This recipe cake out of Cook's Country. It's very easy to throw together and makes an amazingly tender, wonderfully moist cake. I made it more-or-less recipe as written this time around¹. And I'm definitely very happy with it. That said, I'm still gonna tweak it next time around!

The original recipe calls for white flour and granulated sugar. It also uses quite a bit of oil. My test with whole wheat flour today showed me that I can swap that in with no problems. I think next time I might try reducing the oil and adding a bit of applesauce. I'll also definitely be swapping the granulated sugar out for brown sugar and omitting the salt. And I think it might be worth attempting to scale back the sugar slightly too. Not too much -- the cake is quite tasty as it is -- just a little bit, to make it a little more snack-y and less dessert-y.

So, with all that in mind, here's what I'd do next time:

Pumpkin Snack Cake

Adapted from Cook's Country October/November 2019

Ingredients

• 1 pie pumpkin (or 1 c. canned pumpkin purée)
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 1 c. whole wheat flour
• 1/2 Tbsp. mixed spice
• 1/2 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 3/4 c. brown sugar
• 1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4 c. coconut oil, melted
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/3 c. mini semisweet chocolate chips (optional)

Directions

1. Cut the pumpkin in half and scoop out all the seeds. (Save the seeds for roasting if you wish.)
2. Brush the insides of the pumpkin with olive oil and place cut side down on a baking sheet.
3. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 45-60 minutes.
4. Remove from oven and set aside.
5. Combine flour, mixed spice, and cinnamon in a large bowl.
6. Sift in baking powder and baking soda and mix well.
7. Peel the pumpkin and place it in a separate bowl. Mash with a fork or a potato masher.
8. Add sugar, applesauce, coconut oil, eggs, and vanilla to pumpkin and whisk until well-mixed and homogeneous.
9. Pour pumpkin mixture into flour mixture and stir until just combined.
10. Stir in chocolate chips (if using).
11. Pour batter into a greased and floured 20cm (8") square pan.
12. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 30-35 minutes.
13. Let cool in pan for 20 minutes, then turn out onto wire rack.

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¹ I swapped out the white flour for whole wheat, omitted the chocolate chips, and used mixed spice in place of pumpkin pie spice. I also used a fresh, roasted pie pumpkin rather than tinned pumpkin purée. ^Back