Do vegan baked goods kind of make you cringe?  I’m always hesitant to label things vegan because I think mainstream society thinks of vegan food as extreme and unappealing, but I promise, this vegan Pumpkin Walnut Bread is yummy!  I got the recipe from Joy the Baker, who I definitely trust to make a delicious anything, so despite my skepticism about vegan baked goods I gave it a try, and per usual she did not lead me astray.

Now it’s confession time….sometimes I make really big mistakes in the kitchen…mistakes like leaving out half of the flour in this bread.  I realized as I was cleaning up, once the bread had been in the oven for about 7 minutes…too long to do anything about it.  But sometimes mistakes workout, and in this case, I had a dense, super moist almost brownie-like “bread,” and it was still delicious.  This also is about as close to gingerbread as I’m going to get.  It has those great fall flavors, but is definitely not overwhelmingly spicy as gingerbread can be.  So if you have vegan guests coming for the holidays, give this bread a try, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how much non-vegans enjoy it as well!

Pumpkin Walnut Bread (vegan)

Makes 2 loaves

Adapted from Joy the Baker

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour (optional?  this is what I forgot…if you do too, it’s still yummy, but it will be fluffier if you add this)
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp allspice
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup applesauce (or another 1/2 cup oil)
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 (15oz) can pumpkin puree
• 1 heaping cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Grease two loaf pans (8x4x2) and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together flours, sugars, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices.  In a large measuring cup, whisk together oil, applesauce, syrup, water and pumpkin puree.  Add wet ingredients to the dry and use a spatula to fold together until just combined, making sure to get all the dry ingredient at the bottom.

Fold in the walnuts, reserving some to sprinkle on top.  Divide the dough between the prepared baking pans and sprinkle with walnuts.  Bake for 55-65 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Remove from oven and let rest for 20 minutes before turning out to a cooling rack.