Low-Calorie Pumpkin Bread

 

I love the fall. I'm a big wimp when it comes to cold weather, but I'd maybe like to try it one day. I don't think I could survive in the snow. One of the joys of the fall I like is pumpkin flavored foods. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin spice coffee, caramel macchiato coffee! I don't love what the full fat versions do to my waist line.

 

 

Starbucks Tall Caramel Macchiato: 254 Calories

Starbucks Pumpkin Loaf (1 Slice): 390 Calories

Totaling: 644 Calories.

 

I was looking around on Pinterest and I saw a recipe for a low calorie pumpkin bread. I though I might try it. The recipe says the loaf makes 12 slices and it does. Per slice is 228 calories for this recipe. That's a lot lower than 390! I left out the pumpkin seeds and nuts. When I checked it against my fitness pal, each slice this way has 170 calories. Another big difference. I've been eating this with my Caramel Macchiato Iced Coffee that has 105 calories and I really don't know the difference between the full fat and this. Now, it's not exactly the same tasting, but I like it because it's texture is alot less greasy. It's still dense like the full fat loaves and moist. With my big iced coffee (It's great hot too) and a slice of this, the total calories come to 275. That's a savings of almost 400 calories from Starbucks version!!! That's a whole meal. I have had this every day for the 2 weeks and the numbers on the scale haven't moved. I still hate the cold weather, but I can at least still keep my comforts that help me get through it. This is the recipe:

 

Reduced Calorie Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients:

Cooking Spray
3/4 cup spelt flour
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup soy flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 tsp table salt
2 eggs, large
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup brown sugar Splenda, packed
1 cup chopped walnuts
2 Tablespoons unsalted pumpkin seeds

I pre-heated the oven to 350 degrees just like it stated and used 1 8x4 loaf pan. I sprayed the pan with cooking spray. I mixed all of the dry ingredients in one bowl and mixed the wet ingredients in another. After I stirred both really well, I added the dry ingredients into the wet about 1/2 cup amount at a time will it was all well mixed. I then poured the mix into my loaf pan and set the timer for 30 minutes. I though this would be a good point to check for doneness. Sometimes my cooking times vary greatly when I find recipes on the web I think due to the climate. This is about at 15 minutes (I had to peek).

 

The picture is fuzzy, I just took it quickly to show a friend in a text. The total time took 38 minutes total with looking to test about 3 times. I'm not much of a baker and I'm watching and timing how things look at certain times so I can learn. I'm so proud of myself for this one. I made bread, be it not a yeast bread yet , but I'm working on a whole wheat, rye, and soy flower bread with carrots and sunflower seeds to replace my ridiculously expensive bread I like from Whole Foods for breakfast in the morning. This is how it looked in the end. Sometimes I will spread some of my smart Balance Light Spread on top of it. adds a few more calories, but it ups the yumminess factor. I put on about a teaspoon. This is the end result with my coffee (and a bite missing =)

 

Overall this recipe is a keeper to me. On the site it says you can leave out the honey to save 51 calories per slice, but I think adding honey to breads makes them taste so much better and help the ingredients stay together better. Sometime the bread can be a little think which means you will have crumbly bread in this case. I think it out with a little vanilla soy milk. They make fairly large slices and 2 on the end were sorta smaller than the others because I didn't measure it to slice it. I just count up the sides 12 spaces and get a rough idea how big each slice should be. It think it's a substantial snack and eat it in the late afternoon with my almond milk iced coffee. It's very filling and I have no problem lasting till my night meal with no in between hunger. It's a real treat during the autumn months.