Whole Wheat Pumpkin Bread w/ Maple Cinnamon Glaze

Sigh. This past weekend was about as good as they come. It was three days long, the weather was UH-mazing, and my usual haunts were crawling with pumpkins. I freaking love pumpkins. I want to buy a thousand of them and cover my yard with the orange beauties so that everyone walking by can taste the fall in the air and feel flashes of subconscious nostalgia for trick-or-treating as a kid. Halloween is my favorite holiday (as evidenced here), despite the painful memories of the year that I had a short haircut and my parents dressed me as a skeleton and all of our neighbors thought I was boy. I was 7; it left scars.

But back to the present. I spent Saturday gloriously baking and cleaning and walking my pup. She and I took a stroll over to Eastern Market to pick up some home-grown yellow tomatoes and basil (which later came together in a super-fresh pasta dish with a little olive oil and cherry peppers). I can't say it enough, but the weather was so good. I'll say it a million times to show the weather gods how much I appreciated it. Hot weather that runs into October is what gets me through those garbage months later on (I should probably just move to Arizona and be done with it). So I was strolling along, loving the heat and loving my dog and just loving life. Then I see what I can only describe as a heartstoppingly beautiful pumpkin. Charlie Brown would have died. So I bagged it up and lugged it home (seriously lugged - between the tomatoes and pumpkins and dog, getting home took all my energy and coordination).

I had the perfect pumpkin centerpiece. Then it was on to the perfect pumpkin dessert. I looked at gobs of recipes for pumpkin bread before crafting my own. The most popular recipe floating around the internet calls for 1-1/2 cups of sugar per loaf. Now, I clearly am not one who shies away from using sugar. I bake sweet treats like it's my j-o-b. But, as I've said before, there's no point in putting boatloads of sugar in a baked good where you don't need it. I would wager that if you pitted my recipe (3/4 cups of sugar and 3/4 cups unsweetened applesauce) against a recipe with 1-1/2 cups of sugar, mine would win. And even if it didn't win (though this is doubtful), it wouldn't be because of the missing sugar. Save your sugs for when they really count.

This recipe produces a moist, dense quick bread. Not something airy or crusty or crumbly. "Quick bread" is a catch-all term for breads that don't use yeast to rise (and hence are more like your typical baked good than actual bread). E.g., banana bread, corn bread, zucchini bread, soda bread, biscuits. I wanted something so moist that it's almost mushy on the inside - just like the banana bread that my mom used to make when I was a kid. 

The whole wheat was an experiment. I used half whole wheat and half all-purpose, but you wouldn't even know it was part whole wheat. Next time, I'll go whole hog on the whole wheat and see what happens. In the meantime, don't hesitate to try this recipe - which is tasty-central - or to experiment with your own ideal pumpkin bread recipe!

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Bread w/Maple Cinnamon Glaze 

Makes one loaf

Pumpkin Bread

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. salt

1-1/4 cups canned pumpkin

2 eggs

3/4 cups packed brown sugar

3/4 cups unsweetened applesauce

3/4 cups vegetable oil 

Glaze

2 tbsp. low-fat cream cheese (same as neufchâtel), room temperature

2 tbsp. pure maple syrup

pinch cinnamon

This recipe is easy peasy. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix your dry ingredients - the first 8 ingredients, not including the brown sugar (brown sugar is sticky and won't distribute evenly when put directly in dry ingredients). Mix together wet ingredients plus brown sugar. Add dry to wet, mixing just enough to incorporate. Pour batter into a greased loaf pan (or a pan lined with parchment paper that hangs over the edge on two sides for easy removal). Bake at 350 for 50-55 minutes. Top should be just starting brown at the crevice (there's always a crevice in quick breads) and a toothpick should come out clean. I baked for exactly 55 minutes.

While bread cools (for 15-20 minutes), whisk together cream cheese, maple syrup and a few good shakes of cinnamon. Make sure cream cheese is at room temperature, otherwise it won't incorporate with the syrup very well. While bread is still warm, pour the glaze down the center of the bread and spread to edges gently with a spatula. 

Garnish with your favorite decorative pumpkins.