Healthy Pumpkin Bread

This Healthy Pumpkin Bread is moist, fluffy, and perfectly spiced. It’s made with 100% whole wheat flour, coconut oil (or butter), Greek yogurt, and it’s naturally sweetened with pure maple syrup.

I look forward to making this delicious pumpkin bread every fall. Its warm spices will make your house smell amazing. My favorite way to enjoy a slice of this pumpkin bread with a little salted butter and a cup of tea. It’s the perfect fall breakfast treat.

My toddler has been enjoying this pumpkin bread as a healthy snack. It’s full of ingredients that I feel good about giving her, such as whole wheat flour, butter, eggs, yogurt, and no added sugar.

I’ve tried my fair share of healthy pumpkin bread recipes over the years. But unfortunately, many of them turned out dry or tasted bland.

That’s why I’m excited about this pumpkin bread recipe! The yogurt helps keep it moist, it’s lightly sweet, and it’s full of pumpkin spice flavor.

Healthy Pumpkin Bread ingredients

Whole wheat flour:  I use regular whole wheat flour because it’s easy to find at my local grocery store. Many healthy pumpkin bread recipes use a combination of both all-purpose and whole wheat flour, but this recipe using 100% whole wheat flour.

Baking soda and baking powder: These are leavening agents that helps the bread rise and results in a light, fluffy loaf.

Fine sea salt: This helps balance the sweetness and enhances the flavor of the other ingredients.

Ground cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves: These are the spices traditionally found in pumpkin pie spice blends. They complement and enhance the pumpkin flavor.

Butter (or coconut oil): You can use melted coconut oil or unsalted butter for this recipe. I usually use butter because it gives it better flavor.

Maple syrup: This helps to naturally sweeten the pumpkin bread without adding refined sugar.

Eggs: I use two eggs for this recipe which help make the bread moist and binds the ingredients together.

Pumpkin puree: This recipe uses pure pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling). If you have leftover pumpkin puree, you can use it to make pumpkin pancakes, waffles, scones, muffins, overnight oats, or soup.

Greek yogurt: This helps keep the bread moist and adds a boost of protein. I usually use 2% plain yogurt. 

Vanilla extract: This gives the bread good flavor.

Roasted pepitas (green pumpkin seeds): These have a beautiful rich and nutty flavor. They look nice and taste great on this pumpkin bread.

How to make healthy pumpkin bread

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Adjust the oven rack to the lower third position of the oven and preheat to 350°F. Line a 8.5″ x 4.5″ loaf pan with parchment paper and grease the inside of the pan to prevent sticking.

Combine the wet ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree and eggs together until smooth. Add the Greek yogurt, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and melted butter (or coconut oil). Whisk again until smooth.

Combine the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground ginger, and ground cloves.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Stir the dry and wet ingredients together just until combined. Do not overmix.

Bake for 50-65 minutes. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and sprinkle the roasted pepitas on top of the loaf.

Bake in the preheated oven for 50-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean with only a few moist crumbs. Every oven is different, so keep an eye on your bread.

If the top of the loaf is starting to get too brown, you can cover it with foil for the remaining bake time to prevent it from getting browner. I usually check on the loaf at the 40-minute mark.

Allow the loaf to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Then remove the pumpkin bread from the pan and let cool completely on a wire rack before serving. Once cooled, slice, serve, and enjoy.

How to store and freeze healthy pumpkin bread

To Store: Let the pumpkin bread cool completely, then wrap it in plastic wrap or keep it in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.

To Freeze: Let the pumpkin bread cool completely, then wrap the entire loaf or individual slices in plastic wrap or aluminum foil.

Place the wrapped bread in a freezer-safe bag or container, making sure to remove as much air as possible and store it in the freezer for up to 3 to 4 months.

How to thaw frozen pumpkin bread: Remove the pumpkin bread from the bag, leaving it wrapped in plastic wrap or foil.

Leave the bread on the kitchen counter at room temperature to thaw. It will take around 4 hours for a loaf to thaw completely or 1 hour for individual slices.

Please let me know how you like this healthy pumpkin bread recipe in the comments below! Your feedback and review encourages me to keep creating new and yummy recipes. I hope you love this pumpkin bread as much as I do.

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