Every year just before Halloween I see the internet explode with a bunch of pumpkin recipes coming from America. I can’t get over how many sweet things make with pumpkin. Personally I haven’t made any sweets with pumpkin until now. The reason for that is that in Australia I can’t find ready-made pumpkin puree and for some reason, I absolutely hate making purees. I hated making them when my little boy was a baby and because of it I nearly always got him store-bought. I’m not sure why it’s such a big deal for me, but I had a huge beautiful local pumpkin and some bananas from https://yourfoodcollective.com/ that needed to be used up so I made my first pumpkin style dessert. I was really happy with how it turned out. Your food collective is a local online farmers market that services the Newcastle and Sydney area. I love to buy local and I love supporting this business and its values to reduce household carbon footprints, reduce national food waste, truly support local growers, build local food security and nourish people with food that’s actually fresh. You can really do a lot with the food you choose to buy.
I couldn’t taste the pumpkin in this banana bread at all but I was happy it was in there for the extra fibre and nutrition. This banana bread was actually the best I have made. I’ve made a few variations in the past but this one had the best texture. Most of the banana breads I’ve made in the past turn out too crumbly and are very difficult to slice without falling apart, this one held together beautifully and had a great flavour. We couldn’t stop eating it.
I guess there are a few ways to make pumpkin puree from scratch. I chose to roast the pumpkin because I dislike boiling and steaming but you could boil or steam the pumpkin as well. Roasting makes the puree turn out a little more thick and dry, which I think is a good thing for a vegan banana bread because it helps it stick together more.
The recipe is low gluten but not entirely gluten-free, if you wanted to keep it gluten-free you could swap out the spelt flour for extra buckwheat flour.
Get the recipe in my new book “Eating for Hormone Balance: a Plant-based Guide” Click this text to purchase.
