The pumpkin pie substitute
Say nobody in your family likes pumpkin pie, but you’re a traditionalist. So at Thanksgiving, you’re kind of screwed. You feel like you must serve pumpkin pie because it’s always been done, but you know you’ll be left with most of a pie to be thrown away or fed to the dog. But we don’t even have a dog, and this is my family.
This year, since I’m in charge of Thanksgiving dinner for the first time, I’ve decided to opt out of serving pumpkin pie. If you share my aversion to the pasty orange stuff, join me. Instead, I’m making pumpkin bread. It’s not a hit with my husband, but the kids and I love it, and my in-laws once made themselves try it to avoid hurting my feelings. (And I think they actually liked it.) So it’s settled.
I first made pumpkin bread in college after one of my fellow English majors brought it to an early-morning get-together. But the recipe I make now came from my good friend Gin Phillips. She’s the award-winning author of The Well and the Mine, but she’s also a fabulous cook, the kind that doesn’t really measure ingredients but just kind of knows how much nutmeg, how much salt, how much flour will make it just right. When I insisted, Ginny gave me a recipe for her pumpkin bread, but of course she doesn’t follow it herself. So it may never taste exactly like hers, but it’s still pretty darn good.
If you want to try it, here it is:
PUMPKIN BREAD
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups plus 4 teaspoons sugar, divided
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 eggs
1 15-ounce can of pumpkin (or fresh pumpkin, even better)
1/2 can canola oil
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Combine the flour, 1 1/2 cups sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, allspice, baking soda, salt and nutmeg.
Combine the eggs, pumpkin, oil, water and vanilla; mix well. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.
Spoon into two 8”x4”x2” baking pans coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with remaining sugar.
Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool, there are actually some worthwhile ideas on this blog some of my subscribers will find this useful, I will send a link, thanks.
Donnelly, so glad you liked the bread! And raisins sound like a great touch. Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
I made the pumpkin bread tonight (except I made muffins). I substituted Egg Beaters for the eggs and applesauce for the oil. So they were completely fat-free and delicious! The texture was probably a little different than it would have been if I had made the real recipe. I might add raisins to mine next time to add something else yummy to make up for the lack of oil. Thanks for the recipe!
Thankfully my sugar test isn’t until after Thanksgiving, so sugar is still on the menu! I’ll make some of the bread this weekend on a test run and let you know how it goes.
And I just noticed that I spelled pumpkin without a “p” in my original post and made applesauce two words. I guess I was spelling it the Southern way:) I have no excuse for the applesauce thing.
I also meant to say that I actually love pumpkin pie and would have gladly eaten it at your mom’s house during the holidays! So maybe this will be a yummy, healthy substitute for my sweet tooth.
Thanks for your comment, Donnelly! No, it won’t be everyone. I’m not ready for that yet. Just a small crowd.
I would eat the bread for dessert. I think it’s just sweet enough. I’d like to hear how it tastes without eggs and oil — the applesauce actually sounds good. A fat-free Thanksgiving should be challenging (but more of us should do it)!
Wow Nancy! Will the whole Mann/Jackson clan be there??? that’s very brave of you!
Is this pumkin bread sweet enough to be considered a dessert? Do you think it would be okay made with apple sauce instead of oil and egg beaters instead of eggs? I’m on a NO FAT (yes, no fat, not even the “good” kind) diet and am looking for anything to look forward to about Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. Pregnancy is so much fun:)