a little longer baking time. Do the toothpick check at 60 minutes then every 5 minutes until done. Or, make muffins which bake in about 25 minutes.

Comments (1)

totsy said:

	... just tried this yum yum yum ! better make another as this one dissapeared in 10 mins
	report abuse vote down vote up

November 26, 2009
Votes: +0