Close to the beginning of the year Travis and I committed ourselves to eliminating High Fructose Corn Syrup from our diets and lowering our sugar intake. Admittedly, he is much more disciplined than I am. He doesn't have quite the sweet tooth I do. I can't be a happy person and NOT have desserts here and there. So, I started experimenting with Agave Nectar as a way to have reduced sugar desserts. Apparently it is 14 times as sweet as white sugar and comes from Blue Agave plants. Bonus- it's organic. I have been so happy with the results so far. The only downside is it's so much more expensive than sugar. As in 16 oz is around $5.50 at Wal-Mart. Ouch. I have to remind myself that our health is worth it.
The back of the bottle says 2/3 cup of nectar = 1 cup of brown sugar. All other liquids should then be reduced by 1/4 cup. I have substituted light Agave Nectar for white sugar using the same ratio.
For my first experiment I made pumpkin bread using no granulated sugar whatsoever. That was a big mistake. Reducing the oil so much dried it out and it lacked sweetness. It took us forever to eat those loaves up. I pawned them off on the kids. Very disappointing. So then I tried reducing the granulated sugar by half and that was so much better. The time after that, (I know- that's a lot of pumpkin bread, but I love it!) I tried the half sugar recipe with my own pumpkin puree. Oh-my-goodness. DIVINE! So pumpkin-y and moist! The recipe makes two loaves and they were both gone in a little less than 4 days. We oinked 'em. And we barely shared with the kids because it was that good. And they make a complete mess whenever they eat bread.
The base recipe I use is really not all that special. I think it may even be identical to the one on the cans of puree. But following the directions of the almighty Pioneer Woman for making homemade puree and half-ing the sugar intake makes my idea of the perfect reduced sugar pumpkin bread. Consequently, it is also reduced fat because there is less oil. Just make sure your puree is mixed really well because once I unknowingly made it with some lumps and then it didn't mix well into the batter and the center turned out very mushy. While the outside burned. Which brings me to the next point...I am a little frustrated that the sides and bottom of the loaves are a little brown-er than I'd like. I may try reducing the cook temp one of the days.
Melissa's Perfect Reduced Sugar and Fat Homemade Pumpkin Bread with Flax Seed
2c homemade pumpkin puree
1 c sugar
1-1/4 c oil
2/3 c agave nectar
3 c flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1-1/2 tsp allspice
1-1/2 tsp ground cloves
1-1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 tbsp flax seed (optional, I just happened to have some)
Directions:
Cream oil, sugar, nectar, and eggs. Add pumpkin.
In another bowl mix all dry ingredients. Add to egg mixture. Mix very well, scraping bottom and sides. Fill greased loaf pans about half full. Bake 45- 50 minutes.
