Banana Pumpkin Breakfast Bread

Virtually overnight my son went from eating baby food to refusing it.  At about 9 months old, William decided he wanted to feed himself, and hasn’t looked back (well, maybe for a few spoonfuls of applesauce!).  So, in an effort to keep up with his eating, I stumbled upon a delicious, nutritious bread on the King Arthur Flour website.  I’ve made some adjustments after reading the comments, and with my desire to throw flaxseed into whatever I can and get away with it, I came up with this recipe.  To my delight this bread is not just satisfying to our little boy, every one loves it, and I hope you and your family will too!

*This bread is best if it rests overnight, but if you just can’t wait, try and allow it to fully cool before slicing.

Enjoy, William’s Breakfast Bread!

Banana Pumpkin Breakfast Bread

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup soft butter (1/2 a stick) ~4 ounces
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce (or a jar of baby food, apples) ~4 ounces
• 2/3 cup brown sugar ~5 ounces
• 3 Tablespoons Agave
• 2 large eggs
• 7.5 ounces pureed pumpkin (half of a 15 ounce can, this way you can get two loaves out of one can, freezes well)
• 1 cup mashed bananas, about 2 very ripe bananas ~8 ounces
• 2 Tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups Premium Whole Wheat Flour (I prefer King Arthur)~6 ounces
• 1/4 cup ground flaxseed
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

**I have included measurements in volume as well for anyone using a food scale.  My husband got me my food scale a couple years ago, and I don’t know if this sounds sad or not, but either way, it is one of my favorite gifts.  I use it when I bake and it is wonderful (and helps make clean-up a little easier)!

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 loaf pan with butter and set aside.  In a large bowl (I just use my KitchenAid stand mixer with paddle attachment), beat together butter, applesauce, sugar, agave, water, eggs, pumpkin puree, banana, and vanilla.  At this point my butter doesn’t look beautifully incorporate, but it melts beautifully into the bread. Add the flour, flaxseed, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice to the butter mixture and stir to combined. Spoon mixture into loaf pan and bake for approximately 70 minutes.  Depending on your oven, check it at an hour, but I find that it needs all of 70 minutes.  Let cool on a wire rack in loaf pan for 10 minutes, remove bread from pan, and allow to cool completely.  Once the bread is cooled wrap it tightly in plastic wrap overnight.  After bread has been sliced keep in the refrigerator up to a week.

Adapted from http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/easy-whole-grain-pumpkin-banana-bread-recipe