I adore the fall, it is my favorite season.
In my garden every year, I have a plethora of winter squash and pumpkins coming to maturation…a huge highlight in this household! In my very limited garden space, I always choose to devote a lot of square footage for them, and they DO take up a lot of room!
I love the colors, I love the flavors, and they are so good for you!
Having plenty of recipes available to use as much pumpkin as I can is a must for me! Enter this delectable gluten free vegan pumpkin bread!
Should I make my own pumpkin puree for this gluten free pumpkin bread?
For this recipe, I baked my very first Cinderella pumpkin. I have read many posts where people say cooking your own pumpkin is not worth the hassle…but I disagree! There is a flavor and texture that come from fresh pumpkins that can not be beat.
It is like saying that fresh tomatoes and canned tomatoes are the same thing: they are not.
I mean, would you ever crack open a CAN of tomatoes to snack on?! Me thinks not.
But would you enjoy it sliced fresh from the garden?! Many do!
There is nothing wrong with using canned pumpkin, but if you have the choice…give it a whirl (literally!). Homemade puree is tasty enough to eat all on it’s own (the good, ripe ones)!
What types of squash and pumpkin should I use for making my own puree?
There are many varieties that cook up wonderfully.
My favorites (that I have tried so far) are:
- Sugar Pie – the classic pie pumpkin, they are sweet, but small! One pumpkin typically yields about 2 cups puree max.
- Cinderella – deep orange red (pictured below), these have a firm flesh that cooks up beautifully.
- Sweet Meat – large and sweet, one of these large mint green squashes makes a lot of puree!!
- Kabocha – a dry squash, often used in Japanese tempura!
- Butternut squash are readily available and are consistently sweet and yummy (you should try my roasted butternut squash recipe, or my butternut squash chocolate muffins!)
- Buttercup squash are also outstanding. Green and squat, they have a very sweet flesh!
Pick up something that catches your eye at the farmer’s market: there are so many pretty, tasty ones!
Just know that your average jack-o-lanterns are not intended for consumption…unless we’re talking about your worms in a worm bin!
Find a heavy dense one that feels very firm. I devoted a whole post on how to cook and select you own winter squash and pumpkins.
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| L to R, Buttercup, Cinderella, Butternut, and Sugar Pie |
Packing your pumpkin bread for the lunchbox tip:
Freeze individually sliced pieces of bread for your lunchboxes! I briefly freeze slice on a baking mat lined cookie sheet, then throw them all into large container to grab and pack as needed.
Love pumpkin? Here are some more gluten free pumpkin recipes to try!
- This pumpkin sponge cake is GAPS and paleo!
- If you need a paleo pumpkin bread, this one uses almond flour!
- We love these paleo pumpkin scones with collagen!
- My kiddos are crazy for these gluten free pumpkin scones
Gluten Free Vegan Pumpkin Bread Recipe:
If you try this vegan pumpkin bread, be sure to come back and leave a comment!
Pumpkin Cranberry Bread - Gluten Free & Vegan
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups pumpkin puree or 1 can
- 1/2 cup palm sugar it is ok to add more if you like things sweeter
- 1/2 cup organic cane sugar or more palm sugar
- 1/3 cup melted coconut oil or avocado oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon preferred vinegar (this helps with rising)
- 1 cup brown rice flour or any mix of brown rice, millet, teff, or oat
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1/2 cup tapioca flour or other starch
- 3 tablespoons chia meal gelled with 1/3 cup warm water
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice, optional
- 1/2 teaspoon guar gum
- 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
Optional Add Ins
- dark chocolate chips, dried cranberries (if yours are overly dry, it is yummy to soak them in orange juice to plump them), raisins, nuts, or orange zest
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, whisk the pumpkin, oil, vanilla, and sugar together until well mixed (if using coconut oil. use room temp ingredients or the oil will harden).
- Sprinkle in the flours, baking powder, guar gum, salt, and cinnamon and whisk in briskly to the wet pumpkin mixture.
- Pour into greased pans of your choice. Mini loaves take about 30 minutes, large loaves take about an hour. I sometimes make muffins if there is any extra batter remaining in the bowl, and those take about 20 minutes. All of them are done when a knife or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- As with all gluten free breads, remove from the pan after about 5-10 minutes so the bottoms do not get soggy!!
Nutrition
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Another great pumpkin recipe that sounds so healthy and delicious. Thanks for sharing on Real Food Fridays. Pinned & twitted
Yummy! This bread looks great!
This is perfect for the season! Thanks so much for sharing this at Healing With Food Friday! We hope you will come back this week: http://peelingbacktheonionlayers.com/healing-with-food-friday-8/
This looks yummy! I roasted my first pumpkin this year. It seemed quite wet, so I drained it for a while. It did make a difference.
Hi Marianne! Check out my post on how to bake your own pumpkin…lots of tips there. If you end up with a lot of water in your roasting pan, you are not using the right pumpkin for cooking and eating. You want one with super firm, dense flesh, not spongy. Any squash or pumpkin should have a good amount heft for its size, and when you bake it, almost no water should e in they pan. You did the right thing by draining…and simmering slowly not he stove to remove excess water gets rid of even more. Use the right pumpkin/squash though, and these steps are avoidable and the taste is superior!
Thank you for the info 🙂
Very interesting. I do love the taste of fresh pumpkin, too, but I didn’t know about all these different kinds.
BTW, I’d like to invite you to “Like” my new Facebook fan page for The Gluten Free Homestead. https://www.facebook.com/TheGlutenFreeHomestead
I’d be extremely blessed by your participation and promotion of joyful gluten free living.
Thanks for bringing this yummy bread to the Allergy Friendly Lunchbox Love party! I love your idea of soaking the dried cranberries in orange juice 🙂
Fall is my favorite season too! I just love it and all it brings! This pumpkin cranberry bread sounds so yummy! Thanks for linking up at our Gluten Free Fridays party! I have tweeted and pinned your entry to our Gluten Free Fridays board on Pinterest! 🙂 We had 101 awesome recipes! What a great resource we are creating!! Cindy from vegetarianmamma.com
The winner of the Domata prize pack will be announced Thursday at the party!
Your Pumpkin Cranberry Bread sounds delicious. I like the tip about freezing individual slices for lunchboxes too.
oh yummy! thank you for linking with Kids in the Kitchen – pinning!
I just made the pumpkin bread last night. I used canned pumpkin. It was very dense and sort of uncooked in the middle. It was very very thick batter- I had to put it in the pans not pour in the pans. Does real pumpkin have more moisture in it? Could I make it with canned pumpkin but add more liquid to get the right consistency?
If I used real pumpkin will it work as pictured? Don’t want to try again and have another failure.
Thank you!
Hi Kim! It is so annoying to waste ngredeints, I get so frustrated when that happens! It sounds like there was leavening issue with yours. I noticed I did not include baking soda, I will fix that. I added 1 teaspoon of soda and 1 teaspoon vinegar for added lift. I just made another batch too, turned out perfect. Pumpkin’s water content greatly varies. Canned is unusually more consistent, but I recently opened a can that was stiff, stiff, stiff! If your batter seems overly stiff, add some water to achieve a typical muffin batter consistency. The will help compensate for the variance in pumpkin purée. if I am unsure, I make a half batch to be sure. Also be sure your soda and baking soda are fresh and active….add a splash of vinegar to soda and it should fizz…..add HOT water to powder, and it should do the same! Let me know if that help Kim, I am sorry it did not turn out!
Please email me! I have a question about your blog! 🙂
HeatherVonsj@gmail.com
Thanks again ladies….
Thanks so much for linking up your pumpkin recipe to 5 Flu-Fighting Foods! I hope you'll come back today to link up your breakfast recipes–and visit all the co-hosts to see their top 3 picks for their fav pumpkin dishes! http://www.thehumbledhomemaker.com/2011/11/gallo-pinto-traditional-costa-rican.html
Be sure to check out who I picked! (Hint Hint!!)
I love that this is allergen-free, and looks so delicious. Thanks for linking up to our flu-fighting foods blog hop; come back next week with a breakfast recipe!
Hi Tessa! Your pumpkin bread looks so yummy! And I totally agree with you – cooking your own pumpkin is definitely worth it! It's so easy and the taste is definitely superior to canned! 🙂
I would love for you to link this recipe up to a “PUMPKIN” link up that we are hosting! It fits in perfectly!
http://thepurposedheart.com/creamy-pumpkin-soup/