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Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Pumpkin Bran Date Bread


I wanted to use up more of the bran cereal and was looking for something different. While we love the bran breads and bran muffins I've made in the past, Ryan was ready for something a little different. I've been stocking up on pumpkin every time I go to the grocery store (have to take advantage while I can!), so I decided to incorporate that. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a pumpkin bran bread recipe. Instead, I decided to come up with my own, by looking at other bread/muffin recipes and adjusting accordingly. Luckily, this method worked and the result was a deliciously moist and perfectly spiced bread. This is a relatively healthy bread, without any butter and not a ton of sugar. It doesn't taste like a decadent dessert (like my banana bread!), but it's a perfect breakfast or snack treat.

Ingredients:
-15 oz can of pumpkin
-1 cup bran cereal
-1/2 cup applesauce (mine was sweetened)
-1/2 cup brown sugar
-2 eggs
-3/4 cup milk
-1/2 cup whole wheat flour
-3/4 cup all-purpose flour
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-1/2 teaspoon ginger
-1 teaspoon cinnamon
-1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
-1 cup chopped, dried dates (could substitute raisins or eliminate if preferred)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine pumpkin, bran, applesauce, and sugar. Mix in the eggs and milk.
3. In a separate bowl, combine flours, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and baking soda. Add to wet ingredients and mix well.
4. Stir in dried dates.
5. Pour 3/4 of batter into a greased 9 x 5 loaf pan. Use remaining batter to fill greased regular or mini-muffin tin (I got 16 mini muffins).
6. Bake bread for approximately 50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean (unfortunately the time is a guess as I didn't set the timer and just checked it while I made dinner. the muffins probably took about 15 minutes)