Healthy Pumpkin Bread

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!

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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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.

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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.

TIP- I love this large glass measuring cup

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.

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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:

1. 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.
2. 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:

1. 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.
2. 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

1. grease a mini muffin pan with oil
2. add around 1.5 tablespoons batter per muffin
3. bake at 325°F for 15-20 min...mine were perfect at 18 min

To make regular sized muffins

1. grease a standard muffin pan with oil or use parchment or silicone liners
2. fill cavities to the top
3. bake at 325°F for 20-25 minutes

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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!

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