Pumpkin Bread

There is nothing I love more than trying a recipe that I've scribbled on a scratch piece of paper laying on my desk. The recipe always screams, "Make Me!" but I always put it off to the side and end up forgetting about it. I became smarter and began storing these scratch pieces of paper in a folder so I can sift through it when I had an itch to bake. Needless to say, when I had the itch yesterday, I whipped out my folder and starting sifting through my recipes. Awhile back, I was searching for a healthy pumpkin bread recipe because quick breads like pumpkin bread tend to be high in sugar and fat. After a good search, I found a recipe than had just the right amount of healthiness!

This recipe calls for egg whites, plain yogurt, and pumpkin which all create a healthier version of pumpkin bread! I love pumpkin and one of the beauties of making pumpkin bread is not having to worry much about the end product being moist because pumpkin recipes tend to be moist.

I was very happy with how the bread turned out. If I could tweak this recipe slightly, I would add more spice to the bread to bump up the flavor. The recipe is good as is if you like pumpkin baked products to be more on the mild side. Next time, I plan on incorporating some pumpkin pie spice to enhance the pumpkin flavor. Each serving has 140 calories and 4 grams of fat. Not too shabby if you ask me!

Pumpkin Bread
compliments of Good Housekeeping

Ingredients
1 cup light brown sugar
2 large egg whites
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup canola oil
1/3 cup low-fat plain yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1-1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a loaf pan with cooking spray.
2. Whisk eggs and sugar until well combined. Add pumpkin puree, canola oil, plain yogurt, and vanilla. Stir to combine.
3. In a separate bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Add dry ingredient mixture to pumpkin mixture until just combined. Do not overmix.
4. Bake 45-50 minutes or until toothpick test comes out clean. Cool bread for 10 minutes before serving.