My vegan pumpkin loaf is the spicy cousin to the popular, over-Instagrammed banana bread. Same principles apply. To be honest, I just tweaked my own banana bread recipe to make this vegan and it worked out pretty well. Actually, really well.
I’ve also discovered the power of adding vinegar to plant-based mylk in recipes. This produces a vegan buttermilk which means you don’t need eggs, flax eggs or anything of the kind. It helps the loaf rise (something about the vinegar reacting with the baking soda – science stuff).
This loaf isn’t super sweet. I usually jazz it up with some honey and homemade coconut yoghurt on top (if you want the coyo recipe, sign up to my newsletter here). If you want it to be sweeter, double the honey in it or just load a baked slice with a drizzle.
I also know pumpkin puree is tough to come about in South Africa so I’d suggest buying some diced pumpkin and steaming or roasting it and then popping it in your blender once cooled. You need roughly 400g of puree.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of buckwheat flour
- 1 tsp of baking powder
- 3 tsp of cinnamon (I love cinnamon, you can reduce as you like)
- 1 tsp of turmeric
- 1/2 tsp of bicarbonate of soda
- 1 can of pumpkin puree (I used this one – approximately 400g)
- 80 g of melted coconut oil
- 1/2 a cup of honey
- 1 tsp of vanilla essence
- 3 tablespoons of mylk alternative
- 1 tsp of vinegar ( I used apple cider vinegar)
- pinch of salt
Method:
Set your oven to 180°C and line a loaf tin. Mix the vinegar and mylk in a cup and set aside. Sift the buckwheat flour, spices, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a big bowl. Whisk the honey, vanilla essence, coconut oil and pumpkin puree in a separate bowl.
Add the wet to the dry and mix well. Then add the mylk mixture. The mylk should have curdled slightly, this is normal! Mix until well incorporated. Don’t over-mix as buckwheat flour can get gummy if it’s overmixed. If the mixture is stickier than normal, this is okay. However, if it is super stiff, add a dash more of mylk.
Bake for about 35-40 minutes or when a toothpick comes out clean.
Leave to cool in the tin for about 10 minutes. Then remove from the tin leave to cool completely before tucking in.
I top mine with my homemade coconut yoghurt, blueberries, more honey and some cinnamon. It would be delicious with almond butter on top. I also think it would be banging toasted with caramelized banana. Get creative!
Let me know if you bake it and tag me on Instagram @morganshelly.
