Looking for more pumpkin recipes? Check out Pumpkin Muffins, Pumpkin Cookies, or this favorite Pumpkin Cake.
Healthy Pumpkin Bread
My family is OBSESSED with all things pumpkin (hi Pumpkin Snickerdoodles), but with the holiday season approaching and sick season quickly approaching, I’m always trying to find better options for the kids. While we indulge in this regular Pumpkin Bread all the time, I love making this healthier pumpkin bread filled with the protein and nutrients we all need! And bonus—it’s just as delicious!
I put this recipe to the test, refining it again and again to get it just right. It’s moist, full of fall flavors, and made with wholesome ingredients.
Give it a try and enjoy a pumpkin bread that’s both tasty and wholesome!
Ingredients In Healthy Pumpkin Bread Recipe
- Canned Pumpkin: Make sure you’re using plain canned pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling.
- Vanilla Greek Yogurt: Use Greek yogurt, preferably honey-vanilla flavored for an even sweeter bread.
- Egg and Vanilla: Binds the ingredients together.
- Coconut Oil: Measure after melting and make sure it’s cooled to room temperature before adding. Other oil will work as well.
- Light Brown Sugar: Pack the sugar lightly when measuring to avoid over-sweetening.
- Baking Soda and Salt: Helps the bread rise and balances the sweetness.
- Spices: Make your own pumpkin pie spice using a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves.
- All-Purpose Flour or White Whole Wheat Flour and Oat Flour: Avoid using regular whole wheat flour as it can make the bread too dense.
- Dark Chocolate Chips or Chopped Nuts (optional): Fold these in with the dry ingredients to make sure they don’t sink to the bottom of the bread.
How To Make Pumpkin Bread Healthy
- Preheat oven to 350°F and prepare a 4.5 x 8.5-inch bread pan.
- Whisk together all wet ingredients in a large bowl.
- Mix dry ingredients in another bowl; add chocolate chips or nuts if desired.
- Combine dry mix with wet, avoiding over-mixing.
- Pour batter into the pan; sprinkle with brown sugar (optional).
- Bake for 40-55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Let it cool, cut into slices, and then enjoy each bite!
Tips For Success
- Quality Matters: Use Libby’s® pumpkin, LouAna® melted coconut oil, and Greek Gods® honey vanilla yogurt for the best results (not sponsored). Skip low-fat or plain yogurts.
- Mix-Ins: Dark chocolate chips are delicious, but you can leave them out or use chopped nuts instead.
- Mixing: Don’t over-mix to avoid a dense loaf. Grease and flour your pan for easy removal after a 10-minute cool down.
- Toothpick Test: Insert a toothpick into the center. The bread is done if it comes out with moist crumbs or clean.
- Loaf Pan: Use the recommended pan size for even baking and accurate cooking times.
Quick Tip
What’s the difference between canned pumpkin and pumpkin pie filling? Canned pumpkin is pureed pumpkin, while pumpkin pie filling has added sweeteners and spices. For Healthy Pumpkin Bread and most non-pie recipes, use plain canned pumpkin.
How To Make “Oat Flour”
Oat flour adds moisture and flavor to this Pumpkin Bread Recipe. To make it:
- Add old-fashioned or quick oats to a blender or food processor.
- Blend until it turns into a fine powder, like flour.
- Stir to make sure all the oats are finely ground.
- Measure the oat flour after grinding, not the whole oats.
Healthy Pumpkin Bread FAQs
Common Issues: Over-baking, too much flour, not enough wet ingredients, or overmixing can cause problems when baking.
How I Keep This Bread Moist: I use precise measurements, add Greek yogurt and coconut oil for extra richness, and follow easy mixing and baking steps to keep the bread moist.
Too much moisture, over-mixing, and under-baking can be problems. My recipe solves these issues with the right balance of wet and dry ingredients, tips to prevent over-mixing, and exact baking times for a perfect loaf.
It stays fresh for 2-3 days at room temperature and up to a week in the fridge if kept in an airtight container.
What Makes This Pumpkin Bread Healthy?
- Whole Grains Galore: I use oat flour for extra fiber and nutrition.
- Packed with Vitamins: The pumpkin adds vitamins A and C.
- Lightly Sweetened: I use just a little sugar to sweeten the bread.
- Good Fats: Coconut oil is heart-healthy.
- Extra Goodies: Oats and Greek yogurt provide antioxidants, protein, and more!
Other Healthy Pumpkin Recipes:
- Healthy Pumpkin Muffins with chocolate chips
- Pumpkin Protein Shake using vanilla protein
- Healthy Pumpkin Cookies with oats
- Gluten Free Pumpkin Cake without flour
- Pumpkin Granola with nuts and seeds
Healthy Pumpkin Bread
Equipment
- Bread pan 4.5 x 8.5-inch
- Blender
Ingredients
- Cooking spray
Wet Ingredients
- 1 cup pumpkin see note 1
- 1/2 cup vanilla Greek yogurt see note 2
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup melted coconut oil see note 3
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar lightly packed
Dry Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice see note 4
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 cup all-purpose flour or white-whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup oat flour
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips or chopped nuts, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease a 4.5 x 8.5-inch bread pan and lightly flour. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together all wet ingredients until smooth and well combined.
- To make oat flour, blend either old-fashioned or quick oats until they form a fine powder that resembles flour. Measure out the required amount after blending.
- In a separate bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients. If you're adding chocolate chips or nuts, fold them in now.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, stirring until just blended. Avoid over-mixing to prevent the bread from becoming too dense.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Optionally, sprinkle 2 tablespoons brown sugar on top for a crunchy crust! Bake for 40–55 minutes. Check for doneness by inserting a fork or toothpick into the center; it should come out clean or with moist crumbs. If the bread's top starts to brown too quickly, shield it with foil.
- Let bread sit in pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack. Allow the bread to cool completely before slicing or it will crumble.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I made this healthy pumpkin bread last night and it was fantastic! I used roasted pumpkin from the garden, subbed white whole wheat flour for the oat flour (I was too lazy to grind oat flour…) and used roughly 1/2 cup of sugar but I don’t think any of those things changed the recipe appreciably. Thanks for putting in the hours coming up with a healthier pumpkin bread recipe that I don’t have to cringe in giving to my littles 🙂
Awe you are so sweet, thanks for the kind comment! So glad you all enjoyed these 🙂
Very delicious and moist! I used whole wheat pastry flour (plus the oat flour – thanks for the tip on grinding my own), plain Greek yogurt, and I subbed raisins and chopped walnuts for the chocolate chips and cut down the brown sugar by a quarter cup. It didn’t rise quite as much, probably, but it still had a light texture and a delicate crumb. Not sure if I can wait for breakfast!
Yeah!! So great to hear! 🙂 Isn’t oat flour the easiest?! And raisins + walnuts sound amazing. Thanks for the comment Amanda!
Looks delicious!!!!! Did I miss the size pan to use?? Thanks so much, cant wait to try!!!!
8-1/2 by 4-1/2
Yum! I doubled the recipe and it made 6 mini loaves, great for gifting. I accidentally forgot to double the sugar, and honestly I don’t miss it! I used canola oil and it was fine. Delicious spread with a little cream cheese or goat cheese!
Yeah so great to hear!! And isn’t that the best feeling — less sugar and it’s still tasty?! Thanks for your comment! And yum on the cream or goat cheese!
Love all the healthy swaps. With chocolate and pumpkin in the mix, what could be better? Thanks for the recipe.
You are welcome!! Thanks for the comment!
I loved how this turned out! I was wondering, would this apply to a muffin tin as well or would I have to adjust the time/temperature? I see that you have a {Skinny & Healthy} Pumpkin Chocolate-Chip Muffins recipe, so I probably should just follow that one. Just wondering, why no greek yogurt for that one?
So glad you enjoyed this bread!! I’m not sure about converting the bread to muffins as I haven’t tried it, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. The reason the muffins don’t have Greek yogurt is because they would be too wet/moist with the pumpkin and the yogurt. I haven’t been able to figure out a recipe (yet!) where oat flour can bake well with that much moisture which is why this bread combines oat flour and white whole wheat flour with the pumpkin and yogurt.
This was lovely! I messed around with the recipe to make it gluten-free. Everything the same except:
2 large eggs
1 1/2 c. Bob’s Red Mill GF Baking Flour
1 tsp. xanthan gum
no coconut oil — I melted it in my microwave but then forgot to add it! The loaf came out lofty and moist even without. (Must have been the extra egg.)
Using a ceramic loaf pan I had to bake for an extra 20 minutes, and I tented with foil after an hour to keep the top from burning.
Thanks so much for leaving a comment and telling others how you made this GF — I’m sure this will help a lot of people 🙂 Glad to hear you enjoyed the bread!!
Oh, almost forgot — also added 1/2 tsp. baking powder.
This looks amazing! I can’t wait to try it.
Do you have any suggestions for alternatives to using coconut oil? I unfortunately have a coconut allergy.
Thanks so much!
Thank you Emily! Unfortunately I haven’t tried anything in place of the coconut oil so I can’t say for sure what would perfectly replicate the taste and texture. In some of my other recipes I have had readers comment that canola oil has successfully worked in place of the coconut oil so perhaps that would work here as well too. Sorry to not be of more help! I typically use coconut oil instead of adding something like butter or shortening so those two could perhaps work in place as well, but I can’t say for sure without further recipe testing.
I always replace the oil with apple sauce!
How pumpkin should be prepered before stiring ? 😀
I’m sorry, not quite sure I’m understanding your question..
I think they mean they don’t understand how to prepare the pumpkin. The answer is just canned pureed pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling but regular pumpkin)
Thank you Simone! 🙂
Yay for fall baking. This looks fantastic and it’s healhty too, YUM! Pinned!