We are finally getting into some Spring weather here but I am way behind on my posts, so I’m sorry if the cold weather stuff drags on a bit! I actually made this Pumpkin Cream Cheese Loaf all the way back in October – yikes! Put it uses canned pumpkin, so you can make it whenever that is available. I found this recipe through Pinterest which advertized only 500 calories for a WHOLE LOAF!(!!!) Oh-em-gee! Can it be true? Delicious and healthy? The unicorn of pumpkin loafs?! EDIT – Well, no in short – it is not. It actually has more than 1000 calories per loaf and it doesn’t taste that great. But I will leave it on here in case someone has a use for it. EDIT
Okay, I wouldn’t really call it healthy. It’s low calorie and low fat due to the use of low-fat cream cheese, egg whites vs whole eggs, and applesauce vs oil. And it uses half fake sugar and half real sugar, but I’d still call that a sugary snack.
As for deliciousness? I’d call it okay. You can definitely taste the fake sugar and it isn’t as dense and luxurious as the real thing, but it’s a pretty good substitute. So all-in-all I’m going to call this decent but not amazeballs.
Light Pumpkin Cream Cheese Loaf
recipe is all over the internet, not sure where it originated
makes 2 loaves
Pumpkin Batter:
1 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce (I actually used 1 container of Mott’s Cinnamon Applesauce)
1 whole egg
3 egg whites
1 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup Stevia Cup For Cup sweetener
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
Cream filling:
8 oz reduced fat cream cheese
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla extract
For the Pumpkin Batter: With an electric mixer, beat the pumpkin, applesauce, egg, and egg whites on medium speed until smooth. In a separate bowl, combine the flours, Stevia, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Slowly mix the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture.
For the cream cheese filling: Beat the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, egg whites, and flour until creamy and smooth.
Grease 2 8x4x2″ loaf pans. Pour 1/4 of the pumpkin batter into each pan. Pour half of the cream filling into each pan and smooth with the back of a spoon. Top each with the remaining pumpkin batter. Spread it out but try not to mix it with the cream layer.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Don’t over-bake or your bread will be dry on the edges. Cool and remove from pans. Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container.
*One slice = about 100 calories*
What to do with all those egg yolks? I made lemon curd!
This seemed too good to be true so I looked at the ingredients in this (lackluster) recipe… this NOT even close to being only 500 calories for the whole loaf. After calculating this on My Fitness Pal, the total calories are actually 1588. Also, the amount of Stevia called for in this recipe is ridiculous (1/2 cup?!), as it is very potent, and why would sugar be added after using Stevia anyway? This is a seriously messed up recipe. The calorie breakdown for ingredients is below, as listed in the original recipe. Note: I strongly recommend omitting Stevia OR omitting sugar and using only 1 packet of Stevia.
1.5 Cup Pumpkin Puree – 120 calories.
1/2 Cup Unsweetened Applesauce – 70 calories.
1 Whole Egg – 78 calories.
3 Egg Whites – 90 calories.
1/2 Cup Flour – 100 calories.
2/3 Cup Whole Wheat Flour – 271 calories.
1/2 Cup Stevia – 0 calories.
1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar – 360 calories.
1/2 tsp Cinnamon – 3 calories.
1/2 tsp Nutmeg – 6 calories.
8 oz Reduced Fat Cream Cheese – 490 calories.
TOTAL = 1588 Calories per Loaf.
I am sorry that you are disappointed with the recipe. As I said in the post, I didn’t think it was too great but I thought that somebody might find use for it. The recipe was on so many sites, all claiming the 500 calories, but I ran it through a calorie counter myself and it came out around 1000 calories per loaf. I should have checked that first, I apologize, and I will edit the post. As for the stevia – it says in the recipe specifically to use a cup for cup baking blend. These are made to be used in a equal amount that you would use sugar. So the 1/2 cup of stevia should not be sweeter than the 1/2 cup sugar. I did also comment in the post that I thought the recipe used a lot of sugar, and thereby couldn’t be called healthy in my opinion. Anyway, I’m sorry this wasn’t what you were looking for – I hope you have better luck with some of my other recipes.