Hold on to your hats – this gluten-free pumpkin bread tastes and feels like the real thing and it's free of gluten, grains, nuts, dairy, and coconut. That's a whole lot of free! The only allergen it's not free of is eggs. Sorry, I'm a chef not a wizard!

When I first switched to grain-free 5 years ago, almond flour became my staple baking ingredient. It was the only flour being used at the time by most bloggers and books, but it was a little difficult to work with at first. It took me months to grasp the ins and outs of grain-free baking in itself, and I was never fully content with the taste and texture of a baked good using solely almond flour. I was kind of a pioneer amongst my peers and started experimenting with combining almond flour and coconut flour, ultimately landing on a flour marriage that created the texture I was yearning for. From then on, pretty much everything I baked consisted of these two ingredients.

Then I started seeing more and more requests for nut-free baked goods. Grain and nut free seemed too daunting to take on, so I ignored the requests for a short time and continued creating in my comfort zone. But over time, it became more apparent that so many of you have nut, dairy, and grain allergies, so I set off to explore once again. I used sunflower seed flour in place of almond flour (it's a 1:1 sub) in my lemon bars for you and experimented with sunflower butter in place of almond or cashew butter in my ‘peanut butter' cookies. But coconut flour was still a key player in creating the fluffy texture I loved in baked goods.

Whether preference or allergy was the cause, an influx of coconut-free requests then started coming my way. I create for my fans, so I decided to take on the challenge. And what better time to start than with the commencement of my beloved pumpkin season! I had been wanting to provide a killer pumpkin bread recipe for quite some time so this was my chance. I played with both pumpkin and sunflower seed flour, flaxseed, and a few others and after 6 attempts, wasn't happy with the final product. So I brought in an ingredient that I never use, arrowroot powder.

Sorry SCD folks, this flour is not legal because it is the type of starch that feeds pathogens in the gut. I'm able to tolerate it on occasion, but I typically stay away from it or use it in very small amounts. But as I said before, I'm no magician and this nut/coconut/dairy/grain free bread needed a helping hand! Many people in the Paleo community find this to be a safe starch and a great nut/coconut alternative, but it adds a lot of carbohydrates to a dish, so if you're watching that or trying to even out your gut flora, I'd suggest waiting for my coconut-flour recipe that I will be releasing soon.

With all of those disclaimers, I bring you the recipe! It truly is incredible. I was dancing around in the kitchen the day I finally got it right and my family devoured it on our vacation within 24 hours!

*baking powder is used as opposed to my preferred baking soda to prevent this from turning green