Pumpkin Bread

It seems like southern California has finally gotten the memo about the change in seasons.

October should not be this warm.

It's officially been autumn for more than a month, but we were still seeing temperatures in the 80s and 90s for pretty much all of October. But apparently, now that it's November, the weather has finally caught up.

A few nights ago, we had a glorious thunder storm. I was overjoyed. Ecstatic. Giddy. Seriously, though, every time the lightning flashed, I ran over to my husband so I could share how ridiculously happy I was. I fell asleep to the sound of rain soaking the drought-stricken ground.

Of course, the fact that the weather has, until just recently, been hot hasn't stopped me from getting my autumn baking on. I've been making cookies, muffins, beer bread, and plenty of pumpkin goodies. And now that I've finally gotten around to baking the culinary pumpkin I picked up at one of San Diego's many pumpkin patches, we'll be eating pumpkin everything for some time to come.

I've made pumpkin bread three times within the past few weeks. I think I've finally perfected my recipe, after changing things pretty much every time I make it. This is bread has the perfect texture, is sweet enough without being sickeningly sweet, egg-free, and absolutely delicious.

Pumpkin Bread

1½ c flour
½ tsp salt
½ c sugar
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp allspice
¼ tsp cloves
equivalent of 2 eggs (or just use actual eggs if that's how you swing)
1 c pumpkin puree
¼ c applesauce
¼ c oil
drizzle of maple syrup (optional)
½ c chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350° F. Sift together flour, salt, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and spices. In a separate bowl, combine pumpkin, applesauce, oil, egg replacer*, and maple syrup, if using. Combine with dry ingredients and mix until just moistened. Fold in nuts. Pour into greased loaf pan. Bake 50-60 minutes.

*I am currently using Orgran brand egg replacer, so I mix the powder (2 tsp for the equivalent of 2 eggs) in with my dry ingredients, then add the necessary water (1/4 c in this case) to my wet ingredients. I have also made this with ground flax in the past, in which case I'd mix both the flax (2 tbsp for the equivalent of 2 eggs) and the water (6 tbsp) in with the wet ingredients.