The BEST Healthy Pumpkin Bread that is moist, loaded with pumpkin flavor and made without any butter or refined sugar! Topped with a delicious maple cream cheese glaze for the perfect fall treat this season!
Is it even fall if you don’t have warm, delicious pumpkin bread baking in the oven?? You guys, this healthy pumpkin bread recipe is seriously the BEST bread ever! Super moist, light and fluffy, and made healthier with whole wheat flour, applesauce and zero butter or refined sugar. We’re also drizzling this pumpkin bread with a maple cream cheese glaze that tastes amazing with all these warm flavors.
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- Pumpkin, maple syrup, vanilla and warm spices make this the perfect fall treat!
- This pumpkin bread is moist, fluffy and SO delicious drizzled with a maple cream cheese glaze!
- Made with whole grains, applesauce and zero butter or refined sugar.
- Can easily make this into pumpkin muffins or bite-sized, poppable mini muffins for tiny hands.
- Freezer-friendly so you can enjoy this pumpkin bread all season long!
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 without using any refined sugar, 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 – I used unsweetened applesauce and this helps to reduce the amount of oil we need to use while also helping to keep this bread moist. You could also use Greek yogurt or mashed banana as well.
- 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.
- 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
- 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.
Prepping and Storage
To Store: You can keep this pumpkin bread stored in a sealed, airtight container or wrapped in aluminum foil on the counter at room temp for up to a day or two, but make sure to refrigerate this bread after that and keep it for up to a week.
To Freeze: This pumpkin bread freezes really well too! You can either wrap the bread in aluminum foil or freeze individual slices in freezer-safe bags. When ready to enjoy, thaw out overnight in the fridge. This pumpkin bread will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.
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More Pumpkin Recipes You’ll Love
- Healthier Pumpkin Bars
- Healthy Pumpkin Muffins
- Gluten-Free Pumpkin Spice Donuts
- Fluffy Pumpkin Pancakes
- Pumpkin Spice Mug Cake
More Quick Bread Recipes You’ll Love
- 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!
Healthy Pumpkin Bread
The BEST Healthy Pumpkin Bread recipe that is moist, loaded with pumpkin flavor and made without any butter or refined sugar! Topped with a delicious maple cream cheese glaze for the perfect fall treat this season!
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!
Nutrition
Serving: 1slice | Calories: 179kcal | Carbohydrates: 26.8g | Protein: 3.4g | Fat: 6.6g | Saturated Fat: 4.9g | Sodium: 93.8mg | Fiber: 2.9g | Sugar: 14.3g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
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