Valentijn's Awesome Vegan Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bread

[Valentijn]

I couldn't find any recipes without egg or gluten, so I ended up cobbling my own together. Followed by tweaking it repeatedly to fix the texture, flavor, and everything else just right Luckily my fiance is very happy even with the unsuccessful attempts, so we haven't had to throw any out.

Prep time: 30 minutes for healthy people, 1+ hour if you need to rest. Some light whisking and moderate stirring is required - you might need an assistant for that. Baking time is 40 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 180C or 350F. If you're an ME patient, be careful not to get those units and numbers mixed up

Lightly grease and flour your loaf pan.

In a small bowl, add:
1 Tbsp Chia seeds
1/4 cup water
Stir carefully - the seeds like to stick to everything. The chia is what helps hold the bread together, instead of gluten, so could cause a lot of problems if left out. It's good to stir it after 5-10 minutes, to make sure it's all getting wet. It turns into a slightly disturbing gooey gel.

In a different small bowl, whisk:
Egg substitution powder equivalent to 1 whole egg
The indicated amount of water
(If you don't explode when eating real eggs, just add one to the wet ingredients instead of messing with the fake egg.)

In a medium bowl, mix the dry ingredients:
1/4 cup tapioca flour (or other starch)
1/4 cup arrowroot flour (or other starch)
1 cup millet flour (or other flour)
2.5 tsp baking powder (about two-thirds of a packet)
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp xanthum gum (this also helps hold the bread together)
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp ginger
A whisk works well for getting the various powders evenly distributed into the flour.

In a large bowl, mix the wet ingredients:
2/3 cup coconut milk (1/3 of a normal can which has some fat content. If using coconut water or a nut milk or normal milk instead, be sure to add a couple Tbsp of oil.)
1 cup cooked pumpkin puree (1/2 of a normal can - canned pumpkin is already pre-cooked)
1 cup sugar (it's not "wet" but it's nice to let it dissolve a bit in the wet ingredients)
1 tsp vanilla (maybe 2 tsp if your vanilla is home made, since it's less concentrated)
The egg substitution prepared above (or 1 whole egg)
The chia seed goop
Whisk or mix with a spoon until everything's nicely mixed in.

Combine the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients:
Pour about 1/3 of the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Stir or whisk (this is where the stirring starts to get hard). Pour in another 1/3 of the dry ingredients, and stir again until the dry stuff is all wet. Pour in the final 1/3 of the dry ingredients, and stir with a spoon since it's definitely too thick for a whisk now.

Now you should have a fairly thick but wet mixture. It shouldn't be runny at all. "Pour" the batter into the loaf pan, using a large spoon or spatula to scrape it out of the bowl. Try to smooth the top of the batter in the loaf pan a bit.

Put the loaf pan in the oven and bake for 40 minutes at 180C or 350F.

When it's done baking, tip it out of the loaf pan onto a cutting board. I put a wooden spatula on the board first, so that the loaf lands on it and I can just lift the spatula to help get the loaf upside-up again.

Now turn off the oven

 

[SDSue]

While I'm pretty sure I can't actually make this, I had a grand time reading your recipe. It made me laugh You could write an ME friendly cookbook.

 

[Hanna]

I enjoyed reading it Val, and hope to enjoy testing it too in the future, thanks.

 

[brenda]

It has been my observation (and I will probably get a mouthful of abuse in reply) that people fighting Lyme and eating sugar....don't win the fight. Otherwise I would try it.

 

[Sushi]

Now turn off the oven

You nailed the most likely ME moment mistake!

 

[Strawberry]

While I'm pretty sure I can't actually make this, I had a grand time reading your recipe. It made me laugh You could write an ME friendly cookbook.

I think an ME friendly cookbook is a great idea! But who here honestly could type a book? But maybe we could get a thread going where people post recipes and (for laughs) make fun of the disease, like "now turn the oven off" and then have a healthy person compile and publish? I actually sit next to a published author, she could maybe give us ideas on publishing a group (authorless) book. And then we could have the funds go towards ME awareness.

If people think this is a good idea, I would suggest starting the thread under Members Only, so we don't get spies.

 

[dannybex]

Why no egg? Are you vegan now?

 

[Valentijn]

Why no egg? Are you vegan now?

Eggs make me explode

I'm not vegan, but for dessert baking it's a useful search term if intolerant of egg and dairy.

 

[CFS_for_19_years]

I think an ME friendly cookbook is a great idea! But who here honestly could type a book? But maybe we could get a thread going where people post recipes and (for laughs) make fun of the disease, like "now turn the oven off" and then have a healthy person compile and publish? I actually sit next to a published author, she could maybe give us ideas on publishing a group (authorless) book. And then we could have the funds go towards ME awareness.

If people think this is a good idea, I would suggest starting the thread under Members Only, so we don't get spies.

Not that I do any cooking, but I've been inspired by books that have words in their titles such as "four ingredients or less."
An Amazon search yielded these books:
http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&fie...ode=qs&sourceid=Mozilla-search&tag=mozilla-20

 

[SOC]

@Valentijn,
I love the ME-friendly recipe! All recipes should tell me to turn off the oven at the end. Also very useful for PWME are the comments like:

It turns into a slightly disturbing gooey gel.

(because I have accidentally made some rather disturbing messes while trying to cook, so now I always wonder what I've screwed up when something looks weird)
and

1 cup sugar (it's not "wet" but it's nice to let it dissolve a bit in the wet ingredients)

(because I'm easily confused to the point of inaction by small inconsistencies. The little "It's okay, just move on" is a big help. )

It's kinda sad to need a recipe to be reassuring, but that's life with ME.

If I can manage to remember to get chia seeds tomorrow (Yeah right ), I'm going to try this recipe with a number of your suggested variations to fit my own situation. I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

[Valentijn]

The recipe in the first post has been amended slightly:

• Instead of 1 cup of teff, it now has 1/2 cup of teff and 1/2 cup of millet. Millet has a milder flavor, helping the pumpkin flavor to remain prominent. Millet is also a lighter color, which means the orange of the pumpkin is more apparent as well.
• I added slightly more baking powder. 3 tsp has been a bit much in the past, and seems to leave a mild after-taste. But 2.5 tsp rises a bit better than the 2 tsp initially included in the recipe.
• I replaced the ginger with nutmeg. The ginger is simply too strong with the pumpkin, even in tiny amounts, whereas the nutmeg compliments and enhances the pumpkin's flavor.

 

[Daffodil]

this sounds amazing. I could never tweak recipes..that takes cooking talent!

I might try to make this; I have every ingredient on the list. so far, I have been baking vegan gluten free cupcakes/muffins from a cookbook called "Bunner's". that is a gluten free vegan bakery here in Toronto. the outcome is as close as you can get to the real thing, in my opinion. you can even make frosting with whipped coconut milk.

I don't use cane sugar....but I am sure coconut palm sugar would work.

I keep trying to stop my sugar intake but it is impossible. when my mood is low - which is 99.9% of the time - I need to reach for something sweet. I end up eating about 4 dates a day and something with maple syrup in it. very bad, I know.

paradoxically, when I feel better, I am so much better able to control myself. horrible feedback loop :-/

 

[Valentijn]

@Daffodil - I always want pumpkin foods in the fall ... It's not Halloween or Thanksgiving, or even Christmas, if there isn't some pumpkin dessert food

I'm not too picky about baking the perfect bread for myself, but I like to have something to serve to guests, and then I really do worry about it being good enough. However, my in-laws were here for the first attempt, where it crumbled into little pieces when trying to pick it up, but everyone still loved it. The texture and the taste were great, and they don't have proper pumpkins in this squash-forsaken country, so they thought it was very impressive despite the crumbs

 

[Dreambirdie]

It's sounds good! But the sugar would do me in.
I actually haven't eaten any refined sugar since 1976, the year before I got sick.

I think using squash, which is sweet in itself, would probably be a good substitute.

 

[GracieJ]

"Slightly disturbing gooey gel"

Entertaining!

I just have a bite or two of the "real thing" over the holidays. Corn allergy prevents enjoying just about everything yummy.

 

[maddietod]

This is a very forgiving recipe. I used sweet potatoes from the fridge, and a GF blend I made a year ago from my freezer that has more starch and less flour. I used an egg because eggs don't make me explode.

In my early years of GF baking I stopped using regular sized loaf pans, and have collected paper bakers when they go on sale after holidays. So I made 2 smaller loaves and 4 minis, and they all came out perfect. I'm freezing the 2 loaves for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and sharing the minis with GF friends.

This is delicious, and I'm amazed that you invented it. The way you use the chia is inspired. The texture is great, too- not like gluten at all, and wonderful. I'm curious to see how well it slices. I just tore my mini loaf into pieces right out of the oven.

 

[Valentijn]

@madietodd - I'm so glad you liked it!

The general use of chia seeds comes from a bread baking book I bought about a year ago: Gluten-Free and Vegan Bread: Artisanal Recipes to Make at Home by Jennifer Katzinger. It's been great for understanding the various principals behind tricky bread baking It's available in Kindle format, and maybe other ebook formats.

I was worried that the Chia seed crunch might be a bit odd, but I really like it ... it's subtle and reminds me of poppy seeds.

The slicing should be pretty clean, as long as it has cooled and the pieces aren't super thin. I can even spread a thin layer of a somewhat firm spreadable butter on it pretty easily, with just a little crumbing.

 

[Valentijn]

A few more updates, based on more tinkering (reflected in the recipe in the original post):

Cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves decreased a little to let the pumpkin flavor shine a bit more. Ginger added back in, but in a smaller amount - I think it's nicely balanced now with the pumpkin flavor, and nothing is overwhelming the other flavors.

I just use one cup of millet now instead of 1/2 cup of millet and 1/2 cup of teff. The teff is just a bit too strong. I haven't found any flour I like better than the millet. Rice is neutral enough in flavor, but too gummy in texture.

I also increased the coconut a bit to keep it creamy and moist, but without getting too heavy.

And if you really want a treat, it's absolutely heavenly with whipped cream on top - just like a pumpkin pie

 

[taniaaust1]

Valentijn. I suggest if you havent done so already, to put the improvements you are doing to your recipe.. straight into your original recipe post.

1/8 of a teaspoon.. I wonder what that is in "pinches"??. measuring little amounts isnt easy with ME where as if a small or large pinch of something is used, its far easier.

I like the idea of mixing the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients separately first, as that should make things far easier to mix (to make it easier, one could just mix the dry ingredients with hands and not have to use a spoon with those). It's the mixing which also is a big issue for me when one puts dried and wet things together.. hard to mix.. so I guess if things separately mixed well first, there will be far less mixing when put together.