By: Denise Bustard26 Comments
Posted: 8/26/21Updated: 8/26/21
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Healthy pumpkin bread is perfectly moist, loaded with pumpkin flavor, and has chocolate chips in every bite! With no refined sugar, just a touch of coconut oil, and whole wheat flour, it’s a healthier treat to enjoy with a cup of coffee.
When it comes to easy deserts, I love a good quick bread! From zucchini bread to lemon blueberry bread, I love that you can have your batter mixed up before the oven has even pre-heated!
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This healthy pumpkin bread is an easy one bowl recipe made with wholesome ingredients such as coconut oil, whole wheat flour, and maple syrup.
Slightly sweet and perfectly moist, this bread is loaded with pumpkin flavor and spices such as ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon for that classic pumpkin spice blend. This healthy pumpkin bread is dairy free, and (best of all) requires very little prep work or clean up!
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Reasons you'll ♡ this recipe
- it's tender, moist and is loaded with pumpkin flavor (and chocolate chips!)
- mixes up in a single bowl making cleanup easier
- contains half whole wheat flour, a touch of coconut oil, and has no refined sugar
Ingredient notes
- Pumpkin puree - while there are many homemade pumpkin puree recipes around, for this recipe, I recommend using store bought pumpkin puree. Homemade pumpkin puree can vary wildly in both water content and texture, and since baking is such a science, I cannot guarantee this pumpkin bread recipe would work. Store bought pumpkin puree can be found in the baking aisle of the grocery store, and should not be confused with pumpkin pie filling.
- Almond milk - almond milk, regular dairy milk, or any kind of dairy-free milk such as coconut or soy will work for this healthy pumpkin bread
- Maple syrup - is a great natural sweetener that adds a hint of caramel flavor. Maple syrup can be swapped for an equal amount of honey if preferred.
- Coconut oil - use refined coconut oil to avoid a strong coconut flavor; we have not tested avocado oil in this recipe, but some readers have reported that it worked well as a swap.
- Flour - this healthy pumpkin bread uses equal parts white and whole wheat flour; but you could use also use white whole wheat flour, all whole wheat, or all white flour. Alternative flours have not been tested.
Step by step instructions
1. Mix together wet ingredients- In a large glass measuring bowl, melt the coconut oil. Stir in the remaining wet ingredients including the pumpkin puree, vanilla, eggs and milk. Mix until smooth. If your coconut oil starts to solidify when you add the other wet ingredients, pop it in the microwave and heat in 20 second increments until it is liquified again. Do not heat vigorously as we don’t want to cook our eggs.
2. Add dry ingredients - Add all dry ingredients including all purpose and whole wheat flour, salt, baking soda and powder, ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon to the same bowl. Mix until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.
3. Bake - Scrape the mixture into the prepared 9 x 5 inch loaf pan. Scatter a few extra chocolate chips on the top. Bake at 325°F for 55 minutes- 1 h 5 m, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
4. Cool & remove from pan - allow to cool completely before removing from the loaf pan. If you try to remove it too early, it may stick and crumble. Run a knife around the outside of the pan to loosen, then invert the pan and give it a couple of firm smacks to release the loaf from the pan.
Recipe tips
Grease & flour pan for easy removal
To ensure that your pumpkin bread comes out of the pan easily, we have a two-step method to prepare the pan:
- Grease - grease the pan with spray oil, making sure you get the sides as well as the bottom of the pan. You can use a paper towel to work the oil into the corners of the pan.
- Flour - using about ¼ cup flour (all purpose or whole wheat works), lightly dust the pan so that it sticks to the oil. Rotate the pan, tapping, until it sticks to all greased surfaces. Tap any unstuck flour back into your flour storage container.
How to tell when the loaf is baked through
This pumpkin bread bakes at 325°F for close to an hour. There are two ways you can tell if your bread is ready to come out of the oven:
- Toothpick method - insert a toothpick into the thickest part of the bread. If it comes out with batter sticking to it, your bread is not ready to come out of the oven. If the toothpick comes out clean, your bread is ready to come out.
- Instant read thermometer - another way to tell if your bread is ready to come out is to use a digital thermometer to read the internal temperature; at 200°F it is ready to come out of the oven.
Turn them into muffins
This recipe works well baked in a muffin pan:
To make mini muffins
- grease a mini muffin pan with oil
- add around 1.5 tablespoons batter per muffin
- bake at 325°F for 15-20 min...mine were perfect at 18 min
To make regular sized muffins
- grease a standard muffin pan with oil or use parchment or silicone liners
- fill cavities to the top
- bake at 325°F for 20-25 minutes
Storage
- Fridge - cool completely, then wrap in parchment paper and store in an air tight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Freezer - cool completely, then wrap in parchment paper and store in an air tight container in the freezer for up to 1 month. Note: this pumpkin bread will dry out a touch after freezing, but warming it up and serving with butter helps to restore some of that moisture.
- Reheat - heat in the microwave until warmed through and serve with butter. This is optional, but extra delicious!
More healthy baked treats
- Healthy Blueberry Muffins
- Simple Baked Apples
- Morning Glory Breakfast Cookies
- Healthy Lemon Cranberry Bread
Did you make this? Tag me on social @sweetpeasandsaffron and be sure to leave a comment and rate the recipe!
Healthy Pumpkin Bread Recipe
4.91 from 10 votesPrep Time: 20 minutes mins
Cook Time: 1 hour hr
Total Time: 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins
Print Rate
Healthy pumpkin bread is perfectly moist, loaded with pumpkin flavor, and has chocolate chips in every bite! With no refined sugar, just a touch of coconut oil, and whole wheat flour, it’s a healthier treat to enjoy with a cup of coffee.
10
Ingredients
- ¼ cup coconut oil 52 g
- 1 cup pumpkin puree 256 g; see note 1
- ½ cup maple syrup 130 g; honey may be swapped
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- ¼ cup almond milk or dairy milk; 54 g
- ¾ cup all purpose flour fluffed, spooned & levelled; 90 g
- ¾ cup whole wheat flour fluffed, spooned & levelled; 90 g
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- ¼ cup mini chocolate chips plus a few extra for the top
Instructions
Preheat - Heat oven to 325°F. Grease and flour a 9 x 5 inch baking pan and set aside.
Wet ingredients -In a large glass measuring bowl, melt the coconut oil. Stir in the remaining wet ingredients including the pumpkin puree, vanilla, eggs and milk. Mix until smooth.
If your coconut oil starts to solidify when you add the other wet ingredients, pop it in the microwave and heat in 20 second increments until it is liquified again. Do not heat vigorously as we don’t want to cook our eggs.
Dry ingredients- Add all dry ingredients including all purpose and whole wheat flour, salt, baking soda and powder, ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon to the same bowl. Mix until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.
Bake- Scrape the mixture into the prepared loaf pan. Scatter a few extra chocolate chips on the top. Bake for 55 minutes- 1 h 5 m, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Cool- Allow to cool completely. Run a knife around the outside of the pan to loosen, then invert the pan and give it a couple of firm smacks to release the loaf from the pan.
Tips:
1- I recommend store bought pumpkin puree for this recipe; do not confuse it with pumpkin pie filling
2- I used a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan for this recipe
. If you have an 8 x 4 inch loaf pan, keep an eye on the pumpkin bread, it may be baked through sooner (start checking at 40 min)
To make mini muffins
- grease a mini muffin pan with oil
- add around 1.5 tablespoons batter per muffin
- bake at 325°F for 15-20 min...mine were perfect at 18 min
Storage
- Fridge- cool completely, then wrap in parchment paper and store in an air tight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Freezer- cool completely, then wrap in parchment paper and store in an air tight container in the freezer for up to 1 month. Note: this pumpkin bread will dry out a touch after freezing, but warming it up and serving with butter helps to restore some of that moisture.
- Reheat- heat in the microwave until warmed through and serve with butter. This is optional, but extra delicious!
Nutrition Information
Serving: 1slice, Calories: 202kcal, Carbohydrates: 30g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 7g, Saturated Fat: 5g, Cholesterol: 33mg, Sodium: 198mg, Potassium: 161mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 13g, Vitamin A: 3870IU, Vitamin C: 1mg, Calcium: 59mg, Iron: 1.4mg
Author: Denise Bustard
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
© Sweet Peas & Saffron - Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited.
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Meet Denise Bustard
Denise Bustard is the creator of Sweet Peas and Saffron, a meal prep-focussed food blog. With a PhD in biochemistry, Denise takes a scientific approach to perfecting her recipes. You can find Denise's work featured on Huffington Post, MSN, Self and more.
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Reader Interactions
Leave a Comment
Pamela says
Um excuse me ma'am- I made these today and I do not understand how I am supposed to stop at one serving!!! Seriously the BEST pumpkin bread I've ever had! 😁😁😁I made them into muffins and used avocado oil because that's what I had available. Baked them for 20 minutes, turning the tin half way through. So good!
Reply
Jasmine @ Sweet Peas & Saffron says
Hi Pamela, thank you so much for your kind words! We are so glad to hear that they turned out well as muffins too. Thank you so much for taking the time to come back and leave a rating and review!
Reply
Faye Miller says
Very delicious. I did not have coconut oil so used avocado oil and did not have nutmeg so added cloves instead. This receipe is a nice change and very flavourful. Thank you for the receipeReply
Denise Bustard says
Hi Faye! Apologies for my late reply. I'm thrilled to hear you enjoyed the recipe, and appreciate you taking the time to come back and leave a review with your modifications- that's so helpful to me and other readers!
Reply
Annie says
Super yummy! I made a standard loaf, mini muffins, and a mini loaf...we were out of Maple syrup so, I used stevia along with Lily’s dark chocolate chips. My husband thought they could be sweeter (due to my sub) so I whipped up a glaze with powdered swerve, silk half and half, along with splashes of maple and pumpkin pie extracts...these will 100% replace my urge to stop at Dunkin. Thank you! 🤤Reply
Denise Bustard says
Hi Annie! Wow, you were busy! So happy to hear you enjoyed, and thank you for taking the time to report back 🙂
Reply
Christine says
I love this recipe.. the taste is just divine 🙂Reply
Denise Bustard says
I'm so happy you've enjoyed it, Christine! I need to whip up a batch while pumpkin season is in swing. Thanks so much for taking the time to come back and leave a review!
Reply
Paula Green says
What do you set the oven for and how long do you bake it?
Reply
Denise says
Hi Paula! The full directions are in the recipe card 🙂
Reply
Carmen says
Hi! For muffins, baking time and temp. please.
Thanks!
CarmenReply
Denise says
Hi Carmen! It was the same temp but 15-18 minutes in the oven. Will update the recipe card!
Reply
Cristiane says
Hi! I loved this. I’m a protein freak so I followed your recipe but made these substitutions: Rice Protein Powder instead of flour. And used Oat instead of wheat flour. Added a bunch of grated raw ginger, and 1/2 of the honey (didn’t have maple syrup). I also added walnuts instead of chocolate chips. It’s dense but it’s yummy and very healthy!! ThanksReply
Denise says
Hi Cristiane! I'm so happy you enjoyed it, and very glad it turned out swapping protein powder for flour!
Reply
Alyssa says
This turned out wonderfully! I sub’ed flax eggs, and used 1/2 sprouted spelt flour and 1/2 regular flour. It’s very moist and airy, with great flavour!Reply
Denise says
Hi Alyssa! Thanks so much for reporting back! I'm glad to find out you can make it without eggs!
Reply
Baw says
Hi
Why do the cakes always have cracks on the top? Is that how it’s supposed to be.
In order to avoid that what’s the best thing to do.Thanks
Reply
Denise says
Hi Baw! I sometimes get cracks and sometimes don't and I"m not sure why! Either way, it tastes good. Hope you enjoyed 🙂
Reply
Baw says
Hi
For the recipe do u have to use 2 different flour. Or can you stick to one aswell. Also is buckwheat flour a good option for this recipeReply
Denise says
Hi Baw! You could do all one type of flour, but I found it too dense and dry with 100% whole wheat flour, which is why I did 50% whole wheat and 50% all purpose. I would recommend all purpose, although I bet it would be great with white whole wheat flour (I haven't tried yet).
Reply
Jorge says
This is my favorite time of the year because I can go crazy with my pumpkin cravings and not look like a crazy person! this recipe looks great too so I'll try it out very soon!Reply
Denise says
Hope you enjoy, Jorge!
Reply
Jill McKenzie says
What are your thoughts on using a gluten free flour instead, like almond flour or coconut flour?
Thank you!
Reply
Denise says
Hi Jill, I'm so sorry I'm behind on responding to comments! I have never tried this with GF flour, so I really can't say how it would turn out. If you try it would you let me know how it turns out?
Reply
Brittany Audra @ Audra's Appetite says
I love using maple syrup in baked goods, especially with pumpkin flavors! 🙂
Reply
Denise says
Meeee tooo. <3
Reply
