The BEST Healthy Pumpkin Bread that is moist, loaded with pumpkin flavor and made without any butter! Topped with a delicious maple cream cheese glaze for the perfect fall treat this season!
This Healthy Pumpkin Bread recipe is moist, fluffy and packed with warm pumpkin spice flavor! Made with whole wheat flour, pumpkin puree, applesauce and naturally sweetened with maple syrup, it’s an easy fall quick bread with no butter or refined sugar. Top it with a delicious maple cream cheese glaze for the perfect cozy fall treat!
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- Moist and fluffy – pumpkin puree and applesauce make this bread incredibly soft and tender.
- Better-for-you ingredients – made with whole grains, pumpkin puree and applesauce, and naturally sweetened with maple syrup for a healthier take on classic pumpkin bread.
- Warm fall flavors – pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon and vanilla give every bite that cozy pumpkin flavor.
- Quick and easy – the batter comes together easily with simple pantry ingredients.
- Freezer-friendly – freeze individual slices for an easy breakfast, snack or sweet treat later.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- whole wheat pastry flour – I love baking with whole wheat pastry flour as it has all the nutritional benefits of whole grain flour while making this pumpkin bread light and fluffy. I highly recommend using this, but if you don’t have any on hand you could use white whole wheat flour or regular all-purpose flour.
- all-purpose flour – when mixed with the whole wheat flour, this helps makes this pumpkin bread even softer and fluffier, but feel free to use all whole wheat pastry flour if you prefer.
- baking powder + baking soda – acts as a leavening agent to help this bread rise.
- pumpkin puree – I used canned pumpkin purée for this, just make sure you use 100% pure pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling as that is loaded with tons of sugar.
- eggs – adds protein and gives this bread its fluffy texture and height.
- sweetener – I used a combination of maple syrup and cane sugar to sweeten the pumpkin bread, but you could also use honey or even regular sugar.
- coconut oil – for additional moisture and fluffiness! Feel free to substitute with another type of oil if you prefer or even butter.
- applesauce – unsweetened applesauce helps keep this healthy pumpkin bread moist and tender while reducing the amount of oil needed. You could also substitute plain Greek yogurt or mashed banana, although banana will slightly change the flavor.
- warm flavors – a delicious combination of pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, salt and vanilla extract. If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, feel free to use 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, and 1/4 teaspoon allspice or cloves.
- cream cheese glaze – this is optional, but tastes SO delicious on top of this pumpkin bread! All you need is cream cheese, maple syrup, a little milk and vanilla extract.
How to Make Healthy Pumpkin Bread
- Mix ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon and salt, then set aside. In a medium bowl, stir together the eggs, maple syrup, cane sugar, pumpkin puree, applesauce, melted coconut oil, and vanilla, mixing until all combined.
- Make the batter. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix with a spatula until just combined, being careful not to over-mix the batter. This is when you can fold in any mix-ins you’d like such as chocolate chips or chopped nuts. Pour pumpkin bread batter into a prepared 9×5-inch loaf pan generously coated in oil or lined with parchment paper.
- BAKE! Bake in the oven for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove pumpkin bread from the oven and let it sit for 10 minutes, then remove it from the pan and let cool completely on a wire rack.
- Drizzle with cream cheese. While the pumpkin bread is cooling, add cream cheese to a small bowl and heat in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Add in the maple syrup, a tablespoon of milk and 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla and whisk together until smooth. Feel free to add more milk a teaspoon at a time until you get a good consistency. Drizzle the glaze over the bread, slice and enjoy!
Tips for Making the BEST Pumpkin Bread
- Make sure you DON’T over mix the batter. This results in super dense pumpkin bread which we don’t want. We’re going for fluffy and soft!
- Feel free to sub the whole wheat pastry flour with 1:1 gluten-free flour or even all-purpose flour. I don’t recommend using almond flour or coconut flour in this recipe.
- Mix in other fun additions like chopped walnuts or pecans, coconut flakes, dried fruit or fresh berries!
- I recommend lining your bread pan with parchment paper and spraying with nonstick spray so that your pumpkin bread comes out nice and easily.
- Don’t overbake the bread. Start checking around the 50-minute mark. The pumpkin and applesauce keep this loaf nice and moist, so you want to remove it from the oven as soon as a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- To make this pumpkin bread vegan, use flax eggs in place of the regular eggs and use vegan cream cheese for the glaze.
How to Make Healthy Pumpkin Muffins
I love this recipe because not only does it make the best pumpkin bread, but you can also make delicious pumpkin muffins!
- You can easily make 12 pumpkin muffins by distributing the batter into 12 muffin cups and baking for 20 to 25 minutes.
- This recipe also makes 24 mini muffins. Distribute the batter into 24 muffins cups and bake for 15 to 17 minutes. Perfect treat for little hands!
- You can also make three mini pumpkin loaves which is perfect for gifting. Bake at 350 degrees F for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. When making for friends and family, I like to double this recipe and make 6 mini loaves.
Frequently Asked Questions
This healthy pumpkin bread is made with better-for-you ingredients like whole wheat flour, pumpkin puree and unsweetened applesauce. It’s naturally sweetened with maple syrup and made without butter or refined sugar while still staying moist, fluffy and full of pumpkin flavor.
Yes! Unsweetened applesauce is one of the secrets to keeping this pumpkin bread moist and tender while reducing the amount of oil needed. For best results, make sure to use unsweetened applesauce so you can control the sweetness of the bread.
Yes, you can substitute homemade pumpkin puree for canned pumpkin puree using the same amount. Just make sure your homemade puree isn’t too watery, as excess moisture can affect the texture and baking time of the bread.
Yes. You can swap the whole wheat flour for a 1-to-1 gluten-free baking flour designed to replace wheat flour. Because gluten-free flour blends can vary, the final texture may be slightly different.
Dense pumpkin bread is usually caused by overmixing the batter, using too much flour or adding excess moisture. Measure your flour correctly and mix the batter just until everything is combined. Also, avoid overbaking, the bread is ready when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
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More Pumpkin Recipes
- Healthier Pumpkin Bars
- Healthy Pumpkin Muffins
- Gluten-Free Pumpkin Spice Donuts
- Fluffy Pumpkin Pancakes
- Pumpkin Spice Mug Cake
More Quick Bread Recipes
- The BEST Banana Bread Recipe
- Healthy Pumpkin Zucchini Bread
- Healthy Zucchini Bread
- Almond Flour Pumpkin Bread
- Blueberry Lemon Bread
Hope you all enjoy this Healthy Pumpkin Bread and if you love this as much as we do, please leave me ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below and don’t forget to tag me on Instagram using the hashtag #eatyourselfskinny! I love seeing all your delicious recreations!
The BEST Healthy Pumpkin Bread
Video
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup 100% pure pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup cane sugar
- 2 tablespoons applesauce
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted and cooled
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the maple cream cheese drizzle:
- 3 oz cream cheese
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 to 2 tablespoons milk
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a small bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and salt; set aside.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, pumpkin, maple syrup, cane sugar, applesauce, coconut oil, and vanilla until all combined. Add wet ingredients into flour mixture and mix with a spatula until just combined, being careful not to over-mix.
- Pour pumpkin mixture into a prepared 9×5-inch loaf pan generously coated in oil or lined with parchment paper and bake in the oven for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove pumpkin bread from the oven and let it sit for 10 minutes, then remove it from the pan and let cool completely on a wire rack.
- While the pumpkin bread is cooling, add cream cheese to a small bowl and heat in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Add in the maple syrup, a tablespoon of milk and 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla and whisk together until smooth. Feel free to add more milk a teaspoon at a time until you get a good consistency.
- Drizzle the maple cream cheese glaze over top of the pumpkin bread, slice and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I substituted 1/2 cup frozen blueberries for the 1/4 cup sugar. It was still moist and delicious.
I omitted the cream cheese topping in an effort to reduce total sugars.
Can you substitute canola oil instead of the coconut oil for the pumpkin bread? Can’t have anything with coconut
Yes that will work just fine! 🙂
I used light extra virgin olive oil for a healthy option.
This turned out so good, everyone loved it!
this bread have so many benefits. Thanks for sharing the information with us. Subcribed your blog.
Made this today loved the flavours