A Healthy Pumpkin Bread Recipe everyone will enjoy! Easy to make with pantry staples, this is a delicious healthy fall dessert! This post is sponsored by my friends at Bob’s Red Mill.
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Healthy Pumpkin Bread is all the things you love about fall wrapped up in a baked good!
This healthy bread is filled with warm fall spices, real pumpkin puree, and wholesome ingredients that make the most perfect treat.
Enjoy it plain, slather it with pumpkin cream cheese or have it alongside a Pumpkin Spice Latte – no matter how you enjoy it- it’s delicious!
Why we love Easy Healthy Pumpkin Bread
What’s not to love about this recipe? This bread is moist, fluffy and SO delicious!
- Whole wheat flour– I used whole wheat flour in this recipe rather than bleached white flour. Whole wheat flour is a great source of whole grains and much better for you than regular white flour! This is the whole wheat flour I like
- Low in sugar – This recipe is sweetened only by pumpkin puree and a touch of maple syrup. Many pumpkin bread recipes are loaded with sugar, but this has only 13g of all natural sugar per slice.
- Low fat– Instead of using a ton of butter or canola oil, this recipe uses a tiny bit of olive oil to keep it moist. The pumpkin also helps keep the bread moist, which makes it pretty low fat (only 6g of fat per slice)
Is pumpkin bread healthy?
Not all pumpkin bread recipes are healthy. This is a healthier option for those that love pumpkin bread. It’s lower in calories, sugar and fat compared to regular pumpkin bread!
It’s also made with whole grain flour and simple pantry staples.
Healthy Pumpkin Bread Ingredients
To make this recipe you’ll need:
- olive oil
- egg
- vanilla extract
- maple syrup
- pumpkin puree
- Bob’s Red Mill Organic Whole Wheat Flour
- cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves
- baking powder + baking soda
You can find substitutions for all of these ingredients below in the green shaded substitutions box.
We love baking with Bob’s Red Mill! Whether it’s their Oat Flour, or Organic Whole Wheat Flour – we use their products in some of our favorite treats.
From Healthy Blueberry Muffins, to Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal or Healthy Zucchini Bread we always choose Bob’s Red Mill for baking!
The Organic Whole Wheat Flour is my favorite because it makes the perfect light, fluffy baked goods, while adding a little bit of extra nutrition. It’s 100% stone ground from hard red wheat, with all of the nutritious bran and germ still intact.
If you’re gluten free or can’t eat wheat, don’t worry! You can also use Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Oat Flour in place of whole wheat flour.
How do you make the best pumpkin bread?
Making pumpkin bread is SO easy! Here’s how we make it:
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a greased 8×4 loaf pan.
- Mix together olive oil, egg, vanilla extract, maple syrup, and pumpkin puree.
- Stir in flour, spices, baking powder, and baking soda.
- Pour pumpkin bread batter into a greased 8×4 loaf pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the bread.
How do you know when pumpkin bread is done?
The best way to tell if your pumpkin bread is done is to stick a toothpick in the center of the bread. If the toothpick comes out clean the bread is finished cooking.
If it has doughy batter stuck to it the bread is likely not finished cooking and needs more time.
SUBSTITUTIONS FOR HEALTHY PUMPKIN BREAD
There are A LOT of ways to customize this recipe to your taste buds/dietary needs. Here are a few:
Olive Oil: You can substitute olive oil with melted coconut oil or melted butter
Egg: We have not tried this recipe with a flax egg so I don’t know how it would work
Maple Syrup: You can sub maple syrup for honey in this recipe. We don’t recommend using any of the fake ‘zero sugar’ sweetener alternatives.
Pumpkin: If you’re out of pumpkin, you can use mashed bananas. You could also make these Healthy Banana Muffins!
Whole Wheat Flour/Gluten Free: You can substitute gluten free oat flour or homemade oat flour for whole wheat flour 1:1. Almond flour and coconut flour can never be substituted for whole wheat flour 1:1. We don’t recommend trying it.
Spices: You can use 3.5 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice in these muffins. If you do not have nutmeg or cloves, just add a little bit more cinnamon/ginger.
Mix ins: I like adding chocolate chips. Chopped nuts, dried cranberries, or seeds are also delicious
Vegan: I have not tried making these muffins vegan, but you might be able to substitute the eggs with flax eggs. You can substitute maple syrup for honey.
If you have any questions about substitutions, leave a comment below- I will do my best to help you!
Pumpkin Bread FAQ
If your pumpkin bread doesn’t rise it could be because your baking powder or baking soda is old. Make sure to use fresh baking powder and baking soda. You also could’ve added too much liquid or overfilled your pan
If your pumpkin bread is sinking it’s probably because you added too much liquid. Make sure the bread is fully cooked before removing it from the oven. Even if the bread has sunk, it probably will still taste good. You could break it apart and turn it into a pumpkin parfait or trifle if you’d like.
Your pumpkin bread might be dense from over mixing or using the wrong ratio of dry and wet ingredients.
I would recommend following this Healthy Pumpkin Muffins Recipe.
Serving Suggestions for this Easy Pumpkin Bread
This pumpkin bread is delicious on its own but I love spreading peanut butter or pumpkin cream cheese on top.
It’s great for breakfast or a snack paired alongside a Pumpkin Spice Latte and a slice of Potato Crust Quiche.
How do you store this pumpkin bread recipe?
How long will this healthy bread last? This low fat pumpkin bread won’t last long in your house. I love to snack on it with a Pumpkin Spice Latte!
Storing Pumpkin Bread: You can store this bread covered on your counter for up to 3 days, but I recommend keeping it in the refrigerator for freshness!
It will last up to a week in the refrigerator – but will lose its freshness after about 3 days on the counter and start to taste stale
Can you freeze pumpkin bread? Yes, you can freeze this pumpkin bread! Put it in an airtight container or ziploc bag. To defrost, leave out the night before in the fridge and they will thaw out. Or – just pop in the microwave for 1-2 minutes!
Other healthy pumpkin recipes we love:
We love healthy pumpkin recipes so much that we created a Free Fall Ebook with over 15 pumpkin and apple recipes. Here are some of our favorite healthy pumpkin recipes:
Best Healthy Pumpkin Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 egg room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1.5 cups Bob's Red Mill Whole Wheat Flour OR oat flour
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon cloves
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a greased 8×4 loaf pan.
- In a bowl, mix together olive oil, egg, vanilla extract, maple syrup and pumpkin puree.
- Stir in flour, spices, baking powder and baking soda.
- Pour batter into a greased 8×4 loaf pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the bread.
Lisa says
This was such a super easy recipe! I whipped it up in no time and it was soooooo good! The perfect amount of sweet and super moist. Thank you for this deliciousness!! I’m definitely making them again and highly recommend them! By the way I just love your realness! 😉
The Clean Eating Couple says
So happy you liked it, Lisa! Thank you so much!
Gail says
This recipe is delicious, comes together easily was lovely ad moist as well. I added so dried cranberries to it and wow it was so yummy. Thanks so much.
The Clean Eating Couple says
Love that addition Gail! I need to try that!
Steph says
Super yummy! My 3 yo daughter and I had fun making it together!!
The Clean Eating Couple says
So glad you both enjoyed it! xoxo
Ariane says
I have been looking for a recipe that gets as close as possible to the ones in coffee shops, and I have to say this one is AMAZING! The best recipe I’ve tried so far 😋
I live in France so I wasn’t sure if I converted the measures in the right way, but it worked!
Will save it for sure for another time, thank you!
The Clean Eating Couple says
I’m so glad you liked it, Ariane!
Jane Cross says
Perfect healthy receipe from looking at ingredients (I will get back to yo when I make one
this is very similar to my healthy banana bread
Emily says
I wanted to find a recipe that used whole ingredients but didn’t sacrifice taste. This recipe was perfect! My kids (13 & 8) normally eat banana bread with quite a bit of sugar so I wasn’t sure how’s they do with the pumpkin & using maple syrup as a sweetener. They both enjoyed it and ate seconds! The texture was great and it was easy to make. It will definitely be a staple especially with the holiday coming up!
Jen says
Love this recipe. The muffins are a perfect combination of spices and maple syrup so they are not too sweet and give that pumpkin flavor I love so much. The chocolate also very satisfying. Thank you.!