Gift of Memories & Coconut-Pumpkin Bread

Moving into a new place two months ago, I am only now getting things together. I unpacked the “last” box to only have my mother bring me more “goodies” to go through…

My last place was very tiny and I “learned” how to pack all my stuff into a room the size of a closet (OK, exaggerating a little, but only a little!)…Luckily, since my parents live close I was able to store some things for a while but now its time to face the large pile of old memories.

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The task will be both happy and sad…it may bring tears or inspiration (I hope this!). I don’t know the complete contents but I know it will have past memories that I chose to stuff in a box in hopes I wouldn’t have to face them again for a while. It is hard to let go of things…objects/pictures that bring back good memories but memories that came to an end.

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Time away helps though…things I wasn’t ready to give/throw away before, I am now ready πŸ™‚ I must constantly remind myself that people and things may come and go but memories will always remain.

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Coconut-Pumpkin Bread

~Vegan, Gluten-free option

3 1/2 c. flour
2 c. dark brown sugar
2/3 c. sugar
2 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
1 t. nutmeg
1 1/2 t. cinnamon
2 c. pumpkin (1 can)
1 c. oil
2/3 c. coconut milk
coconut flakes (optional)

Easy as 1-2-3:

Set oven to 350 degrees. Combine dry ingredients. Fold in wet ingredients and add coconut flakes if desired. Place in greased bread pan or line with parchment paper. Bake until the center is no longer wet.

The more:

  • The recipe calls for dark brown sugar but this is not a must.
  • With the replacement of the flour, this recipe can be gluten-free. I did not make it gluten-free this time but I have in the past.
  • The recipe can be doubled but make sure that you have a large enough bowl!
  • The addition of coconut flakes is delicious! It adds a little more texture to the bread but if you don’t like coconut this is a great pumpkin bread recipe.

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For Next Time:

Bread should roughly take 45 minutes to an hour to bake but it seems in CO that it takes longer to bake completely. I have found most of my breads (banana, pumpkin, zucchini) to take over an hour to bake all the way through the middle. The tough part about this is that the ends get over baked and could end up a little chewy. For next time I would put less batter in the bread pan so that it is not as thick. If doing this, this recipe will probably allow you to have two loaves of bread.

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Another option is to bake them in a more shallow pan. With the little batter I had left I put it into a square brownie pan. These took less time (about 20 minutes) to bake and were more consistently gooey πŸ˜€

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You May Also Enjoy:

Pumpkin Cookies

Pumpkin Beer

Comments

  1. The change from moving does make for reminiscing though I’m sure your ready to make many new ones πŸ™‚
    What an incredible bread as well today looks gorgeous!

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru

  2. I will try this!

  3. coconut milk in pumpkin bread? Great idea!

  4. Vegan, tasty and coconut flakes to boot! I’ve oftener wondered about the addition of coconut milk into baking, I’ve yet to try it (but I love the idea!) I also moved a couple if months ago, that feeling of baking for the first time is extraordinary because it really make your new home, yours πŸ™‚

  5. This looks ambrosial!

  6. Wow, if I didn’t suck at cooking I’d definitely try this! Absolutely love pumpkin bread!!! I imagine that the coconut adds kind of a “sweet and sour” dynamic to it. *Whilst sitting back and eating Kraft Mac and Cheese…

  7. Wow coconut! Delicious.

  8. Beautiful words, beautiful photos, and a scrumptious recipe that made my stomach growl! I love this post; love your blog! I also have several dairy free/gluten free people in my life, so this post is especially great. Thank you for sharing.

  9. I really, really like pumpkin bread but haven’t tried it with coconut yet – it sounds delicious! And yes, it’s wonderful how memories remain long after the actual events and people are gone.

  10. Well spoken and lovely words!
    The pumpkin and coconut milk loaf looks so good! I have the same problem making any type of bread with bananas, pumpkin, etc. It seems to bake forever!! Yours looks delicious!

  11. Love the idea of using coconut milk in this — yum!

  12. This bread sounds amazing! Happy holidays πŸ™‚

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