I bake this healthy pumpkin bread recipe every Fall. It is hearty, healthy and delicious!
Years ago, when I first set my foot in Starbucks I was mesmerized by their baked goods. I did try their pumpkin bread which is tasty but waaaaaaay too sweet for my clean tooth. Also it is not made with wholesome ingredients. On a side note, it took me around 12 years of living in Canada before I stepped into Starbucks. Why go spend $2-5 for a cup of something you can make at home for $0.20?! When your entire family’s monthly income is $2K, you simply do not go to Starbucks.
And I still don’t go to Starbucks because now my Nespresso machine makes me fancy coffee at $1.10/cup.:)
Looking for more healthy baked goods to enjoy with a cup of joe? Try my popular healthy banana bread, healthy chocolate bread and healthy pumpkin muffins. If you feel like baking something pumpkin without flour, try these healthy pumpkin blondies or flourless pumpkin muffins.
Be healthy!
How to make Healthy Pumpkin Bread
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, line 9 x 5 loaf pan with unbleached parchment paper and spray with cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk eggs for 10 seconds. Add applesauce, pumpkin puree, maple syrup or honey, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, salt and whisk well until mixture is smooth and no visible lumps.
- Add oat flour and whole wheat flour; mix gently just enough to combine. Be careful not to over mix. Add walnuts and pumpkin seeds; give a few more gentle stirs to combine.
- Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and level gently with spatula. Sprinkle with a handful of pumpkin seeds. Bake for 90 minutes our until the toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack to cool off for 30 minutes. Holding onto the flaps of parchment paper remove pumpkin bread from a loaf pan and let it cool off completely before slicing. This bread is dense and delicate. Slice into 12 thicker slices with serrated bread knife.
Healthy Pumpkin Bread
Healthy Pumpkin Bread Recipe with canned pumpkin, applesauce, whole wheat flour, oats and no refined sugar. Easy, moist and delicious.
- Prep Time: 7 minutes
- Cook Time: 90 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 37 minutes
- Yield: 12 slices 1x
Ingredients
- 3 eggs, large
- 1 cup applesauce, unsweetened
- 15 oz can pumpkin puree (I use organic BPA free)
- 3/4 cup honey or maple syrup*
- 1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 1/2 tbsp baking powder, aluminum free
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup oat flour**
- 1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
- 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds + more for decorating
- Cooking spray (I use Misto)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, line 9 x 5 loaf pan with unbleached parchment paper and spray with cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk eggs for 10 seconds. Add applesauce, pumpkin puree, maple syrup or honey, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, salt and whisk well until mixture is smooth and no visible lumps.
- Add oat flour and whole wheat flour; mix gently just enough to combine. Be careful not to over mix. Add walnuts and pumpkin seeds; give a few more gentle stirs to combine. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and level gently with spatula. Sprinkle with a handful of pumpkin seeds. Bake for 90 minutes our until the toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack to cool off for 30 minutes. Holding onto the flaps of parchment paper remove pumpkin bread from a loaf pan and let it cool off completely before slicing. This bread is dense and delicate. Slice into 12 thicker slices with serrated bread knife.
Store: Store covered in a cool dry place for up to 5 days. Freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
Notes
*This pumpkin bread is moderately sweet. **You can make your own oat flour by grinding up quick oats in a blender or food processor.
Did you make this recipe? Please give it a star rating in the comments.
Everyone in my family loved this! It was delicious.
★★★★★
Delicious pumpkin bread! You are right, Starbucks can’t even compare!
★★★★★
Hi Olena, just made your pumpkin bread and I can’t stop eating it, it is AMAZING, seriously AMAZING !!!!!! I’ve eaten half the loaf, thank god it’s healthily. It’s SO fluffy and tasty !
Thank you Olena ???☺️?
You are welcome, Monica!:)
I give too many of my hard earned pennies to Starbucks– I rationalize it because I never go out and buy alcohol– and I always drink tea and water at home, so it’s the only money I spend on drinks really. And, I drink Americanos so they aren’t very expensive! I am the same as you- I cannot handle store bought baked goods– doesn’t the sugar almost burn it’s so sweet? I always make homemade versions with the smallest amount of sweetener I can get away with, and we are just used to that now and it is plenty sweet for us! This bread is every bit as beautiful as the pieces at Starbucks– in fact, more beautiful! Pinning 🙂
I would rationalize it like you if I were you. I already buy wine so having another “addiction” is not OK for my budget. I wish I could make wine at home. Tasty organic wine. I could make moonshine though LOL.
Burning sensation of sugar is the most right away to put it. My whole mouth ix exploding when I eat any commercially made sweets. Why eat more of sugar, right?! Sugar is a silent killer!!!
Thank you so much for your kind words.
So…I’m starting a thirty day challenge this Friday. No white flour, or refined sugar. I’m making my husband join the party because he could benefit from this as well. Your blog saves me! lol Oh and wish me luck!
Good! You will be fine! Combine it with a few HIIT workouts a week and you will see a big difference. Not to mention how much your gut flora will improve with good bacteria!
I just finished off the last of this bread – it was perfect! I was looking for a recipe to use up some halloween pumpkin puree and found this one. It is absolutely delicious and I feel good about giving it to my family. Thank you! I love the blog and will be coming back often for inspiration ; )
Thank you, Lana! We love that bread too.:)
I just made this pumpkin bread and it cooked perfectly & right on time. Instead of using parchment paper, I sprayed the pan with cooking spray and then floured the pan. It came out of the pan easily. One thing I would do next time is make it sweeter. It is fine for my taste, but others in the family may not be so easily convinced! Thank you for the recipe!
Haha, yes for some people out there with not so cleaned up taste buds it might be not sweet enough.;) I feel like you though.:) Glad you liked it.:)
Community Health Store now carries the “Farmer’s Market” brand that you had in your picture. With BPA free liner. And they were on sale for Thanksgiving, so I stocked up. I am going to try the crumb muffin next. I am taking a “staycation-vacation” week, so cooking and freezing treats. I cannot stick to any healthy eating plan if I don’t have a treat, so just with this bread I am set for a few weeks of treats 🙂
Oh, cool. I hear you. I do the same. I’d rather bake healthy treats and stock up on organic dark chocolate, than reach for [email protected] And we know, the sweet tooth devil moment will come.:) Have fun!:)
Thanks for a great recipe! I made it today and it took me less than 10 minutes to get it in the oven. I did not have any apple sauce on hand, but substituted with blended bananas 1:1. Bananas did not overpower at all and i could definitely taste the pumpkin flavor. I also used 1/3 cup of coconut sugar instead of agave. I mixed it in 1/2 cup of warm water and added to wet ingredients. If i was using apple sauce and not bananas, i would probably go up to 1/2 cup of coconut sugar. This bread is a keeper!
You are welcome.:) Great substitutions, I’ll keep that in mind. Did you manage to find BPA free organic pumpkin puree?
thank you so much:)
Welcome:)
This looks fantastic. I like the coating of pumpkin seeds and the reduced sugar and fat!
This bread looks AWESOME!! So moist looking! Love that you added 2 whole cups of pumpkin!
Love – “stop dreaming and start eating” 🙂
🙂 Thanks Shashi.