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Story time: About 4 years ago… I decided to start experimenting with coconut flour in the (very) early days of this blog of mine. At the time, I was eating mostly grain-free; trying to come down from a pretty brutal inflammatory flare up. Truth is- I was very new to baking with coconut flour and didn’t really know what I was doing or what to expect. My paleo loaves were either far too dry or way too mushy and crumbly. Simply put: either a hard brick; or they looked and felt like watery custard. Needless to say; neither is a desirable outcome. You know what I mean?

You see; coconut flour is pretty peculiar and that saying- “a little goes a long way” has never been more true. It behaves differently from any and all flours I’ve ever experimented with. It’s sort of like that little rebel you need to learn how to work amicably with and then you totally get along and dive into a groove. But, I’ve learned a thing or two now and in the spirit of pumpkin season, I decided to revisit one of my very first recipes and make a couple of tweaks to completely perfect the texture.

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I took away an egg, then added back the egg and an extra one.. go figure! I changed the pumpkin spice measurements, & I upped the coconut flour measurement just a bit!

If you enjoy pumpkin everything, you’re going to love this loaf. If you’re not a huge pumpkin person, you’re also going to love this loaf. Yep, I promise. I am honestly not overly big on pumpkin- but have been heavy on the attack against this loaf ever since it emerged from the oven. Can’t stop, won’t stop. You guys will have to try it!

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So, I baked pumpkin loaf three ways before settling on coconut flour. Buckwheat made for a bit of a drier, denser, spongier loaf. Almond flour required a full 2.5 cups and is considerably pricy. One of the things I try to do is keep my recipes reasonably priced. So cue in coconut flour. Unassuming. Super affordable. And you ONLY require 1/2 cup because it’s super absorbent and like I’ve said before, a little goes a looooong way.

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BUT; here’s the caveat: don’t try to sub a coconut flour recipe measurement for another type of flour. If you tried to make a loaf with 1/2 cup of say almond flour or brown rice flour, you would end up with “the great pumpkin mush”. A much larger flour quantity would be required. This measurement works for coconut flour, only. I buy a large bag for $7-9 dollars or less. This usually yields 10+ baking projects. Not too shabby, at all. Am I right?

I often get a lot of emails from you guys with questions about ingredient substitutions. So… I decided to add a little substitution template; so you guys can cross-check your pantry for alternatives.

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Substitutions

• maple syrup= you could use raw honey or agave!
• eggs: you could a flax meal egg. 1 Tbsp of flaxseed meal to 2.5 Tbsp of water per every egg the recipe calls for. For this recipe, that means 2 tbsp of flaxseed meal to 5 Tbsp of water. Stir well and allow the mixture to thicken. Some people even swear by refrigerating the mix for 5-10 mins for best results.
• coconut oil: try grass-fed butter, vanilla ghee or sunflower oil!
• dairy free chocolate chips: you could also use pepitas or candied pecans

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