Love:

I need pumpkin bread in my life, here’s to hoping you do to. ENJOY!

Food:

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread- makes 2 loaves

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Dry ingredients:

2 3/4 c. oat flour, (you can make your own by placing thick raw oats into the food processor or blender and grinding down into flour)

3/4 c. coconut flour (can be found at Whole Foods, Harmon’s, Good Earth, adds fiber, flavor and can replace up to 20% of flour in a recipe)

1/2 tsp. salt

2 1/4 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 tsp. clove

1/4 tsp. ginger

2 c. chocolate chips (semi-sweet)

1. Sift all dry ingredients together in a bowl. Toss in the chocolate chips and set aside.

Wet ingredients:

4 eggs

3/4 c. almond milk (I used homemade)

1 c. applesauce (I was given a jar of homemade from my favorite apple farmers’ wife this summer at the Farmers Market)

3/4 c. honey (I used Clifford Family Farms)

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 c. fresh pumpkin puree (*recipe to follow)

2. Place all the wet ingredients in the food processor or blender and pulse till all wet ingredients are mixed together.

3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix well, be sure not to over mix.

4. Pour into two greased loaf pans (regular sized, not small) and bake @350 for 1 hour.

5. Let cool completely before diving in!

*Fresh Pumpkin Puree

1. Wash your pumpkin. Cut the pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds (dry seeds and make roasted pumpkin seeds). Place cut side down on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake @400 degrees for about an hour. Half way through turn right side up.

2. Let pumpkin cool enough to a handle, scoop flesh out into your food processor or blender. Puree. You may need to add a bit of water to get things moving.

3. Place a fine mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth over a bowl, scoop the pureed pumpkin into the strainer. Let this strain for about 1 hour. Ready to use!(I use my leftovers in our hot cereal or our raw oatmeal!)

Nutrition:

Pumpkin- Winter squash especially the darker-fleshed varieties like pumpkin and acorn provide exceptional amounts of carotenes, which as been shown to exert a protective effect against many cancers particularly lung cancer. In addition to cancer and heart disease, diets rich in carotenes also appear to offer protection against developing type 2 diabetes, with pumpkin consumption being the most protective. Pumpkin seeds have also been shown to be helpful in reducing symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).