Lowfat Cranberry Pumpkin Bread
Sometimes we want to have a seasonal treat that’s a bit on the healthier side. I thought cranberries and pumpkin would be a wonderful combination. This bread has no oil or butter and no whole eggs, just egg whites. It’s sweetened with applesauce, agave nectar and a little bit of brown sugar. The only fat comes from the walnuts which you could omit but they add a lovely crunch on top of this moist and delicious quick bread.
If you read my last post, you already know that I’m a big fan of cranberries. They’re only available for a short time each year and sometimes they are hard to find. I got these at Whole Foods. My local Walmart and Publix did not have them yet. You could also use frozen cranberries for this recipe but if you do, do not thaw them out first.
This recipe is quick and easy. Combine the sugar and wet ingredients first. Add to the dry ingredients and mix well. Fold in the cranberries, pour into a greased loaf pan, spinkle with more cranberries, nuts and a little bit of sugar (1 teaspoon). Then bake. You could do 5 mini loaves and give as gifts for the holidays.
Aren’t the cranberries on top pretty. And their tartness is the perfect contrast to this sweet pumpkin bread.
You won’t even miss the oil or butter. This bread is so moist and just the right amount of sweetness with a little tartness from the cranberries.
The bread in these photos has 1/2 cup of cranberries in the batter and 1/2 cup on top. It definitely needs more. I think 1 cup of cranberries in the batter would be even better, so I adjusted the attached recipe accordingly. Enjoy!
Lowfat Cranberry Pumpkin Bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup egg whites, 250ml
- 1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin, 345g
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce, 130g
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed, 100g
- 3/4 cup agave nectar (light), 175ml
- 1 cup all purpose flour, 130g
- 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour, 130g
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries, 150g
- 1/3 cup chopped walnuts, 40g
- 1 teaspoon sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9" x 6" loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the egg whites, pumpkin, applesauce, brown sugar and agave. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, pastry flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and pumpkin pie spice.
- Pour the liquid mixture into the dry mixture and mix well. Fold in 1 cup of the cranberries. Pour into the prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle with walnuts, remaining 1/2 cup cranberries and 1 teaspoon sugar. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Let cool, slice and serve. Store in refrigerator.
Did you make this recipe?
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Very good taste but too wet. Could it be because I used 3 whole eggs instead of egg whites? I had to bake it for 1 -1/2 hour and left it in the oven (turned off) for another 10 minutes. It has to be kept in the fridge. I took it to work, however, and my colleagues loved it!
Hi Mireille, This is a moist bread. I used 1 cup of egg whites to increase the protein content with less fat. Plus the agave is a liquid, but a healthier sweetener. Perhaps you could use 2 eggs and regular sugar instead of the agave if you like a bread that’s not as moist, but I haven’t tested it this way yet. Let me know if you try it again. Thank you for your comments.
Pam – You could use either all-purpose flour or whole wheat flour. I just prefer the taste of whole wheat pastry flour but it can be hard to find. I got it at Publix. I’ve also seen it at Whole Foods.
Hello – I would like to make this for company but could not find whole wheat pastry flour in the local store. Can I use regular cake flour?
Thank you,
Pam
Also, mine took hour and a half to be done
Hi. Probably this questions have obvious answers, but since I’m not a pro baker (not even close to apprentice) here it goes. I did the recipe, the taste is awesome, but the texture is kind of a budding texture, guess i got something wrong.
For starters I use container egg whites, since I already had them.
For how long is suppose to be beat the mixture, I’m guessing thats something that can chande the outcome. Do you need a smooth mix or some lumps are required? (Like when you do pancakes)
Also, where it should be placed the oven grill (high, middle or lower)
I appreciate your reply. I really want to get this right.
Hi Janet, I think you could use 3 eggs instead of the 1 cup of egg whites. Also, I used a glass measuring cup to measure the agave nectar. I hope that helps. 🙂
This looks delicious. Is it possible to use whole eggs instead of a cup of egg whites? Also is the agave nectar cup for cup with sugar? Thanks. Pinned 🙂