Pumpkin Walnut Bread

'Tis the season... for baking...

A lot of standard soups and stews and casseroles and breads and rolls come about this time of the year, with not many new recipes to share. I resort to comfort foods and sail through the winters without much fanfare. Except around the holidays in December, when quite a bit of baked goodies come about just to make the kids happy.

This Pumpkin Bread, much like the Zucchini bread and Apple Walnut bread and Rhubarb Banana bread and Sweet Potato bread and others that I've shared here already, is a simple no-fuss bread.

For the most part, it is a fairly standard recipe, only, I am not into adding a lot of sugar and butter. However, without the right amount of fats and sugars, baking can fail miserably... unless, I manage to substitute with the right kind of ingredients that work and that I can feel comfortable incorporating in copious amounts that is required to make it work.

Ingredients
1 can (15 ounces) pureed pumpkin (not the pumpkin pie mix)
1 cup brown sugar
¼ cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup coconut oil
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 eggs
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup combination of flax meal and wheat bran
½ cup coarsely chopped walnuts
2 teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

For Icing:
1 cup confectioner's sugar
a few teaspoons of water as needed (or maple syrup, if preferred)

Some raw green hulled pumpkin seeds for topping

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350° F; grease the bottoms of two standard loaf pans
2. Beat together the wet ingredients: pumpkin puree, sugar, oil, vanilla, and eggs
3. Mix the dry ingredients: flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, walnuts
4. Fold in the dry ingredients mix to the wet ingredients to form a thick batter
5. Pour into the greased loaf pans and bake in the 350°F oven for about an hour, checking for doneness when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean
6. Cool on a wire rack and add on the icing and sprinkle some pumpkin seeds on top
7. Icing (optional): Stir a few drops of water to the icing sugar and stir till desired consistency, spread over the bread