Pumpkin Muffins become Squash Loaf

Pumpkin Muffins

From Cheryl Townsley's Lifestyle for Health cookbook

1/2 cup applesauce, unsweetened

3/4 cup syrup, maple

1 lrg. egg

1 cup pumpkin, canned

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2 cups flour, spelt

1 tbs. arrowroot powder

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt, sea

1 tbs. pumpkin pie spice

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1/2 cup raisins, seedless, unpacked--or dates

1/2 cup pecans, chopped

Directions:

1. Mix applesauce and syrup together. Beat in egg and pumpkin until smooth.

2. Stir together all dry ingredients, add to pumpkin mixture.

3. Stir in dried fruit and nuts. Makes one 9" x 5" loaf or one dozen muffins.

4. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 to 20 minutes for muffins, or until done. Bake loaf about 45 to 60 minutes, or until done.

Yields: 12 muffins

HOWEVER...I made many substitutions. For instance,

I can't buy applesauce, so I boiled two apples and beat in blender. It made a little more than 1/2 c. I didn't have maple syrup, so I substituted the 3/4 C. syrup for 1 cup white sugar. Ahem, I can't buy canned pumpkin here, so I boiled a butternut squash, blended it and substituted the squash for the same amount of pumpkin. Spelt flour? I've never seen it in my life. So, I substituted the 2 cups of spelt for 1 cup white flour + 1 cup wheat flour (healthier!!). The next item is arrowroot powder, an ingredient I also don't have. I substituted cornstarch in the same measurement. I used regular table salt for sea salt, but when I got to the pumpkin pie spice I hit a snag. The internet came to my rescue and gave me the recipe, which is:

for 1 tsp. of pumpkin pie spice use: 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. ginger, 1/8 tsp. ground cloves, and 1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg. I couldn't have been happier that I had all those ingredients. The last substitution I made was to substitute the pecans for Brazil nuts--hey, that sounds better anyway because I live in Brazil. See how easy it is to cook in a foreign country???

I opted to made one loaf instead of the muffins. And presto (NOT!) it was done and I'm going to get my second slice right now and eat it with "real" butter. Bon appétit!!!