Paleo Pumpkin Bread and Paleo Pumpkin Pie Custard

One thing I love about fall is all of the fun pumpkin flavors that you see popping up.  You have to be careful though, often the pumpkin flavored treats are also loaded with sugar.  That’s why I like to make my own and try out new things too and recreate some of that pumpkin pie like taste that I traditionally skip because of the sugar, dairy, and grains that often go along with it.

This weekend I tried out 2 pumpkin recipes, one tried and true pumpkin muffin recipe that I switched into a pumpkin bread and another one that I hadn’t gotten to last year because I didn’t have the right baking equipment, a Pumpkin Pie Custard from Balanced Bites.

My first Pumpkin treat was from Dianne Sanfillippo’s Balanced Bites holiday recipes from last year (I think) it was Pumpkin Pie Custard, which is nut free, added sugar free, and easy to make!  In the spring I bought a bunch of cooking ramekins to make individual egg frittatas for Mother’s Day brunch and I’m always looking for more ways to use them, and this was the perfect and pretty thing for this.

Pumpkin Pie Custard

Finished Custards baked and golden-colored

This Fall I brought back my favorite treat – the Plentus’ Paleo Pumpkin Muffins, but instead of muffins I made pumpkin bread.  I have a confession to make, me and muffin pans we just don’t get along.  Every time I make muffins or cupcakes, Paleo or Regular, even my meat and spinach cupcakes I tried out a month ago whatever I’m making get stuck in the pan or sticks to those muffin cups that you can line the pan with.

Another thing I”m working on right now is tightening up my food, so I tweaked this recipe from its original state to make it have no added sugar except for some unsweetened applesauce (and only a little bit of it too!) so if you’re looking to try something pumpkin and are missing the consistency of baked goods, give this a try in pumpkin bread or muffin form – you choose.

Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients:

• 6 eggs
• 1/2 cup of canned pumpkin (just pumpkin)
• 4 – 6 Tablespoons of melted coconut oil
• 2 Tablespoons of unsweetened apple sauce
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup of coconut flour
• 1/4 cup of coconut flakes, unsweetened
• Coconut oil spray / butter / coconut oil to “grease” the pan

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  In a glass bowl add coconut oil and melt in the microwave (this is easiest!), then add the eggs, pumpkin, vanilla, and applesauce and whisk together.  Get all of the lumps out too, the mixture should be light even with the pumpkin in it.

In a smaller bowl mix together the dry ingredients: coconut flour, coconut flakes, baking powder, and spices.  Slowly add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture, whisking as you go.  Coconut flour gets lumpy (and has a 3:1 egg ratio a per regular flour which means it’s really absorbent  if you dump it all in at once, its hard to get the lumps out – I did this and you can see its a little lumpy).  I used a hand whisk, if you want to be fancy you can use a hand blender, not so fancy just use a spoon.

Once everything is mixed together, “grease” your pan – I used a small Pyrex glass baking dish – 7 x 11 – and then fill with the mixture.  Spread evenly with a spatula – if you want you could add chopped walnuts or pecans on top too! Bake for about 30 – 40 minutes, test for when its done, let cool, then cut into squares and enjoy!

Little pumpkin bread squares – delicious warm, even with lumps