Baking

a finished loaf
(my pan is slightly wider than standard)

The recipe is from Mollie Katzen's Sunlight Cafe.  The cookbook is vegetarian and devoted to breakfast. I recommend it, the recipes are easy and the ingredients are easy to find. This bread is quick, it doesn't require rising time. It's my go-to recipe when I have to bring something for a staff breakfast.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Protein Bread

Ingredients:
nonstick spray
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup soy protein powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin (two cups)
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (optional)


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F (325 for a glass pan). Lightly spray a standard sized loaf pan with nonstick spray

Place the flour, protein powder, salt, baking powder and sugar in a medium sized mixing bowl and stir until thoroughly combined.  Stir in chocolate chips.

In a second bowl, combine the pumpkin, eggs, vanilla and optional melted butter and stir with a whisk or fork until uniform.

Add the pumpkin mixture to the dry ingredients and stir from the bottom of the bowl until everything is thoroughly blended. The batter will be stiff.

Transfer the batter to the prepared pan, patting it into place with a dinner knife and shaping it so that it is gently mounded in the center. Bake in the center of the oven for 45 min (for a damper more puddinglike loaf) to 1 hour (for a drier loaf. Cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then rap the pan sharply to remove the bread.  Cool it on a rack for at least another 20 minutes before slicing.


Variations:
Applesauce Chocolate Chip Protein Bread
add 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon to the dry ingredients
change pumpkin to 16 ounces of unsweetened applesauce


Banana Chocolate Chip Protein Bread
change pumpkin to two cups mashed ripe bananas
add 1/4 teaspoon almond extract to wet ingredients

Some notes from Catherine: I usually halve the salt. I've substituted milk chocolate chips with yummy results. I've never added the butter. Today, for the first time, I added 6 tablespoons of ground flax seed since it's good for the baby. The loaf turned out as yummy as ever! Once, I tried to make it with applesauce but it didn't turn out well, the bottom half of the loaf was very underdone. It might have been my expired baking powder or perhaps I didn't stir the batter too well.