Healthy Pumpkin Bread

By Amy Dong
Published Oct. 25, 2023

This is the most moist and delicious healthy pumpkin bread you’ll bake and eat. This pumpkin bread recipe is made with pure honey, plenty of real pumpkin, and whole grain. You’ve got to try it to believe how good it is.

healthy pumpkin bread sliced. — Healthy pumpkin bread is made with whole grains, pure honey, and plenty of real pumpkin.

Why This Recipe Stands Out

Moisture: This bread is extremely moist and tender, never dry.
No Refined Sugar: We use only pure honey to sweeten this healthy pumpkin bread.
Dairy-Free: Olive oil is used instead of butter, and apple cider juice is used in lieu of milk.
Whole Grain: White-whole-wheat flour provides whole grain goodness that remains tender when baked.
Delicious Flavors: This pumpkin bread is teeming with your favorite fall spices and plenty of pure pumpkin.
Family Favorite: Your family will come running to the aromas of this pumpkin bread baking in your kitchen.

Key Ingredients

Fall spices ingredients including cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves.

Pumpkin: you’ll have the chance to use a whole cup of pure pumpkin puree.
Honey: use raw unfiltered honey for a wholesome sweetener.
Oil: use extra virgin olive oil for nutrition and moisture.
Apple Cider: be sure you’re using apple cider juice, not vinegar.
Extract: pure vanilla extract provides a wonderful aroma to this bread.
Eggs: these are the binding agents, as well as providers of protein and nutrition.
Dry Ingredients: white whole wheat flour provides the whole grains, without compromising on tenderness. Baking soda and salt are added to this mixture.
Spices: plenty of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves bring out the big fall flavors in this beautiful pumpkin bread.

Substitutions and Variations

Flour: You can use regular whole wheat instead of the white-whole-wheat, though regular whole wheat will result in a slightly more grainy bread. You can also just use all-purpose flour as well.

Oil: We love baking with olive oil, as it is a super healthy oil and does not impart any olive flavors. However, you can use melted coconut oil or canola oil as well.

Eggs: If you’d like, you can replace the eggs with flax eggs. The texture will likely be a bit different from original.

Sweetener: Feel free to use maple syrup or agave syrup, in place of the honey. You can also use a mixture of sweeteners.

Add-Ins: Your favorite add-ins would go well in this healthy pumpkin bread. Toasted chopped nuts, chocolate chips, chopped apples, or cranberries are great ideas.

Toppings: Feel free to use a simple icing like we use for Pumpkin Coffee Cake or make a cream cheese frosting to drizzle over the bread. We also love 4-Ingredient Salted Caramel Sauce as a decadent drizzle over any quick bread. Lastly, a crispy streusel like we use in this Streusel Pumpkin Pie Recipe is simply amazing.

Step-By-Step Instructions

In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin honey, oil, cider, vanilla, and eggs until fully incorporated.
In a separate bowl, use hand whisk to fully combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and salt.

Use rubber spatula to gently fold flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture, just until no dry flour streaks remain. Do not over-mix.
Use rubber spatula to transfer mixture into prepared loaf pan. Even out the top so that corners are filled. If desired, sprinkle top evenly with turbinado sugar and bake 45-50 minutes or just until toothpick inserted into center comes out with a few tender crumbs attached.

Prep-Ahead Tips

Spices: The spice mixture of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves can be combined weeks ahead of time and kept in the pantry until ready to use.

Dry Ingredients: The dry ingredients, including flour, baking soda, salt, and spices can all be whisked and combined together several days in advance.

Freeze: Baked loaves can be cooled to room temperature and wrapped airtight. Then, freeze loaves for up to 1 month.

Tips for Super Moist Results

Too many healthy pumpkin breads turn out dry, crumbly, or bland. That’s not the type of “treat” we want to eat. Here’s what we do to bake up loaves of healthy pumpkin bread that’s actually moist and tender and full of fall flavors:

We use a mixture of raw unfiltered honey and extra-virgin olive oil. Your bread won’t taste olive-y. It’ll just have the benefits of olive oil, which includes a tender crumb.
In lieu of milk or sour cream, we use apple cider. There’s definitely a difference in taste between apple juice vs. apple cider, so be sure you’re using apple cider for best flavor.
Opt for white whole wheat flour for tender whole grains. You can certainly use regular whole wheat flour, if you don’t mind a slightly more grainy texture.

Commonly Asked Questions

Can I make this gluten free?

You can certainly use 1:1 substitute gluten free baking flour, as long as you’re aware that the final texture will probably vary from original.

Can I use an egg substitute?

You can use flax eggs instead of the eggs for this bread. Final texture will vary a bit from the original recipe. You can also try our Vegan Pumpkin Bread, which is super moist and tender.

Can I add extra fiber to healthy pumpkin bread?

You can increase the fiber by adding a tablespoon of flax to the batter, or by adding nuts and dried fruits to the bread.

Can I use fresh pumpkin instead of canned?

Fresh pumpkin puree can certainly be used. Just be sure to drain out as much excess moisture from the puree before using it.

What’s the best way to store this bread?

This healthy pumpkin bread can be kept in an airtight container at mild room temperature for up to 3 days. After that, you can freeze the bread.

What’s the best way to freeze this bread?

Wrap completely cooled pumpkin bread airtight and freeze it up to 1 month.

What kind of add-ins can I put into pumpkin bread?

You can add your favorite toasted chopped nuts, shredded toasted coconut, diced apples, cranberries, or chocolate chips into pumpkin bread.

Aslo Try this One-Bowl apple cake

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