Vegan Pumpkin Apple Oat Bread

Fiiiiinally I got around to baking something with all those Autumn flavors that have been swirling around in my head! Pumpkin! Apple! Ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon! With the bonuses of walnuts, flax, oats, and, imagine this - coconut milk!

I got my inspiration from this recipe on vegweb.com, while making some adjustments in order to make my autumn dream come true. (And based on the ingredients I had available that day!) Here are all the dry ingredients.

I decided to use agave instead of sugar. So I probably should have put the "wet" agave in with the wet ingredients, but didn't think of that at the time! The recipe called for 2 cups of sugar, which would be one cup of agave. That's a LOT of that expensive syrup! So I cut it down to just half a cup, which worked out fine, because I wasn't going for a really sweet cake-like bread anyway.
Yeah, here are the wet ingredients, all mixed up in the blender, where the agave should have gone!

I LOVE the color of pumpkin!

All mixed up...
And then scooped into four mini-loaf pans.

I sprinkled some oatmeal on top for decoration and texture. No eggs, no yeast, (no milk or butter for that matter), and they rose very nicely into moist, plump loaves!

A mug of tea went very nicely with all the warm spices of nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon and ginger, not to mention the pumpkin, flax and vanilla.

I loved the crunch of the oats on top and the walnuts on the inside. The apple bits brought some nice sweetness. Overall, each slice was moist and chewy with enough density and cakiness to make you say yummm.

I gave a few loaves to friends and family, all omnivores, and all loved it!

Even though this bread was a bit of an experiment, I think five rave reviews (plus my own) is enough to warrant a public posting of the recipe!

Dry Ingredients:
1 c. oatmeal (plus more to sprinkle on top)
1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 c. white flour
2 Tbs. ground flax
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2  tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. allspice
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 c. chopped apple (about 1/3 of a large apple; use the rest with the wet ingredients)
1 c. chopped walnuts

Wet Ingredients:
1 1/2 c. pumpkin puree (about 15 oz)
1 1/2 tsp. fresh grated ginger
1 c. chopped apple (about 2/3 of a large apple, what you have left over from the wet ingredients)
1/2 c. agave (or 1 c. of sugar)
3/4 c. coconut milk (half of a can)
1 1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour four 5" x 3" loaf pans (or two 8" x 4" pans).

2. In a large bowl, stir together all dry ingredients except the walnuts and 1/2 c. chopped apple.

3. In a blender, blend together all wet ingredients (including the 1 c. chopped apple).

4. Mix the blended pumpkin puree into the dry ingredients. Once almost completely combined, add the chopped walnuts and apples. Mix until just combined.

5. Divide the batter evenly between the loaf pans. Sprinkle oatmeal on top of the batter and press the oats into the batter a little bit.

6. Bake for about 27 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (I'm not sure about cooking time if you're doing two 8" x 4" pans, but I guess it'd be longer.)

7. Remove from oven, and cover loaves (still inside their pans) tightly with foil. Allow to steam for 10 minutes. Remove foil, and turn out onto a cooling rack. Cool completely, if you can wait, then slice and eat!