Cinnamon Addict

It seems that almost every food blog these days is fully embracing the fall and all of the pumpkin recipes that come along with it.  I do like pumpkin, but don't seem to be drawn to it as much as some.  I do love roasted squash and am apt to sample pumpkin beers (although I've yet to find one that I love this season), but this fall for me has been all about cinnamon.

Cinnamon

 I can't get enough of it and seem to be going through it at a shocking rate.  I eat it every single morning on my cereal/yogurt/shredded coconut combo and it makes the apartment smell lovely.  Besides, cinnamon has known health benefits as well - lowers LDL cholesterol, regulates blood sugar levels, and even smelling it can boost cognitive function and memory!

So after my mom sent me this recipe for Pumpkin Pineapple Bread from her local newspaper, The Times Union, I decided that I had to give it a try and combine these two fall favorites.  I altered it quite a bit to make it a bit healthier and also to experiment with some new techniques and ingredients that I have found.

Almond meal from TJ's.  Can substitute for up to 1/2 of regular flour in any recipe.

More genius from Pinterest

The recipe says that it makes three loaves, but as I only have two loaf pans, I made two loaves and a pan of mini muffins.  You can add nuts if you like them, but I personally don't care for nuts in baked goods.  The original recipe also suggests topping with cream cheese frosting, which I'm sure would be delicious!



Pineapple Pumpkin Bread
Makes 3 loaves (or 2 loaves and 24 mini muffins)
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 12 minutes for mini muffins, ~1 hour for loaves

Ingredients:

8 egg whites
1 cup Truvia
1 cup evaporated cane sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons Chobani 2% Greek yogurt
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup almond meal/flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
3 tablespoons cinnamon (lots of cinnamon!!)
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 (16-ounce) can pumpkin
1 (15 1/4-ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained

Preparation:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Coat desired baking pans with cooking spray.
2. Combine eggs whites, sugars and yogurt in a large bowl and mix well. Combine flours, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice and add to egg mixture. Blend well. Stir in pumpkin and pineapple. Pour into prepared pans.
3. Bake mini muffins for 12 minutes and remove from pan when cooled.
4. Bake loaves for 1 hour or until a pick inserted in center comes out clean (I took mine out at 53 minutes). Cool 20 minutes in pans. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely.