Pumpkin Olive Oil Bread with Blueberries
Plus, how to make your own pumpkin spice mix
Hello, everyone. I am writing to you from Cefalù, Sicily as I get ready for this month’s brain health retreats. This weekend I get to welcome both new and returning guests to the Brain Health Retreat in Eastern Sicily. It’s wonderful to see the people who’ve attended two or even three retreats with me. It is like reuniting with old friends. I can’t wait to meet everyone in Ortigia, an ancient island that juts into the Ionian Sea. If you’d like to follow along with what we are doing, seeing, and eating this week, check out my Stories on Instagram. (Just tap on my photo in the upper left corner to see the latest from Sicily.)
If you’d like to join me on my next trip to Italy, I am headed back to Puglia in April 2025. This is another tour curated by where we’ll stay at Masseria Potenti, a beautifully restored farmhouse. There, we’ll cook in the farmhouse kitchen, do yoga amongst the olive trees, and head out on culinary field trips each day. You can learn more in this post; tap download below to see the detailed itinerary.
Before I left on my trip, my kitchen had turned into a pumpkin bread bakery. I cranked out loaf after loaf of this pumpkin olive oil bread until even my husband (who never tires of repeat meals) gave me that look that says “pumpkin bread again?” I even packed up a loaf of the chocolate chip version to give to my son Nick while traveling through New York City. He agreed that it was not as sweet as the pumpkin bread of his youth, but gave it two enthusiastic thumbs up.
All the testing and tasting was worth it because I tweaked my way to a recipe that meets my brain health standards but also feels like an indulgent fall treat.
Most pumpkin bread recipes have too much saturated fat and sugar to be called brain-healthy, even though they carry a health halo by including the pumpkin—a vegetable rich in brain-boosting carotenoids. With this recipe, I wanted to give you a loaf that keeps all the nostalgic pumpkin spice vibes, but is also low in sugar and packed with ingredients that provide fiber, protein, and flavonoids. I flipped the fat profile by using extra-virgin olive oil instead of butter. Not only does this provide brain-friendly monounsaturated fats, the pleasantly savory flavor of the olive oil is a nice contrast to the pumpkin’s sweetness.
There are more brain-friendly swaps here, like using a combination of almond and oat flour for boosting protein and fiber. Flaxseed meal boosts the fiber even more while adding plant-based omegas. The blueberries provide anthocyanins, a type of flavonoid with brain-specific benefits, but you could also substitute cranberries, walnuts, or dark chocolate chips. And, because this pumpkin bread is a lot less sugary than most, I’ve added a sweet olive oil glaze to make it feel special. (You can leave this out if you prefer.) Jump to the bottom for the recipe.
Here’s what else I’ve been up to
I’m going back to school. This time, I’ll be teaching! I just learned that my adjunct faculty appointments to teach at Harvard University and the University of Cincinnati have been approved. I’ll be teaching two undergraduate and graduate level courses in 2025—one in brain health nutrition and another focused on women’s health. I am equal parts excited and terrified to be teaching at the university level. It’s a huge opportunity to reach younger brains, one that I am grateful for. Wish me luck!
That Was Delicious Podcast. Last month I had a cooking- and eating-focused discussion with Brooke Eliason of Female Foodie on her new podcast. Brooke and I are old friends; we met back in 2010 when we both launched food blogs. I even contributed a few articles to her website about eating in Jackson Hole. I love this conversation because our shared enthusiasm for good food really shines through. There are also tons of practical tips here like how to use olive oil in your kitchen and some easy brain-healthy swaps you may not have thought of. I hope you take a listen and let me know if you learned something new!
Would you like me to write a dedicated post about brain-healthy ingredient swaps?
ROON Dementia. I may have mentioned that I joined ROON last year as a brain health expert. This is an incredible free platform (it’s a website and an app) for those living with dementia and their families. You’ll find hundreds of questions being answered by professionals in the field; it’s a great place to get information from trusted sources. This month, ROON Dementia featured me on their blog with this ROON 5 Q and A. Check out a few of the personal tidbits I’m sharing along with my number one tip for those facing a new diagnosis.
RECIPE: PUMPKIN OLIVE OIL BREAD WITH BLUEBERRIES
This pumpkin bread goes really well with the pumpkin seed matcha milk I told you about last time. Try them together and let me know how it goes!
Tips:
If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, it’s easy to make your own DIY version with what you have on hand. My favorite combination is mostly cinnamon with smaller amounts of allspice and ginger, but you could also use ground cloves and nutmeg. For 2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice, substitute 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon ground allspice, and ¼ teaspoon ground ginger.
Oat flour is definitely one of my “make it, don’t buy it” staples. It’s much fresher and more flavorful if you make it yourself. For ¾ cup of homemade oat flour, place one cup of whole oats in a food processor or blender and whizz until it has the consistency of coarse flour (like almond meal).
Leftover pumpkin is good stirred into oatmeal, blended into a smoothie, or smeared on toast. Or, store in an airtight container in the freezer for your next batch of pumpkin bread.