I discovered a pumpkin bread recipe online once which involved three different styles of pumpkin bread from one batter, and I wondered how it would work as a gluten and dairy free version – I’d just come back from Hawai’i in the October when the US is at the height of Hallowe’en/autumn/fall madness and also starting to Christmas decorate, so pumpkin-flavoured everything was on offer.

This set me on a pumpkin craving which would only be sated by making my own pumpkin puree to use in everything. I was surprised how easily Kent pumpkins puree for use in recipes (it must be all in the name, of course. We Kents are so easy-going, after all). So, one large Kent pumpkin reduced down to three cups of puree, a cupful of pumpkin seeds for roasting, and enough chopped and diced pumpkin for roasting and cooking a myriad of feasts, I had the urge to make pumpkin bread.

This pumpkin bread lends itself easily to lower sugar, gluten-free, and even vegan baking (by subbing out the eggs for ‘chia eggs’), that it’s become a winter favourite of mine when I can find the time to prep. Nowadays, I prep my pumpkin about a week in advance, jar the puree up and have it on hand ready for the baking. More recently, I’ve turned to freezing my prepped chopped pumpkin earlier in the year and using it to make my puree in October when pumpkins are out of season in Australia.

This is such an easy recipe that you can make it alone or involve the kids. Allow them to sprinkle in the choc chips and give the mixture a good stir, for example. And the smell when it’s cooking is heavenly and brings back memories of pumpkin-spiced lattes in Hawai’i.

So grab your pumpkin (or pre-prepared puree, though I tend to avoid the imported canned stuff from America due to the high content of preservatives and additives), and get to work on a simple, satisfying baking activity that will give you not one, but two loaves. One for eating now, and one to freeze for later on. Let me know how you go with this one!

Ingredients (for 2 loaves)

• 1 cup vegetable oil *(coconut oil in liquid form works well here, or go a ittle under 1 cup with any other oil except olive oil) or equal part Nuttelex, melted (omit the added salt later in the recipe)
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/3 cup caster sugar (optional)
• 4 large eggs
• 2 cups pumpkin puree
• 2/3 cup water
• 3 1/3 cups gluten free plain flour *(I use a combination of cassava flour, buckwheat flour, tapioca flour & glutinous rice flour) + 1 tsp xanthan gum
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda (bicarb)
• teaspoon salt (you’ll need it to bring out the pumpkin flavour)
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg (or alternatively, grate a fresh nutmeg into the batter)
• 3 tsp cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• Optional: 1 cup chopped nuts of choice, 1 1/2 cups cacao nibs, or 1 cup sultanas, or a handful of washed and dried pumpkin seeds for scattering over the top of the loaf prior to baking.

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180⁰ C
2. Beat the first five ingredients in a bowl until smooth.
3. While beating gently, add the remaining ingredients until a smooth batter forms (I then beat the mixture more aggressively for about half a minute to aerate it and give it more texture)
4. Add any optional ingredients you’d like, or divide the batter in two and have two different versions. Pour into greased (and floured) loaf pans.
5. Sprinkle top of loaves with: dried pumpkin seeds, all-spice, cinnamon, and some coarse sugar crystals (or any combination with the sugar)
6. Bake in oven for 60-80 mins. This depends on your oven. If you have a super-heated oven like mine, you will need to aim for about 55 mins and check the loaves with a skewer. An extra five minutes usually does it. Or, you could tent some aluminium foil over the loaves for the final 15 minutes to ensure the leaves get cooked evenly inside and out.
7. Once baked, allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes before inverting onto a cake rack. Allow to cool for about 20 minutes, then wrap in tea towel to maintain the moisture content.