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The BEST Healthy Pumpkin Bread

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The best ever healthy pumpkin bread is bursting with Fall flavors and made with tons of healthy ingredient swaps. This healthy pumpkin bread with yogurt can be made with or without chocolate chips.

Close up photo of a cut into loaf of healthy pumpkin bread

Healthy Pumpkin Bread

Call me crazy, but I started experimenting with this healthy pumpkin bread recipe since the start of the summer! The first trial run was in May sometime and it was a complete failure. At that point I was trying to make it completely with blended up old fashioned oats and no refined flour. Unfortunately I was never able to get a bread that worked with only oats. Ones that tasted good? Yes, actually they did! They just weren’t very “sliceable” and tended to burn around the edges and tops. The insides were actually pretty delicious though. 

Flash forward many more trial runs to a bread that I am confident is the best light pumpkin loaf. And, hey, it doesn’t burn on the tops or sides and slices very nicely. So naturally I have been dying to share it with you all (since about July!) I hope you all love it as much as we do!

Overhead photo of all of the healthy pumpkin bread ingredients: yogurt, pumpkin, oats, coconut oil, etc.

Experimenting with other ingredients:

While I have tried making healthy pumpkin bread with almond flour (and regular flour), I like this version best with oat flour (blended up old fashioned oats). I also experimented a bit with making a healthy pumpkin bread with stevia and unfortunately the results weren’t share-worthy. While this pumpkin bread does have some refined sugar, it replaces a great deal of otherwise less healthy ingredients (butter, 2-3x the sugar amount, vegetable oil, etc.) you’ll find in most pumpkin breads with better-for-you ingredients. This isn’t necessarily a low calorie pumpkin bread, but the calories you are getting are far better for your body than your typical pumpkin bread. Low calorie does not always mean healthy!

What makes this pumpkin bread recipe healthy?*

  • Oats: rich in antioxidants (help to keep you healthy) and contain powerful soluble fiber
  • Greek Yogurt: high in protein (essential for good health), packed with probiotics, a lot of potassium and calcium
  • Coconut Oil: high in healthy saturated fats which can boost fat burning and provide your brain and body with quick energy. Also raises HDL cholesterol (GOOD cholesterol) in your blood which is linked to reduced heart disease risk
  • Egg: good source of high quality and inexpensive protein. Eggs are rich sources of vitamins and minerals!
  • Pumpkin: highly nutritious! Rich in vitamin A, rich in antioxidants, immune boosting vitamins.
  • Cinnamon: one of the healthiest spices on the planet! Lowers blood sugar levels and reduces heart disease risk factors.
  • Nutmeg: helps relieve pain, treat insomnia, help digestion, improves brain health, improves skin health.
  • White Whole Wheat Flour: a healthy, but milder in flavor flour made from white wheat. Read more here.
    Overhead step by step process photos of healthy pumpkin bread being made -- wet ingredients

Tips to make this easy healthy pumpkin bread recipe the BEST:

  • My top tip for success: use good quality ingredients! I’ve found Libby’s pumpkin to be the thickest (least watery) and have the most flavor. I love LouAna’s coconut oil (make sure to measure AFTER it’s melted not before), and Greek Gods honey vanilla yogurt. None of this products are sponsored on this website, but I have found them to make the BEST healthy pumpkin bread! Do not try to use a low fat Greek yogurt or a plain (non-Greek) yogurt in this bread as they won’t yield the same result.
  • To add chocolate chips or not: If using dark chocolate chips, you’re still keeping this pumpkin loaf on the healthier side — dark chocolate has healthy fats and plenty of antioxidants! That said, you can definitely remove the chocolate chips and still have a delicious pumpkin bread. If you opt to not have the chocolate, I would increase the pumpkin spices a bit (add an additional 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice). You can also add chopped nuts in the place of the chocolate chips (1/2 cup).
  • Don’t overmix: if you overmix the batter, you’ll end up with a denser loaf of bread. Mix until ingredients are JUST combined and then pop it in the oven! I like to grease the bread pan with nonstick spray AND lightly dust with flour — that way this healthy pumpkin bread comes out like a breeze (let it cool 10 minutes before removing from the pan).
    Overhead step by step process photos of healthy pumpkin bread being made -- dry ingredients

How to make your own “oat flour” for this healthy pumpkin bread:

Oat flour tends to make a baked good more moist than wheat flour and it adds extra flavor so it’s perfect in this healthy pumpkin bread. However, you don’t need to go out and buy oat flour, you can make your own in a minute or less!

  • Place the oats (you can use old fashioned OR quick oats) into the bowl of your food processor or small blender jar.
  • Pulse the oats until they are ground into a powder-like consistency that resembles flour.
  • Depending on the speed and power of your food processor or blender, it takes about 60 seconds or less.
  • Stir the oats around if needed to ensure that ALL the oats have been finely ground. (See photo below)
  • Make sure to measure your oat flour measurement for this recipe AFTER it’s been turned to flour and not in the whole oat form beforehand.

Process showing how to make homemade oat flour in 60 seconds or less! Pulse old fashioned oats into oat flourFAQs: Healthy Pumpkin Bread

  • How many calories are in this healthy pumpkin bread recipe: 194 calories per slice. While not super low calorie, remember most of the ingredients are REAL foods that are good for your body.
  • Can I freeze this pumpkin bread? Yes! Freeze the freshest bread you have. If you just baked it, allow the bread to cool completely before freezing to avoid soggy bread or mold. Wrap the bread tightly in plastic wrap and then seal it completely in an airtight container or bag. Freeze the loaf of bread. Bread freezes safely for 3 months. Individual slices of this healthy pumpkin bread defrost in under 10 minutes at room temperature and take slightly longer to defrost in the refrigerator.
  • How long does this healthy pumpkin bread last? 2-3 days at normal room temperature (wrapped tightly/stored in an airtight container). After 3-4 days, this bread is more prone to molding because of the moistness of it and the ingredients used.
  • Do I need to refrigerate this healthy pumpkin bread? After 1 day of the bread being at room temperature, I recommend refrigerating it and warming individual slices in the microwave for 5-10 seconds. While not necessary to refrigerate the bread, it will keep it fresher for longer.
  • Can I substitute “X” for “X”? To be honest, if you aren’t looking to use almond flour, coconut flour, or stevia I probably haven’t tried the substitution you want to try! While I’d love to say whatever you want to try will work, I don’t want to tell you something will work without testing it myself. While some substitutions may seem like a good idea (more regular flour in place of oat flour) oftentimes they don’t work how you’d think (oat flour absorbs much more liquid than regular flour). Hopefully readers can share in the comment section what has worked or hasn’t worked for them as far as subtitutions! If you’re trying this for the first time, I’d recommend making it exactly according to the recipe 🙂

Overhead step by step process photos of healthy pumpkin bread being made -- wet ingredients mixed with dry ingredients to make healthy pumpkin bread before being bakedClose up photo of a cut into loaf of healthy pumpkin bread

After you’ve tried this healthy pumpkin bread recipe, here are some other healthy pumpkin recipes to try:

5 from 9 votes
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Healthy Greek Yogurt Pumpkin Bread
Prep Time
15 mins
Cook Time
50 mins
Cooling Time
1 hr
Total Time
1 hr 5 mins
 

The best ever healthy pumpkin bread is bursting with Fall flavors and made with tons of healthy ingredient swaps. This healthy pumpkin bread with yogurt can be made with or without chocolate chips.

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: healthy pumpkin bread
Servings: 1 loaf of bread
Calories: 194 kcal
Author: Chelsea
Ingredients
  • 1 cup pumpkin*
  • 1/2 cup vanilla Greek yogurt (must be Greek yogurt)
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup coconut oil, measured when melted
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1 cup flour, all-purpose white or white-whole wheat (regular whole wheat not recommended)
  • 1/2 cup oat flour (blended up old fashioned oats)
  • 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips or chopped nuts optional
Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a bread pan (I use 4.5 x 8.5 inch pan) and set aside.

  2. In a large bowl, stir together the pumpkin, Greek yogurt, egg, vanilla, coconut oil (measure in MELTED and slightly cooled form), and brown sugar until well combined.

  3. In another bowl, stir together the baking soda, salt, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg, flour, and oat flour (measure oat flour AFTER blending the oats; to make oat flour, put old fashioned or quick oats in a blender and pulse them until they resemble flour). Stir in chocolate chips or nuts if desired. You don't need to use chocolate or nuts for this bread, but if you leave them out I recommend adding 1 additional teaspoon pumpkin pie spice.

  4. Mix the wet and dry together until just combined (over-mixing will yield a denser bread). (Increase spices if desired.)

  5. Pour into the prepared bread ban and bake for 40-55 minutes or until a fork when inserted into the center comes out clean or the bread starts to pull away from the edges. If needed, tent the top with tin foil if the top of the bread is baking faster than the rest.

  6. Store in an airtight container in the fridge. (I microwave a piece for 10-15 seconds before enjoying). Best eaten within 2-3 days otherwise tightly wrap individual pieces and freeze.

Recipe Notes

*Make sure you are using regular canned pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling. Also make sure to only use 1 cup and not an entire can! To ensure the best bread make sure you are using high quality and not watery pumpkin.

*While I have my background in Exercise and Wellness (BA), all the content in this post is for informational purposes only. Please consult a doctor or dietician for any specific dietary needs/questions.

The best ever healthy pumpkin bread is bursting with Fall flavors and made with tons of healthy ingredient swaps. This healthy pumpkin bread with yogurt can be made with or without chocolate chips. via chelseasmessyapron.com #healthy #pumpkin #bread #easy #kidfriendly #greek #yogurt #fall #spices #health #best #ever #chocolate
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Comments

    • The recipe is at the bottom of the blog post after you scroll through the pictures and text. Is that what you mean? It is outlined in a box 🙂

      Reply

  8. Crazy? No. Genius? Yes. I’m ready to try any kind of healthy pumpkin bread…I can’t get enough of pumpkin! The exact same thing happened to me when I made my first pumpkin bread (funny story there, my oven’s gas was finished..*covers face*) but I can tell from how amazing this looks that this bread tastes GREAT!

    Reply

  13. 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!

    Reply

    • 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.

      Reply

  14. 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.

    Reply

  15. 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?

    Reply

    • 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.

      Reply

  17. 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!

    Reply

    • 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!

      Reply

  19. 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!

    Reply

    • Yeah!! So great to hear! 🙂 Isn’t oat flour the easiest?! And raisins + walnuts sound amazing. Thanks for the comment Amanda!

      Reply

  20. I made this 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 🙂

    Reply

  21. Delicious! My two boys absolutely love these for breakfast! And healthy (well, except for the chocolate chips, but life is short…)!

    Reply

  22. I pinned this recipe along several others a while. I randomly picked this one to try this year- it seriously was delicious. I usually get tired of my pumpkin bread because they are too spicy and it competes with the chocolate or taste more like plain pumpkin (I grow pie pumpkins so make my own purée). This recipe is delicious and dangerous as I’ve eaten half a loaf in 12 hours ?

    Reply

    • Oh this makes me SO happy to hear!! I’m thrilled you loved this 🙂 And that is so awesome you grow your own pumpkins!

      Reply

  23. Can’t wait to make this when fall comes around! I too am a big fan of chocolate and pumpkin. Making this with pumpkin flavored greek yogurt sounds like an awesome idea!

    Reply

  24. Awesome recipe!
    I did a little subbing because I was out of brown sugar, so I added 1/3 c raw sugar + 2 Tbs maple flavored agave syrup (pure maple would have worked fine I’m sure). I also added 2 Tbs flaxseed. Because I was afraid it would be too soggy I added an extra 1/4 cup flour (I was using BRM white bread flour). It turned out wonderfully!

    Reply

    • So thrilled to hear you enjoyed this bread Virginia! 🙂 Your substitutes sound delicious and especially that flaxseed addition, yum! 🙂

      Reply

  25. I made this last night, we just cut into it this morning, & it’s already half gone! I love baking pumpkin bread every fall but really don’t love that it’s often saturated with sugar & oil. This turned out really good & the natural flavor just shines I think. I used organic sucanat in place of the brown sugar, it worked beautifully. I tried a recipe that called for sucanat recently & liked the results & thought it would work well here. I also decided to leave the dark chocolate chips out to make it as healthy as possible. Delicious pumpkin bread without the sugar crash, yay! Thank you!

    Reply

  26. Look forward to making this! Just a quick question…exactly how much pumpkin should I use? You say not the entire can but I can’t find where you specify how much to actually use.
    Thanks!

    Reply

  28. Chelsea, you’ve done it again! This bread was absolutely delicious. This is probably the 20th recipe I’ve made from your blog and they ALWAYS turn out so well. Thank you thank you for making my life more exciting with your food. I also love that these are a little healthier than other recipes too.

    Reply

    • I’m so thrilled to hear you enjoyed this bread and so many recipes from my site 🙂 Thank you so much for taking the time to comment; it makes my day!

      Reply

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