I hope you are having a wonderful, safe, healthy and joyous holiday season!
If you are looking for a last-minute healthy offering to give as a gift or take with you to a holiday gathering, look no further! This recipe tends to be a crowd-pleaser so be prepared for everyone to ask you for the recipe. They will NOT believe that this tasty dessert is FAR healthier than your usual holiday bread!
I love working with recipes to upgrade them to be as healthy and nourishing as possible and yet are still deliciously satisfying. Finding combinations of ingredients to create versions of tasty recipes that offer the best nutrition possible is always a fun challenge. Usually I prefer cooking, but I took a stab at baking with this recipe and I think you might enjoy the results!
This tasty treat recipe has been totally upgraded to offer loads of nutrition and plenty of deliciousness. It also happens to be gluten AND dairy free, so it is both paleo and vegan friendly. This recipe also uses just a low amount of all-natural sweetener and includes a veggie, fruit, nuts and seeds as ingredients—and yet still tastes like super pumpkin-spice-chocolatey heaven!!
If you try this recipe, I’d love to know what you think! I hope you enjoy!
Healthy Holiday Pumpkin-Spice-Chocolate Bread
Ingredients:
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
3 tablespoons cashew (or almond) butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup + 3 tablespoons boiling water, divided
1 can 100% pure pumpkin
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon chia seeds + a sprinkle for garnish
1 cup cassava flour
½ cup coconut flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon allspice
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup dairy free dark chocolate chips + 1 tablespoon to sprinkle on top before baking
Directions:
• Preheat oven to 350 F and lightly grease an 8-inch bread loaf pan with coconut oil
• Boil water in a tea kettle (no need to measure yet)
• Put applesauce, cashew butter and cocoa powder in a mixing bowl
• In a separate bowl, sift together cassava and coconut flour, spices, baking soda and salt
• Measure 1/3 cup boiling water and pour into the bowl with the chocolate mixture, mixing quickly to make a smooth chocolate sauce
• Add pumpkin, coconut sugar, vanilla and mix well
• Incorporate about half of the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture and gently stir just to begin to mix together
• Measure 2 tablespoons of boiling water, add in and stir
• Add the rest of the flour mixture and another tablespoon of boiling water and stir just until smooth (be sure not to over-mix)
• Fold in 1/2 cup chocolate chips and chia seeds
• Spoon the batter into the prepared loaf pan. It will be quite thick—smooth the top with a spatula, add 1 tablespoon chocolate chips and a sprinkle of chia seeds
• Bake for 40-45 minutes. Stick a knife into the center of the loaf to check and see if it is ready—there might be some chocolate from a chocolate chip—but the knife should come out nearly dry
• Let cool for at least 10 minutes
• Slice and serve while still warm!
Enjoy!!
Thank you for being a part of the Wholistic Food Therapy Community!
Thank you for reading and I hope to continue to offer articles that help support your personal wellness journey. If there are any topics you’d like see me write about here, please hit reply and let me know!
I am putting together a 7-Day Cravings Challenge for the new year, more information on that to come very soon! I hope you’ll join me!!
With Gratitude,
Sarah