Earlier this fall, my mom warned me to stock up on canned pumpkin because of an expected shortage this year. Knowing how many cans of it I went through last year, I rushed over to the grocery store and bought eight cans. Several weeks later, I had yet to open one. As weird as it sounds, I was starting to feel guilty!
Granted, last fall I was at the height of my baking obsession. I made at least one sweet treat each week. I was Betty Crocker on steroids – and on a diet. I couldn’t get enough of the slimmed down dessert recipes that flooded my Pinterest. And since it was fall, I had a pumpkin field day. Or should I say patch day? Ha.
Fast forward to the present. It’s not that I don’t like baking anymore. I absolutely do. But my life is about fifty times busier this year than it was last year, and my down time tends to be spent under my electric blanket rather than in front of the oven.
As the cans of pumpkin peeking out from the pantry began to haunt me, I knew it was time to turn to trusty ol’ Pinterest and get myself back in the game. I came across this recipe for Skinny Pumpkin Bread from Living Well Spending Less. I’ll admit that I was quite skeptical at first. I was anticipating a bland bread, but since I clearly had plenty of pumpkin to go around, I figured I’d go for it.
I’m simultaneously glad and full of regret that I tried this recipe. Why glad? Because it was absolutely delicious. Why regret? Because it was absolutely delicious. Yup, I ate an ungodly amount of it in one sitting. But hey, at least it’s “skinny,” right?
I halved the recipe to make two loaves instead of four. When the bread first came out, I thought I had overcooked it – the outside looked a little dry. But when I cut into it it was just right – just slightly gooey and perfectly moist. For the second loaf, I sprinkled some chocolate chunks on top of the batter before baking it. You can’t be skinny all the time, ok?!
My friend Elizabeth and I downed this pumpkin bread like it was our last meal. I brought the rest to my friend Kate because I could not be trusted with the full batch in my possession.
My mouth is watering as I write this. If you decide to make it, tag @haleyslifeincolor in your photo so I can salivate some more!
Because admit it, you wouldn’t dare bake something without Instagramming it.
