Healthy Pumpkin Bread
A delicious, healthy pumpkin bread recipe – the BEST pumpkin bread I’ve ever had! And, it’s made with half the amount of sugar, half whole wheat flour, greek yogurt and coconut oil. A healthier pumpkin bread you can enjoy without the guilt!
Every laundry day, I like to play a little game. It’s called “How Many Things Can I Find in Shawn’s Pocket”. My guy is a pocket hoarder. And he never cleans out his pockets before throwing his clothes in the laundry basket.
Wait, did I say in the laundry basket? I meant on the floor in front of the laundry basket. Because actually putting his dirty clothes in the laundry basket is apparently my job. That’s ok, he works hard. I can lift his clothes the extra 2 feet for him to put them in the basket.
At least he puts them very close by, right?
At his job his jeans get really dirty, so he goes thru at least about 4 pairs of jeans a week. And there is an endless amount of goodies in those jeans.
This week I found 2 sharpies, 1 ball point pen, 1 construction pencil, 4 different drill bits, some plastic zip ties, a piece of paper folded up about a million times with measurements written on it, and a business card.
I forgot to check his shirt pockets before doing a load this week. Big mistake because there was a sharpie in one of those pockets. I didn’t realize that until putting the clothes in the dryer. Thank goodness the cap stayed on. That would have been an ink stain disaster!
Another fun game I’ve been playing the past few week is “Create the Perfect Healthy Pumpkin Bread Recipe”. And after attempt number 3, I nailed it!
Of course I wanted to make a healthy pumpkin bread recipe. The ones I’ve made in the past have oh so much sugar and butter in them, they’re really cake in bread form. I was determined to make a healthier version that still tasted great.
I started off with my healthy zucchini bread recipe that I perfected this summer, which is seriously amazing. It uses half the amount of sugar than normal quick breads. And it uses coconut oil instead of butter, half whole wheat flour, and non fat greek yogurt to keep it extra moist.
After making a few minor tweaks, I had the perfect healthy pumpkin bread recipe. Shawn and I cannot get enough. Ummm, we ate a whole loaf of this in 3 days. It’s healthier, so that’s ok, right? Right?!
My favorite part of this healthy pumpkin bread is the delicate crumb. Usually when I eat pumpkin bread it’s really dense and “spongy”, usually because it has so much oil and sugar in it. But this is light and fluffy, and really does taste like a bread instead of a cake. It tastes like you’re eating a pumpkin cloud.
So delicious, especially when you spread on a little butter.
Healthy Pumpkin Bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup white, unbleached all purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 15-oz can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling!)
- ½ cup white granulated sugar
- ¼ cup honey
- ½ cup plain, non fat greek yogurt
- 2 large eggs
- 6 tablespoons coconut oil, melted and cooled
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with the rack in the center. Line a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan with 2 sheets parchment paper, 1 running the length and 1 running the width, both cut to fit. This will make it extremely easy to lift the pumpkin bread out of the pan. I use binder clips to clamp down the parchment paper so it stays in place.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the flours, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to combine.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the pumpkin puree, sugar, honey, greek yogurt, eggs, and coconut oil. Stir to combine.
- Transfer the pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture. Fold until combined.
- Transfer the batter to the parchment lined loaf pan. Bake for 60 minutes, or until a wooden inserted in the center comes out with a few crumbs attached. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then lift it out of the pan using the parchment paper and cool on a wire rack for another 10 minutes. Slice and serve.
- Wrap bread in plastic wrap and store at room temperature for 3 days.
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83 Comments on “Healthy Pumpkin Bread”
Thanks for the recipe. I just made this, it smelled so good while it baked and came out perfectly! I used just one extra large egg, and instead of honey I used maple syrup. I also only had nonfat vanilla Greek yogurt (Oikos brand, my favorite) but everything still tasted great to me! Sprinkled some pepitas on top before putting the bread in the oven and they came out nice and roasted on top :)
p.s. noticed a possible typo on step 5 of the recipe, you said “or until a wooden inserted” – do you mean a wooden toothpick?
Please email the healthy pumpkin bread recipe.
Short Term Loans
Do you have any idea of the calories and what can I substitute for the coconut oil?
Roberta,
You could substitute most flavorless vegetable oils (such as canola, corn, grapeseed) for coconut oil or melted butter. If you’re just trying to avoid fat calories you could try more pureed fruit or veggies such as banana, applesauce, cooked carrots. This amount of oil is very low for quick breads. Personally, I tried a pumpkin bread recipe without oil and hated it. I thought it was heavy and had a weird texture. But maybe that was a bad recipe. Good luck on your baking:)
Love this pumpkin ? loaf recipe. It rose beautifully and tasted even better! Thank you Natalie for keeping it healthy!
Just made this recipe, and it’s fantastic! I added chocolate chips, (who doesn’t love chocolate?). Wish I could attach a picture, it looks as good as it tastes.
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This bread turned out amazing! Not overly sweet, SUPER moist (which is a must for me – i hate dry breads) and not one ounce of guilt! Thanks for such a great recipe.
This is the 2nd time I’ve made this recipe and its been a HIT!!! Thank you so much for posting this easy, tasty pumpkin bread!
HI, this looks so delicious and I really want to make it! The only problem is that I don’t have pumpkin pie spice. I do have cinnamon and nutmeg but I don’t know how much to use for each spice. Do you have any suggestions?
I would use 3 tsp of cinnamon and maybe 1/2 tsp of nutmeg.
A drill bit ruined my washing machine! It snuck its lean body through the one of the drainage holes. Good job on checking pockets before throwing in the machine. Carharts are the worst with the thin low leg side pockets. I’m making this bread now. Thanks for doing the research!
This turned out SO good!! Thanks for sharing!!
I’m glad to hear it Becky! Thanks for letting me know!
I love everything and anything pumpkin so when I saw this healthier version of pumpkin bread, I got excited. I made this pumpkin bread today and OMG is absolutely deeelish!! I just substituted the granulated white sugar with organic coconut sugar. Thanks for sharing this amazing recipe. This will definitely be my new go to pumpkin bread recipe!
I’m so glad you liked it Cristina! This pumpkin bread recipe is my FAVORITE! I make it as soon as it turns October. It’s a tradition. Glad you liked it. And glad to hear coconut sugar worked! I’ll need to try that next time. Will make it even healthier!
Gorgeous! I halved the sugar and used 1 scant tablespoon honey and also puréed some cooked pumpkin I had in the fridge. I made 11 large muffins (they didn’t overflow at the top) – perfect size. After we ate most of them I put the remainder in the freezer for a snack at work during the week. Thank you for sharing!
Glad to hear it was still delicious with half the amount of sugar. I’m going to try that next time! Glad you liked them. Making me miss pumpkin season. I’ll have to whip these beauties up again!
Hi there! New to your page and this bread looks delicious! What could I sub for the greek yogurt to make this dairy free? Thanks–can’t wait to make it!
Hi DJ! This bread is so delicious. I haven’t tried a dairy free option for a sub for the greek yogurt yet. I know there are dairy free yogurts, and coconut yogurts. Those may work, but I haven’t tried it yet so I can’t guarantee it. My first idea was so to sub mayo? But I haven’t tried that yet either. I’ll let you know if I ever try a new substitute to make this dairy free! Let me know if you find anything that worked for you : )
DJ,
You could try an equal amount of silken tofu if you’re ok with soy products.
In my house, kleenexes are usually what’s left in pockets! & if you miss one, you’ve got a real mess on your hands! At least you always have something interesting ;) Love that you healthified pumpkin bread! I’ll have to try soon :)
I just made this bread tonight, and it is now my favorite pumpkin bread recipe. Just the right amount of spice, too. I now want to make it in muffins and small loaves. What time adjustments would you make for each of those shapes? Thank you for figuring out this recipe and sharing.
You just made my NIGHT Brooke! I was having kind of a blah day, and after getting the email with your nice comment I couldn’t help but have the biggest smile. So thank YOU! So glad you liked it. It’s become a big favorite in our house. So I have used this exact recipe to make muffins, and I baked them for 30 minutes and they were perfect. And it made exactly 12 muffins. I fill my muffin trays almost to the top, because I like big, dramatic muffin tops that spill over. Like you can get at a bakery. So be sure to spray the top of the muffin tray with non-stick spray so they don’t stick. Sadly I don’t have mini loaf trays. I would guess maybe 40-45 minutes? I’ll let you know if I ever try and find the right cooking temperature. Hugs!
Ha! This bread is going to make my week, if it lasts that long.
Thank you for the tip on the muffins.
I am literally DYING to try this, Natalie! It looks soooo wonderful. Mmmm…pumpkin bread. Pinned :)!!
Pumpkin bread is one of my favorite things about fall! This looks delish! Love all the healthy swaps you made!
This is great! I’ve been searching for a good healthy pumpkin bread recipe, but all the ones I’ve seen looked nearly burned and/or flat and pathetic. But not this one! It looks perfectly fluffy and moist (courtesy of that greek yogurt)! I might just have to try this sometime in the Fall! :D