I've talked about my big colorful binder full of recipes before, and this one is another that has sat there screaming out at me to make for a very long time. Every once in a while I'd remember to look for pepitas in the store and always came up empty handed. The only ones I could ever find were roasted and salted, and those wouldn't work here. Finally, one day I was placing an order on Vitacost.com for some low-carb pantry items and thought I'd look to see if they had them there. I mean they are super healthy, and jam packed full of nutrition, so I really wanted to add them to my regular snack options anyway. Tada!! They have them! Exactly what I needed. So, if you're having trouble locating them too, you can find them here: Buy Pepitas.
I'm a big fan of pumpkin anything, but I will admit, pepitas on their own are a little bit of an acquired taste. Okay, honestly, right out of the bag, I really don't like them. Lucky for me, I had a bit of a flub when I first set out to make this recipe and had a nice batch of cinnamon pepitas to munch on. They are seriously good, and crazy easy to make. Oh, and word of advice, it's VERY important when setting out to make a pumpkin recipe, that you're sure you actually have some pumpkin in the house.... woops!
Rather than making this fantastic pumpkin bread in a loaf pan since I struggle with portion control, and don't always have the steadiest hand with slicing low-carb breads (they can sometimes be quite delicate), I decided to make these in a dessert bar pan. Nice neat little squares, and I wind up with 12 servings, instead of 10. The baking time was still around 25-27 minutes.
The only other suggestion I have, even though I absolutely love cardamom, it was a bit overpowering in this. Next time I will use only 1/2 tsp of cardamom, and maybe add in a 1/4 tsp or so of pumpkin pie spice to play up the warm flavors.
My favorite part of this recipe is definitely the pepitas on the top. They are nice and crisp from the erythritol which behaves a lot like sugar, turning crisp after melting, and adding a nice bit of crumb topping from the erythritol/cinnamon mix as well.
*Update: Almost forgot, when using melted coconut oil, it's important to not try to blend it with cold ingredients or it will clump up on you and not blend well. Have your eggs sitting on the counter to warm up a bit while you assemble your dry ingredients.*
If you're a fan of all things pumpkin like I am, click on the link for the full recipe and directions: All Day I Dream About Food - Pumpkin Cardamom Bread. Enjoy!
