Pumpkin Apricot Nut Bread

Raw, Vegan, Grain/Gluten-Free
with Raw Fusion Variation

Every fall I love experimenting with my favorite autumnal fruits and vegetables — persimmons, pomegranates and pumpkins.  Our yearly “Pumpkin Palooza” newsletter showcases the new recipes as well as the tried and true standards — here’s a link to last year’s as I am still working on this one — Still working on a  Pumpkin Vegan Mac ‘n Cheese for this year’s newsletter.

I got the inspiration for this recipe from one of our Natural Wellness Academy grads, Sue Boyce, who is a Holistic Health and Life Coach in New Zealand and an outstanding raw chef.  I tweaked the recipe, using some of my favorite dried fruits and added the pumpkin twist, but very grateful for the base recipe.

This makes a lovely morning bread, snack or dessert.  I have started adding grass-fed butter back into my mainly plant-based diet, so I especially enjoy a slice very lightly toasted (just to warm it up, really, which keeps the nut bread essentially raw) with a little butter and a lovely cup of tea.  I made the base recipe fully raw, using fresh pumpkin, but there are instructions on how to use canned pumpkin puree, as well.  Let me know what you think of this recipe!

Pumpkin Apricot Nut Bread

Ingredients:
2 cups almond meal
1/2 cup ground flax seed
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup water
1/2 cup dried currants
1/2 cup dried apricots
1/3 cup cubed pumpkin (seeds and skin removed) *
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground cardamon
1/4 tsp. ground clove

Directions:  Soak the currants and apricots in the water for at least 20 minutes.  Cut the apricots into small bite-sized pieces.  Separate out the soaked fruit and reserve  the soak water.  Chop your nuts in a dry food processor bowl first and store in a separate bowl.  Place the pumpkin and 1/2 cup soak water in the food processor and run or pulse until it becomes liquefied.   Add a little more water if needed but reserve some to see if you need to make the “dough” moister.  If you use all of the water at once it could become too wet and sticky.

Add the almond flour and chopped walnuts, soaked currants and apricots and gently blend together in the food processor, adding the spices and extra water, if needed.  Turn ingredients onto a cutting board or bowl and form one large loaf or two smaller loaves, patting gently with your hands.   Place on a dehydrator tray, covering the screen with a piece of unbleached parchment paper.  Dehydrate for one hour at 145 degrees, then lower to 115.  Depending on how moist you prefer this “bread” I’d recommend dehydrating at least 6 hours.  I turn off the dehydrator for an hour or two to allow any surface moisture to come to the exterior and then turn it on again for an hour or two.  Serve by slice.  If you wrap and cover, this nut bread should stay good for at least a week in the fridge (if it lasts that long! : – )

If you don’t have a dehydrator, place the loaves on a parchment covered cookie sheet and bake at the lowest temperature for a couple of hours or until the outer crust is dry – you can also slice and lightly toast the slices and serve with grass-fed butter for non-vegan or with coconut oil for a lovely snack or vegan breakfast.

* You can use canned pumpkin puree for raw fusion but note these direction changes:  Disregard the step where you liquefy the pumpkin.  Add 1/2 cup to the nut mixture while blending and only use some of the soak water sparingly to moisten and sweeten your “dough”.

Happy Fall!