Paleo Pumpkin Bread

Every Fall I love to fill the house with the sweet, spicy smell of pumpkin bread!  It’s especially cozy during the weeks of Thanksgiving and Christmas!  This recipe for Paleo pumpkin bread makes for a delicious breakfast or dessert!  It is easy to make, and no one you serve it to will know how healthy it is, unless you tell them!  The flavors of the cranberries and dark chocolate, combined with the pumpkin and spices, will send you into holiday bliss!

I kind of have a love/hate relationship with coconut flour, which is one of the ingredients I used for this Paleo pumpkin bread.  It is SO healthy, but can taste SO disgusting!  If you find a recipe that calls for more than 1/2 a cup of it, run away!  Very seldom have I found a dish that tastes good with coconut flour as the only flour!  Although it shouldn’t be the main star, I do think coconut flour can play an important role in baked goods.  It absorbs a lot of liquid, while nut flours do not absorb any.  The two flours work well together in balancing the moisture level of your bread, cake, or cookie!

Nut flours and coconut flour are not only good baking buddies!  They also bring lots of health benefits to your recipes!  Nut flours are low carb, and since they are high in protein and unsaturated, healthy fats, they slow down your sugar absorption.  Coconut flour is very high in fiber and healthy medium chain fatty acids, and it also helps lower the glycemic effect of your food.  Here’s a great article with more information about coconut flour and its health benefits.  Simply trading out the grain flour in baked goods with these healthier options makes a big difference for diabetics!  And the good news…this Paleo pumpkin bread does NOT taste like cardboard health food!

By the way, Trader Joe’s has the best prices I’ve found on coconut and cashew flours.  Cashew flour is also easy to make in your food processor!  Just put some raw nuts in there and run it until they’re a fine meal.  I actually kind of prefer to make my own, because it is more fine than the kind I buy!

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Before we get to the recipe for the pumpkin bread I want to invite you to join with others who are making healthy changes, if you haven’t done so already.  I’d love to walk alongside you in your journey towards wholeness and health! Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full!”  Freedom from food addictions is part of having a truly full life.  

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Dry Ingredients:

• 2 Cups Almond or Cashew Flour
• 1/2 Cup Coconut Flour
• 2 Tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
• 1/2 Tsp Cardamom (don’t skip this…so much flavor!)
• 1 Tsp Baking Soda
• 1 Tsp Sea Salt
• 3/4 Cup Coconut Sugar or Xylitol (xylitol is not Paleo, but it’s a natural sweetener that tastes like sugar and is great for diabetics)

Wet Ingredients:

• 3 Large Eggs
• 1/3 Cup Maple Syrup
• 1/4 Cup Coconut Oil
• 1 Tsp Vanilla
• 1 Cup Organic Pumpkin

Extras:

• 1 Cup Pecans
• 1 Cup Dried Cranberries
• 1 Cup Paleo Chocolate Chunks or 63% Extra Dark Chocolate Chips (not Paleo, but lower sugar)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and spray a 13×9 glass baking dish or small loaf pans (use disposable if you want to give it as a gift) with coconut oil.   Combine all of the dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl and set aside.  Mix together the wet ingredients in your electric stand mixer, until the mixture is smooth.  I like to use the whisk attachment for this recipe.  Add the dry ingredients into the wet and mix well.  Remove the bowl from your mixer and fold in the pecans, cranberries, and chocolate chips.  Pour the batter into your greased baking dish.

Bake for about 35 minutes (check at 30).  Your baking time will vary quite a bit, depending on what kind of dish you use and how cold your ingredients are.  It actually took mine longer to bake in the mini loaf pans than it did in the 13×9 dish.  Make sure the center is set (push it down with your finger) and let it cool for 15 minutes on a wire rack before digging in. Enjoy!