This isn’t America, it’s Scotland, but any excuse for baking is a good one as far as I’m concerned. So, to share in the Thanksgiving celebrations this coming Thursday in a small, plant-based way, here is a recipe for vegan pumpkin pecan spice bread.
Like practically every recipe posted here, it is very easy and full of wholesome ingredients.
The pecan sugar crust is supposed to conjure up the colours of autumn leaves. Although it’s crumbly, most of it remains on the top of the loaf when you cut it. It does lose some of its crunchiness by day two, but still tastes the same.
Pumpkin, like banana, reliably gives loaves and muffins a good texture. This recipe works well for muffins too if you reduce the flour to 300g in total, increase the oven temperature to around 200°C/395°F and cut the baking time to around 20 minutes (and use a muffin tin…).
Butternut squash can be substituted for pumpkin if there aren’t any left in the shops.
Pumpkins are not always thought of as a health food but they are a good source of beta-carotene and fibre. The nutritional benefits of pecans are better known – among a long list of credentials, they are higher in vitamins A and E than walnuts. As for spices, even in the small quantities generally used in baking, they are loaded with antioxidants.
Vegan Pumpkin Pecan Spice Bread…
Ingredients
- 250 g mashed pumpkin
- 150 g light muscovado sugar + 2-3 tbsp for top
- 3 tsp vanilla extract
- 100 ml light olive oil (or other mild-tasting oil)
- 50 ml maple syrup
- 60 ml soya (or other non-dairy) milk
- 100 g pecans
- 160 g plain white flour
- 160 g self-raising wholemeal flour
- 1.5 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground allspice
- 1 tsp ground ginger
Method
- Set the oven to 180°C/360°F and lightly oil and line a standard 2lb loaf tin.
- To prepare the pumpkin, cut it into slices and remove the seeds and skin. Steam it until it is just soft enough to mash to a pulp. (You could also bake the pumpkin and scoop out the flesh, or use tinned pumpkin.)
- In a large bowl, mix the mashed pumpkin together with the sugar, vanilla, olive oil, maple syrup and soya milk.
- Chop the pecans and set aside a good handful for the topping.
- Mix and sift the flours, baking powder and spices into a separate bowl before adding these with the rest of the pecans to the liquid mixture and gently folding until combined.
- Transfer the mixture to the loaf tin, level the top a bit and sprinkle over the reserved pecans followed by 2-3 tablespoons of muscovado sugar – enough to mostly cover the pecans.
- Bake for 1hr to 1hr 10 minutes until the loaf is a deep golden brown. Check with a skewer that it is baked through.
- Allow to cool before removing from the tin.
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