taste of fall: soaked pumpkin bread

I love to bake in the Fall. I think it's because the hot Georgia days are finally cooling off and it's not so painful to turn on the oven and heat up the house. I get into a baking frenzy almost every year. I say "almost" because there have been plenty of Fall seasons when I've been pregnant and felt too sick or tired to bake. That's the exception. This year we have been making loads of soaked pumpkin bread. I've made 6 loaves already this week! It's been rainy, so we've been stuck inside.

For this recipe, I sometimes use organic canned pumpkin and other times, I bake a sugar pumpkin and use the meat from that. It's up to you what you prefer. I think it tastes the same wither way.

Soaked Pumpkin Bread

3 cups freshly ground organic whole wheat flour

2 cups filtered water

3 TBSP of kefir (or yogurt, whey, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice or kombucha)

1 15 oz can of organic pumpkin or 2 cups of fresh pumpkin (make sure the fresh is well drained)

1 cup sucanat (or 1/2 to 3/4 cup organic grade B maple syrup)

3 farm fresh pastured eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup coconut oil (or gently melted unsalted butter)

2 TBSP pumpkin pie spice

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 1/2 aluminum free baking powder

1/2 baking soda

In a glass bowl, mix the flour, water and kefir together (it will be thick) and cover with plastic wrap. Idealy, you should let it soak for 24-48 hours but no less than 7 hours to help break down the mineral blocking phytic acid.

After it has soaked, add the pumpkin and stir well.

Grab another bowl and crack your eggs into it, whisk, then add your sucanat, vanilla and coconut oil and stir. 

Add this mixture to the flour/pumpkin mixture.

Next add your spices, salt, baking powder and baking soda.

Stir well but don't over-stir.

Pour into two greased (with coconut oil) bread pans. I bake them together at 350 degrees for about 90 minutes. Your time may vary, check with a toothpick for done-ness.

To make it fun, you could also add chocolate chips, carob chips, nuts, dried cranberries or raisins to the batter. We prefer it plain.

Serve with lots of pasture butter or homemade cream cheese along side a tall glass of raw Jersey milk.