Pumpkin Sweet Bread

A co-worker of mine, who shares my love of all things pumpkin, brought in a recipe for a sweet bread. The recipe she brought in wasn't vegan, but she said she thought maybe I could veganize it. Once I looked at it, I, too, thought that veganizing it would be easy. And it was! This is the kind of recipe when applesauce serves as the perfect egg substitute. The recipe can be used to make a loaf of bread or muffins; I made these on Thanksgiving, when baking time was a consideration, so I opted for muffins. These are really sweet and moist and fluffy, but the batter could be stretched to make 13 or 14 muffins, because some of the muffins in my dozen had serious muffin top.

You'll need:
1/2 C canola oil
1 1/4 C sugar
1/2 C applesauce
1 C pumpkin
1/2 C water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
1/2 C whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, combine wet ingredients. In another bowl, sift together dry ingredients.
3. Combine wet and dry ingredients.
4. If you want to bake muffins, spoon batter into tins. Bake for 18-20 minutes.
5. If you want to bake a loaf of bread, pour batter into bread pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes, until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.