Pumpkin Bread with Chocolate Chips - Moist, Spiced, and Scrumptious

This bread is delicious. It's moist and spiced and studded with decadent little chocolate chips that make short days and long nights easier to bear. 

Although this is technically a pumpkin bread, you can use other winter squash in place of the pumpkin. I used a butternut squash that I cut in half, de-seeded and roasted in a pan, cut-side down in about a quarter inch of water for about an hour at 350 degrees, then let it cool, scooped out the flesh and mashed it. I appreciated that it's both a bit easier to deal with than a pumpkin (they're also not typically for sale in my neck of the woods after October) and also because it has sweeter flesh.

This recipe is lightly adapted from the one by Sally's Baking Addiction. I admit to being a bit skeptical about the inclusion of orange juice but decided to follow Sally's instructions and was glad I did as it makes the flavor richer and the bread moister. 

The chocolate chips are optional, of course. You could also either add or substitute a half cup of chopped walnuts to your loaf if you like. Enjoy!

-- print recipe --

Pumpkin Bread with Chocolate Chips

Lightly adapted from the great recipe in Sally's Baking Addiction - makes one loaf

Ingredients

Dry ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsps ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 3/4 tsp fine sea salt
• 1 tsp baking soda

Wet ingredients

• 2 large organic, pasture-raised eggs, ideally at room temperature but don't sweat it if you forget to take them out to warm up
• 1/4 cup cane sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups pureed pumpkin or butternut squash
• 1/2 cup neutral oil like canola oil or you can use melted coconut oil
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1/2 tsp orange zest
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips or chunks of your choice

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and generously grease a 9"x5" loaf pan (I favor glass - do NOT use nonstick, they're coated with toxic chemicals) with butter and set aside.
2. Combine your dry ingredients in a large bowl, whisking the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and salt until combined then set aside.
3. Prepare your wet ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs and the white and brown sugars together until combined then whisk in the pureed squash, oil, orange juice and zest.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and gently mix together using a large wooden spoon or a spatula until mostly consistent then fold in the (optional) chocolate chips, if you're using them.
5. Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake on a lower rack for an hour to an hour and 5 minutes. If the top starts to get too brown, you can loosely cover it with aluminum foil.
6. After an hour, test for doneness by inserting a clean, dry skewer, toothpick or knife into the top of the loaf - it should come out clean with only a few small crumbs clinging to it. Continue cooking longer, if needed. Then allow the bread to cool in its pan on a wire rack before removing it and serving.

This bread store well at room temp for several days or well covered in the fridge for about a week. It also freezes well for months if you want to make a double batch and save one to enjoy later.

You might also like:

Spiced Butternut Squash Waffles

Winter Squash & Pear Soup with Sage

Maple Pecan Scones

3 Sustainable (Plastic-Free) Christmas Tree Traditions

Every year, Americans throw away between 10 and 15 million Christmas trees.🌲Many, if not most, of these trees end up in landfills where they slowly rot over years, releasing methane, a greenhouse gas that's 25% more potent than carbon dioxide at speeding climate change. 🗑️🔥🌎Not so merry...😭

If you celebrate Christmas, I've got three more sustainable and plastic-free options for your consideration below. 

Stir-Fried Grated Tofu with Spicy-Sweet Sauce

My friend Molly has been hosting semi-regular potlucks at her house. These communal meals are fun and warm and fill me with a much-needed sense of community and connection in these troubling times.

I made this dish a couple of weeks ago to bring to a dinner at her house as I figured that a tasty vegan main is always welcome.

It's adapted from Nisha Vora's I Can't Believe It's Not Chicken recipe in the New York Times. I've amped up the aromatics in the tofu and increased the amount of and flavorings in the sauce because the grated tofu has a ton of surface area and it really soaks the sauce up, making it even yummier.

I suggest serving this over coconut rice with stir-fried chinese broccoli (gai lan) or simple roasted broccoli. As my now-grown niece, Lila used to say, it's nummy!

Maybe you'd like to try hosting a potluck at your house this fall or find a group of friends to take turns hosting meals with? Let me know how this dish turns out for you.

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-- print recipe --

Stir-Fried Grated Tofu with Yummy Sauce
Recipe is adapted slightly from Nisha Vora's recipe in The New York Times

Ingredients

For the tofu

* 1 package super firm tofu, drained
* 1.5 Tbsps neutral oil (grapeseed, peanut, olive, etc.,)
* 1 jalapeño pepper*, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped
* 4 cloves of garlic, pressed or chopped
* A knob of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped or grated
* 4 scallions, chopped, white parts (reserve the green tops, chopped for garnish)

* Feel free to use more peppers if you like things spicy; you can also use 1-2 Thai birds eye chilis instead of jalapeños if they're available in your neck of the woods.

For the sauce:

* 5 Tbsps soy sauce or tamari
* 2 Tbsps chinese black vinegar
* 2 Tbsps oyster sauce
* 1 Tbsp maple syrup or agave
* 1 Tbsp gochugaru (Korean chili flakes) or sub 1 Tbsp chili garlic sauce
* 2 Tbsps toasted sesame oil
* 2 tsps cornstarch

For the garnish

* 1Tbsp roasted sesame seeds
* Chopped scallion greens

Directions

1. Grate the tofu using the large holes on a box grater, if any pieces break off, just chop them up with a knife

2. In a large cast iron or stainless steel skillet, heat the olive over medium heat. When hot, add the garlic chilis, ginger and scallion whites and cook, stirring frequently until the scallios are softened and the garlic is golden.

3. Add the grated tofu to the pan and stir to coat in the oil, and leave it undisturbed for 2 minutes, then stir. Repeat, stirring every 2 minutes, until the tofu is golden brown in some spots, for about 10-12 minutes.

4. Make the sauce by mixing all the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl, stirring well with a fork to blend the cornstarch in.

5. Once the tofu is golden brown in spots, add the sauce to the pan and stir well to coat all the tofu with it. Let it bubble a bit and cook until the sauce thickens slightly. The tofus should absorb most of the sauce.

6. Turn off the heat and remove the pan. Top with the sesame seeds and scallion greens and serve.

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You might also like:

Crispy Sheetpan Ramen with Glazed Tofu & Cabbage

Garlic Scape & Pork Fried Rice

Loaded Tahini Ginger Rice Bowls

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