A nutritious pumpkin bread with applesauce, soft and warmly spiced, the perfect loaf made with 6 healthy ingredients including organic canned pumpkin puree. This dairy free, low-calorie loaf is made in one bowl in under an hour.
A soft healthy pumpkin bread with applesauce mixed in minutes in one bowl. It's a healthier pumpkin bread than you'll buy in stores, lower in calories at 131 calories per slice, and higher in protein and fiber. Not only are there no additives in this made-from-scratch pumpkin bread, but the ingredients are also lighter, including milk, lemon juice, and a third of the amount of oil found in classic recipes.
Like my 15-minute pumpkin sugar cookies, this easy breakfast bread is full of protein and fiber, as most of my muffin and bread recipes are. It's also a dairy free and egg free treat to enjoy with my fresh single serving lemonade , my iced pumpkin spice latte, or my delicious easy iced coffee.
The delicious spicy bread - another of my easy recipes with pumpkin puree - is also soft and fluffy like my chocolate chip loaf cake and my chocolate zucchini bread and as spicy as my apple crisp without oats and my baked pumpkin donuts with glaze.
Why You'll Love This
A soft spicy texture. This bread is softer than most recipes because of the higher amount of pumpkin puree and applesauce, and lower levels of oil.
Perfect for all diets. This bread is also naturally dairy free, gluten free, vegan, nut free, egg free and is refined sugar free
A healthy pumpkin bread. This bread is higher in fiber thanks to white whole wheat flour, has less sugar than most pumpkin breads, and is soft and moist thanks to the use of more canned pumpkin puree than is found in most pumpkin bread recipes. Pumpkin is nutritious, rich in vitamin A and other ingredients that support eye and skin health and boost the immune system.
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Ingredients
Pumpkin puree – I recommend using a quality canned pumpkin puree. Choose a brand where the only ingredient is pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling which has added sugars.
Pumpkin pie spice – I use my homemade pumpkin spice recipe which includes cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger
Flour – White whole wheat flour works well and is healthier, with higher fiber, but all purpose also works. And gluten free baking flour works too.
Applesauce. Use unsweetened applesauce to replace any eggs that are used in a traditional pumpkin bread recipe. The pectin in applesauce works as a wonderful binder, just as eggs do. Or you can use 1 flaxseed egg (3 tablespoon water + 1 tablespoon flaxseed) or aquafaba.
Dairy-free milk activated with lemon juice – I add a tablespoon of lemon juice to my almond milk and let it stand for a few minutes. This adds an acid to the batter that activates the baking soda to help the bread rise. This is also called vegan buttermilk.
Cane sugar - There is only ½ cup of sugar in this loaf and I find it sweet enough, especially if you added a glaze or crumble. I used organic cane sugar because it is less processed and tastes better but any cane sugar works.
Oil – I used melted coconut oil, a healthier option than vegetable oil because coconut oil is full of triglycerides, a component much easier to digest and burn for energy. [source] But you can also use the equally nutritious olive oil.
And then we have the baking essentials baking powder, baking soda, salt, and vanilla. Now you’re ready to bake!
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Substitutions
Applesauce: I used applesauce to replace what eggs do for pumpkin bread, but flax seed eggs or aquafaba can be used. You'll need the equivalent of one egg for this recipe.
Milk: I used almond but any dairy-free milk works. I add the lemon juice to curdle the milk into a kind of buttermilk - this allows the baking soda to help with lift.
Oil: Feel free to instead use olive oil, considered to be heart-healthy and a less processed oil. [source]
Flour: I have made this bread successfully with both all purpose flour and white whole wheat flour but I'm sure gluten-free baking flour also works.
Sugar. Brown sugar works as a 1:1 substitution, as does coconut sugar. You can use maple syrup as well but use ¼ cup and reduce the milk to ⅓ cup.
Steps to Make
For more detail, visit the complete recipe for healthy pumpkin bread with canned pumpkin at the bottom of this post, but here are general steps.
Step #1: Measure ingredients, and line a loaf pan with parchment paper that is about 12-inches by 8-inches so it hangs over the two long sides.
Step #2: Add all the liquid ingredients to a bowl and stir to combine.
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Step #3: Add dry ingredient to the wet, and mix the batter with a hand mixer or even manually mix with a spoon. Limit the mixing to a minute or just until combined to avoid a rubbery texture to your bread.
Step #4: Add the batter to the lined loaf pan, level off.
Step #5: Bake your loaf for 45 to 50 minutes. After 30 minutes, lay a small piece of foil over the top of the loaf to prevent the top from blackening. Then continue to bake for the remaining 15 minutes.
Step #6: Remove the pan from the oven and allow your bread to cool in the pan about 5 minutes. Then use the parchment ends to lift the bread out and allow it to cool on a cooling rack for 20 minutes before slicing.
How to Store
Store my pumpkin bread covered at room temperature for 3 days. Refrigerate your bread for 7 days. To freeze long-term, cut in slices and freeze each slice so thawing is easy.
Recipe Tips
1. Don't forget to add the lemon juice to milk. When making an egg-free recipe, it's important to add an acid such as lemon juice or vinegar to the milk to react with the baking soda and help the cake rise.
2. Top the bread with foil 30 minutes in to baking to keep the top of the bread from burning. Also, the trapped warmth will help the top of the pumpkin bread bake without burning.
3. Make sure your oven temperature really is 350 F. This loaf is in your oven for a long time, and it depends on your oven having a consistent temperature of 350 F. So, I suggest checking your oven with an inexpensive oven thermometer as it preheats to know if you need to adjust it up or down a few degrees to get it right.
Variations
1. Make pumpkin bread with oats: Fold ½ cup of rolled oats into the batter just before baking, and sprinkle a few on top. Bake immediately so the oats don't have a chance to get mushy.
2. Make pumpkin chocolate chip bread: Fold ½ cup of mini chocolate chips into the batter before baking.
2. Make pumpkin bread with nuts: Sprinkle the top of the batter in the loaf before baking with a mix of ½ cup crushed nuts and ½ cup mini chocolate chips.
3. Make pumpkin bread with a crumble top: Sprinkle the top of the batter before baking with a crumble - ½ cup chopped chilled butter chunks mixed with ½ cup brownie sugar and ½ cup of flour.
Serve Pumpkin Bread
- eat a slice slathered in nut butter, cream cheese or butter.
- a slice with a scoop vanilla ice cream on top.
- crumbled in a bowl of ice cream or yogurt.
- slice into cubes and serve with melted chocolate fondue.
FAQS
Yes! I have a pumpkin muffin recipe but if you want to convert this batter, just divide into 12 muffin cups lined with paper liners. Bake about 20-22 minutes.
Yes, if you buy a brand that has only pumpkin in the ingredients. While you can make pumpkin puree from scratch by baking pumpkin wedges, it really is not worth the effort as canned pumpkin puree tastes flavorful and fresh, and is the perfect texture for pumpkin recipes.
Pumpkin is a great at helping you lose weight because the vegetable is low in calories and very filling. So eating a bread rich in pumpkin is a terrific snack when you want to stave off the feeling of hunger.
Yes, pumpkin bread is a bread, so it is supposed to be substantial in texture. To be sure your bread is not undercooked, insert a tester to reach the center, and again to reach only ½ inch deep from the top - these two tests will insure the center and the top of your bed is baked through - just beneath the crust can be the last to bake through so it's important to test.
More Pumpkin Puree Recipes
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📖 Recipe
Healthy Pumpkin Bread with Applesauce
Equipment
- Measuring cups & spoons
- Mixing bowls
- Hand mixer or stand mixer
Ingredients
Wet ingredients
- 1 cup pumpkin puree, canned Or sweet potato puree
- ½ cup dairy-free milk
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice (Or apple cider vinegar or white vinegar)
- 3 tablespoon apple sauce, unsweetened or 1 flax seed egg, or aquafaba (liquid from a chickpea can)
- ½ cup cane sugar
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil (or unsweetened apple sauce)
Dry Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cup all purpose flour (or white whole wheat flour, or gluten-free baking flour)
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- pinch salt
Spices to add to dry ingredients
- 2 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon cloves
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Instructions
Prep
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Line a loaf pan with parchment paper that hangs over the sides.
- Measure your applesauce or prepare 1 flaxseed egg by mixing 1 tablespoon flaxseeds into 3 tablespoon of water and let sit for 5 minutes.3 tablespoon apple sauce, unsweetened
- Stir 1 tablespoon of lemon juice (or apple cider vinegar) into the milk and allow it to curdle for 5 minutes.1 tablespoon lemon juice, ½ cup dairy-free milk
Make pumpkin bread batter
- Mix up the wet ingredients in a large bowl.1 cup pumpkin puree, canned, ½ cup dairy-free milk, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 3 tablespoon apple sauce, unsweetened, ½ cup cane sugar, ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil, 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Set a sifter over the bowl, and add the dry ingredients + spices to it. Then using a spoon to push the dry ingredients into the bowl on top of the wet ingredients.1 ¾ cup all purpose flour, 2 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon vanilla, pinch salt, 2 tablespoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ginger, ¼ teaspoon nutmeg, ⅛ teaspoon cloves
- Mix into a batter until just combined.
- Pour the batter into the parchment-lined pan.
- Bake for 45 to 50 minutes. After 30 minutes, lay a small piece of foil over the top of the loaf to prevent the top from blackening. Then continue to bake for the remaining 15 minutes.
- Test loaf by inserting a tooth pick or knife into the center, going deep to see if the center is done, and again only ½ inch deep to be sure the top is baked.
- Remove pan and allow to sit for 20 minutes before slicing. This waiting period is important to allow the texture to become bread-like.
- Glaze or eat plain.
Store Pumpkin Bread
- Store my pumpkin bread covered at room temperature for 3 days. Refrigerate your bread for 7 days. To freeze long-term, cut in slices and freeze each slice so thawing is easy.
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