Wholewheat Pumpkin Bread with Coconut and Almond Crunch

Moist and supple bread to the core is what fresh pumpkin puree does to this bake.
By Sanjeeta Kk

“Pumpkin..what..don’t tell me it has pumpkin in it?” I baked this wholewheat pumpkin coconut bread for the 14th wedding anniversary of my friend and did not reveal the ingredients till the last piece was left. It was a delightful surprise for my anti-pumpkin friend, who never cooked this humble veggie in her kitchen and believes that a pumpkin is no good than scaring crows and keeping the evil at bay.

In most of pumpkin bakes the veggie is first cooked or baked to get pumpkin puree and then added to the batter but I avoided that step…lazy…Hmm..sort of. Moist and supple bread to the core is what fresh pumpkin puree does to this bake, while freshly grated coconut & almonds give that extra crunchy texture to it.

Wholewheat Pumpkin Bread – Healthy Bake with Coconut & Almond Crunch

 

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Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

35 mins

Total Time

50 mins

 

Author: Sanjeeta kk

Recipe Type: baking, bread

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1 cup wholewheat flour
• 1 tbsp. All purpose flour
• 1 cup fresh pumpkin puree
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 2 tbsp. fresh grated coconut
• 2 tbsp. yogurt/curd
• 1 tbsp. any vegetable oil
• ½ tsp. baking powder
• ¼ tsp. baking soda
• 1 tbsp. goji berries
• 1/ 2 tsp. cinnamon powder
• Salt a pinch

Instructions

1. Wash and soak Goji berries in little milk for 10 minutes if using.
2. Peel and chop about 200 gms of pumpkin to make a cup of puree. Grate a small piece of coconut.
3. Blend the pumpkin cubes with the yogurt into fine paste.
4. Add sugar, grated coconut and oil in the pumpkin puree. Mix it well till the sugar is dissolved.
5. Sift wholewheat flour, APF, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon powder and salt twice.
6. Drain the milk from the Goji berries and slightly crush the almonds.
7. Preheat oven to 190° C for 10 minutes and grease a rectangular baking tray with oil.
8. Take a large vessel and add the sifted flour, Goji berries, a little of crushed almonds and mix all the ingredients well.
9. Pour the pumpkin puree mix into the dry ingredients and fold it lightly to just about all the ingredients.
10. Pour the batter into the greased baking tray sprinkle the remaining almonds and bake the bread at 190°C for 30-35 minutes or till done. Insert a knife and check if it comes out clean.
11. Take out from the oven and let it cool completely for 20 minutes before slicing the bread.
12. Make thin slices and serve it with chocolate sauce or just plain.
13. The best part of this whole-wheat pumpkin bread is the crunchy roasted almonds on the crust and lightly sour taste of Goji berries in between every bite!

Notes

I baked the bread at 215°C for the last 5 minutes to get this lovely brown crust on top. Avoid Goji berries and replace it with raisins if you wish. Omit grated coconut and make plain pumpkin bread if you can’t get the coconut. Stays good for upto 3 days. Color of the bread depends upon the pumpkin you use for the bake, mine had lovely orange hue.

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