VeganMofo 10: Monday = Breakfast (Pumpkin “Biscotti”)

I can’t lie. Today’s breakfast started out as a fail. Until I reframed it.

Yesterday I wanted to make a pumpkin bread that would be great toasted. I scoured recipe books. bread maker manuals, and websites. Finally I came up with a recipe that I thought might work. I wasn’t using yeast and very little liquid so I assumed it would come out “cake like.” In fact I thought today’s post would be titled “Toasted Pumpkin Cake Bread.”

Yeah, that didn’t happen. But this did.

I gazed at the block of “cake,” cut off an end piece and bit into it. I thought “this is sort of like biscotti.” So I googled biscotti.

It’s not at all like biscotti. It’s not a cookie. It wasn’t twice baked. I didn’t use almond flour. I did use oil. Whatever. It reminded me of biscotti. And I read one thing I knew I could do — slice it while warm and let it “dry out” to get crunchy.

That’s how I created this Pumpkin “Biscotti.”

JL’s Pumpkin “Biscotti”
PRINT RECIPE

Ingredients

2 T Avocado Oil
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
2 Ener-G “eggs”
1/2 cup sucanat
1/2 cup unbleached bread flour
1/2 cup stone ground whole wheat flour
2 T vital wheat gluten
1/2 t ground cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg
1/4 t pumpkin pie spice
1/2 t iodized sea salt
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

Instructions

Spray bread maker pan with olive oil
Add all ingredients according to bread machine (usually wet to dry)
Select small loaf (1 lb) and bake on Quick Bread/Cake setting
Slice bread while warm and separate the pieces to “dry out” and get biscotti-crunchy!

This is so great with a hot cup of coffee! My omnivore husband considers this one of the best things I’ve made.

Do you have any fails that you have reframed as a success?

***

Today on Stop Chasing Skinny Chelsea Lincoln, who you may know as Flavor Vegan, writes Fat acceptance saved my life. You must read this post!

Tagged as: breakfast, vegan mofo, veganmofo

http://www.onearabvegan.com Nada (One Arab Vegan)

That looks/sounds mouth wateringly good! I’m going to try and replicate once I get my hands on the rest of the ingredients. Do you think coconut oil would work? Not sure where to find avo oil (but it sounds intriguing).
- http://jlgoesvegan.com JL
  
  I think coconut oil would be great in it! I order my avocado oil from the “shop” on christinacooks.com It’s wonderful on salads and it lightens up some of my baked and cooked dishes.
http://veggieecolife.wordpress.com Sara (The Veggie Eco-Life)

I’ve never seen avocado oil around here, maybe I should pay some extra attention to it next time I go shopping. The ‘biscotti’ looks great though!
Sometimes a failure does turn out right. I recently made some lemon cookies form Vegan with a vengeance. I thought they didn’t turn out really well, they were still not hard enough when I got them out of the oven (after +15 minutes). However, I decided to cool them for a little while, they hardened and they were delicious! It’s a good thing to not instantly throw away something you think has failed
- http://jlgoesvegan.com JL
  
  I think the avo oil comes from Italy. I heard about it when I took the three-day cooking intensive with Christina Pirello, who spends a lot of time in Italy. I order it through her store.
http://veggieburgher.blogspot.com/ Jennifer

I’m drooling. I don’t have a bread machine. Wonder if I can just bake it in a bread pan?
- http://jlgoesvegan.com JL
  
  Yes, actually I think this would be great in the oven. I suspect a higher heat to get the “crusty” vibe (by the way, I think the vital wheat gluten is what make mine so crusty/crunchy) I’m not much of a baker so maybe someone else here could recommend a good temp to bake it.
  - Daniel
    
    At the risk of sounding overly purist (which I’m not), I’d encourage you, JL, to give machineless bread-baking a try. I have not been impressed by the quality of breads I’ve had out of them, and making machineless bread can be a breeze! Focaccia, which I make all the time, doesn’t even require kneading.
    
    What makes a bread crusty is high heat and steam to slow the formation of the crust, which is how a classic French baguette is made.
    - Daniel
      
      After typing that comment, I thought I’d better practice what I preach, so I’ve got some bread dough fermenting in the oven right now.
      - http://jlgoesvegan.com JL
        
        Go, Daniel! I would love to try a slice of your bread one day!
    - http://jlgoesvegan.com JL
      
      Oh, go purist, I’m all for it! My style in the kitchen is pretty basic, easy and fast always win. Occasionally I’ll get a bit more elaborate, but overall I want easy. And I want fresh bread. The bread maker is perfect for me. I think it’s great that you’re more of an artisan!
Cara

I love how you saved the day with your great thinking! I had a similar experience with gluten free/vegan bread however, I must say that my “biscotti” didn’t come out as good looking (or tasting, by the sounds/looks of it) as yours! haha
- http://jlgoesvegan.com JL
  
  The first loaf of vegan bread I made in my machine was a total fail. Or so I thought..it took my dear readers to let me know I had made a gluten-free read, so of course it wouldn’t rise. LOL
  - Daniel
    
    Many classic bread recipes are already vegan–just flour, salt, yeast, and water. There are no special vegan tricks needed, just a basic understanding of how bread-making works (which is actually fairly simple). There are lots of resources online for making bread, and attending a bread-making workshop is always fun!
    - http://jlgoesvegan.com JL
      
      While I know this is true, I also know that when I got to the store and look at bread labels more often than not the bread is not vegan. And when I googled pumpkin bread recipes this weekend almost all of the recipes called for eggs. And so many basic white bread recipes call for dry non-fat milk. I didn’t realize this until I really got into the bread making. Incidentally, i rarely eat bread at restaurants unless they can confirm it’s vegan. Bagels are often brushed with egg to give them a shine and you just never know if that loaf of bread has some dry milk in it.
http://gingeristhenewpink.blogspot.com/ Lauren519

This looks delicious! I have never made biscotti! I know, bad Italian!
Jeni T

Looks like a biscotti to me and it also looks blinkin’ YUM!!!
http://www.serenityinthestorm.com Katie @ Serenity in the Storm

Looks awesome! I love biscotti and I love even more the reframing of a ‘failed’ cooking/baking project into something else. Good work!!
http://www.bigcityvegan.com Sharon at Big City Vegan

Looks really good. Making me laugh. This would be great with a vegan latte about now.
Kelly Hunt

Pumpkin biscotti?! This sounds amazing and your pictures are wonderful!
http://www.tiedyefiles.com Kaitlyn@TheTieDyeFiles

I’m glad it wasn’t a TOTAL fail, it looks fantastic to me. I never would have known it wasn’t biscotti! I just veganized a bread recipe I found, thanks to your inspiration, and it came out great!
http://twitter.com/GFreeVeganFam Julie Lynn

Many great things start out as perceived failures…this is certainly no exception.
http://www.jenojoon.com jenonoon

That looks like the most delicious ‘fail’ ever!
http://twitter.com/therawproject Christine

This “fail” sounds amazing, I’m drooling! You’re seriously making me want a bread maker!
Kathy

This looks delicious! I can’t wait to make some to go with my morning cup of coffee.
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