Pumpkin Date Bread

It’s 6:00 AM and for some reason I’d way rather wake up early and sip coffee in the dark than try and be useful past 10 PM. In college, I used to set my alarm for 3:30 AM to study for O-Chem tests rather than try to stay up into the late hours of the night. Thank goodness I don’t have to do that anymore, but I’m still getting up early on the weekends for bike rides about 80% of the time. I don’t mind it – the thought of being done with your 4-5 hour ride by noon is pretty fabulous.

Sorry night owls, not trying to discriminate here. For those of you who aren’t morning people, this bread is perfect for on the go snacking or even a light breakfast. 

This bread kind of happened by accident, as I had full intentions of making pumpkin date bites. I think the couple glasses of wine might have had something to do with it.. but I ended up being really happy with the way this bread turned out. Want to know what’s even better? This bread is –

dairy free

egg free

butter free

oil free

sugar free

Nope, not that last one. There is some coconut sugar in there but the majority of the sweetness comes from the dates.

Shameless pumpkin plug. I love it. If you read my last post then you already know – but fall is officially here, and so is pumpkin. At least, until gingerbread season.

You’ll need to soak the dates for about 5-10 minutes, just to get them to soften up. It’s easiest to remove the pits prior so that you can just pop them in the food processor when you’re done. Bake the batter as a loaf, or as muffins for something that’s easy to pop in the freezer and grab as you head out the door.

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Pumpkin Date Bread

Servings: 1 loaf, 8-10 slices

Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 10 medjool dates, pitted
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 TBSP apple cider vinegar
• 3/4 cup non dairy milk
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup coconut sugar
• 1 TBSP baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ginger

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease or line a loaf pan with parchment paper.
2. Place dates in a medium sized bowl and pour boiling water over the dates until they are completely covered and fill until the water is about 1 inch higher than the dates. Whisk the apple cider vinegar and non dairy milk together in a large mixing bowl until somewhat frothy. Let both the dates and the apple cider vinegar mixture sit for about 5-10 minutes
3. Meanwhile, mix the flour, baking soda, and spices together in a medium sized bowl. After the apple cider vinegar and milk have sat for a bit, add the pumpkin puree and coconut sugar and whisk together until throughly combined. Now, drain the dates completely and pulse in your food processor until it a thick paste like substance. Add this to the liquid mixture and mix throughly.
4. Add the flour mixture and mix until combined. Be careful not to over mix or the bread can become dense. The dough should be pretty thick at this point, add a bit more flour in TBSP increments if it’s too runny. Spoon batter into loaf pan, leaving an inch or so at the top for the bread to rise. Bake at 375 for 30-35 minutes, using a toothpick to check that it’s done.
5. Store in an airtight container for up to one week or up to two months in the freezer. I will also sometimes wrap the pan with a dish towel on the counter for a couple days.