I love pumpkin spice and everything nice! Fall gives me the cozy feels and makes me want to bake. Now that I’m a mom, I try to sneak vegetables into all my recipes–wherever I can. Adding pumpkin to the usual banana bread spices it up! Great for snacks, lunches or just a yummy dessert.

Sometimes with banana bread I find it gets too soggy or too dry depending on how many bananas you use. Enter pumpkin–the secret ingredient to keeping your bread moist throughout the week.

Ingredients

• 2 cups of all-purpose flour (You can substitute 1 cup of spelt or whole wheat flour as a healthier option)
• 1-1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 tsp. of pumpkin pie spice or 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. nutmeg and 1/2 tsp. of cloves
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups of mashed banana (about 2 ripe bananas)
• 1 cup of pumpkin puree
• 1 cup of brown sugar
• 1/4 cup of melted butter
• 3/4 cup of dark chocolate chips (optional)
• 1/4 cup of organic pumpkin seeds

Cooking Instructions

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cover a 9×5 loaf pan with parchment paper. In a large bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pumpkin pie spices.
• In another large bowl combine eggs, mashed banana, pumpkin, sugar and butter. Add egg mixture to flour mixture. Add chocolate chips. Stir just until combined, batter will be lumpy. Pour batter into loaf pan. Sprinkle pumpkin seeds over the top of the loaf.
• Bake for 55 to 65 minutes or until deep golden brown. Insert toothpick and if it comes out “clean” it’s done. Mine took 65 minutes last time, so be patient!
• Move to a cooling rack and let cool before slicing.
• Eat and enjoy!

Wrap in the parchment paper and a plastic bag. I re-use my old bread bags and they are perfect for storing banana bread! Store in the fridge for up to a week.