As fall slowly approaches, cooking with pumpkin becomes a favorite hobby of mine. Pumpkin is a low-calorie vegetable but is rich in anti-oxidants, Vitamin A, B-complex vitamins, Vitamin C, and Vitamin E. Pumpkin has zero saturated fat and cholesterol and the seeds are loaded with heart healthy mono unsaturated fatty acids and fiber.
This morning I had two bananas that were going to spoil and a can of pumpkin in my cupboard and I thought, why not make a hearty banana pumpkin bread! I thought about putting in a layer of cream cheese filling, but I think I will try that another time. I follow a blogger, Skinny Taste, and I saw her Pumpkin Cream Cheese Spread and decided to use my extra pumpkin to make this cream cheese. I kept nibbling on the cream cheese spread - it will go excellent with a bagel or toast for breakfast. This is definitely a keeper.
One recommendation I will make to this recipe is to add nuts or raisins into the batter. I enjoy chopped walnuts in my bread as this adds more heart healthy fat, protein, and fiber. In this recipe I topped my bread with 1 oz. chopped pecans, but next time I will add more in the batter. Now slice yourself up a piece of bread, top with the cream cheese spread and relax with a cup of tea, coffee, or milk. This bread is an excellent choice if you are looking for something sweet.
Banana Pumpkin Bread
8 slices
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp butter or margarine
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin filling
2 eggs
2. Mix flour, baking soda, salt, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon in a large bowl.
3. In a separate bowl mash the bananas and add the pumpkin pie filling, eggs, butter and sugar. Mix thoroughly until homogeneous.
3. Mix the wet and dry ingredients. *If you want to add in raisins, dates, chopped nuts - add now!
4. Pour into loaf pan and bake for 1 hour. After 25 minutes top the bread with foil to prevent the top from burning.
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Spread
Adapted from Skinny Taste
10 servings (3 tbsp)
8 oz. fat free cream cheese
1/2 cup canned pumpkin pie filling1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp granulated sugar
Soften cream cheese and mix all ingredients together. Chill in fridge and serve!
Nutritional Information:
1 slice Banana Pumpkin Bread
Calories: 204
Protein: 4 g
Carbohydrate: 40 g
Fat: 4.5 g
Fiber: 4 g
3 tbsp Pumpkin Cream Cheese Spread
Calories: 65
Protein: 5 g
Carbohydrate: 11 g
Fat: 0.3 g
Fiber: 1.6 g
