Names can be deceiving. Even healthy-sounding breakfast breads and muffins like "Morning Glory," "Apple Bran" and "Banana Nut" are often fat and sugar traps that would be better left uneaten and traded in for a big bowl of fruit.
So it was with a co-worker's recent baking experiment with a treat called "Pumpkin Flax Bread." Pumpkin! Flax! So virtuous.
Except the original recipe was heavy on sugar and used only a fraction of whole wheat flour - filling the rest of the batter with white flour. She traded most of the sugar for Stevia, a natural sugar substitute that holds up well in baking, and switched the flours so that whole wheat plays a starring role and white flour takes a backseat. You could do the entire batter with whole wheat as well.
The result was a moist, sweet breakfast bread that is filling, high in fiber and so nutritious thanks to the flax and pumpkin. Here is the original and the "Badass-approved" version. Happy Baking!
ORIGINAL PUMPKIN FLAX BREAD
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons flax seed meal
- 6 tablespoons water
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup applesauce
- 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease one 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2. Whisk together flax seed meal and water. Mix in sugar, pumpkin and apple sauce.
3. In a large bowl, stir together all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, nutmeg, and cloves. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture; stir until smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 65 to 70 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean.
BADASS-APPROVED PUMPKIN FLAX BREAD
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons flax seed meal
- 6 tablespoons water
- 1/3 cup sugar
- ½ cup Stevia
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup applesauce (can use strawberry applesauce for a twist)
- 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease one 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2. Whisk together flax seed meal and water. Mix in sugar, stevia, pumpkin and apple sauce.
3. In a large bowl, stir together all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, nutmeg, and cloves. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture; stir until smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 65 to 70 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean.
