Hello friends!

It’s been 5+ months since my last blog post, so you probably thought that I disappeared on you…forever to be lost in the the thick of mom life; changing diapers, cleaning up messes, folding laundry, and chasing around my (now) crawling baby! That list is actually rather short, and doesn’t nearly encompass all that I do during the day. I’ve had to give myself a lot of grace lately, and pat myself on the back because I’m doing THIS…I’m doing this mom thing by myself. I don’t have my mom or mother-in-law remotely close by to help, which is a huge game changer. So, when I make it anywhere on time (“on time” to me now means within 1 hour of the start…) I feel accomplished that I was able to get myself dressed, fed, and hair brushed while simultaneously caring for a (almost) 10 month old.

Did I lose you yet??

Don’t worry I’ll save my mom rants for another day 😉

Now onto this delicious Fall bread, which is totally baby friendly…minus the streusel topping.  Now that Gio is eating real food, I’m always looking at the ingredients in recipes to make sure they’re OK for him. I’ve been doing a combination of purees and baby led weaning since Gio was 7 months, but he doesn’t like when I feed him anymore so he mostly eats finger foods now.

If you’re a mom or not, you may know that babies are not allowed to have honey under 1 year old. I also have been substituting egg in baked recipes because

1. Gio has some friends who have an egg allergy
2. Kendrick and I have been trying to consume less animal products

I’ve made the bread both with, and without the eggs and I actually prefer it without the eggs (surprising!). The eggs make it more spongy.

You can make this recipe as a bread, or make muffins for your little one with or without the topping. The topping is perfectly safe for them, I just don’t like to give Gio added sugar.

The bread alone is vegan, dairy free, oil free, soy free, and is naturally sweetened.

((Baby-Friendly)) Pumpkin Applesauce Streusel Bread

INGREDIENTS FOR THE BREAD:

• 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons of flax seed + 6 tablespoons of water (**1 egg= 1 tbsp flax seed + 3 tbsp water)
• 1 heaping cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

INGREDIENTS FOR THE STREUSEL:

• 1/4 cup oats 
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar (not packed)
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon flour 

 

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9×5 bread pan with cooking spray (I like to use coconut oil spray).
2. Mix the wet ingredients together in a large bowl.
3. Add the dry ingredients saving the flour for last.
4. Pour into bread pan.
5. Make the streusel topping in the same bowl.
6. Sprinkle evenly over top of bread.
7. Bake for 40 minutes at 350, or until a fork inserted in the center comes out cleanly.
8. **If making muffins, bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a fork comes out cleanly.

ENJOY!