Pumpkin Bread

It's Fall, which means pumpkin! I love pumpkin and everything that goes along with it: cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and allspice. A nice piece of pumpkin bread with a hot cup of tea is my idea of a cozy morning on a rainy day. Make  up a batch of this pumpkin bread and enjoy a relaxing morning on me.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup milk

1/4 tsp lemon juice

15 oz can of pumpkin puree

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup canola oil

2 egg whites

1 tsp vanilla

2 Tb vital wheat gluten

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp ginger

2 cups whole-wheat flour

1 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix milk and lemon juice together and let sit while you go onto the next step.

Whisk together the pumpkin puree, brown sugar, honey, canola oil, egg whites and vanilla. Stir in gluten, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, cloves, baking powder, allspice and ginger: now add your lemon milk. Stir in flour and pecans until everything is well mixed and pour into a bread pan sprayed with non-stick spray.

Make a tent for the top of the pan with aluminum foil. This will keep the top of the bread crust from becoming over cooked and dry with the long baking time. Bake for around 90 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean: I start checking my bread at around an hour or so, but this bread usually takes closer tot he 90 minute mark.

Set the bread on the counter in the pan for 30 minutes and then remove from pan and continue to cool on a wire rack - or enjoy a nice warm piece right away.