The BEST Healthy Pumpkin Bread
Decadent, moist and bursting with pumpkin spice and chocolate chips, this healthy pumpkin bread is a classic with a twist! Gluten-free, vegan, dairy-free, and easily made paleo!
My all time favorite classic healthy pumpkin bread
The leaves have finally crisped here, and leaves are turning into these beautiful reds, oranges, and light browns, so you know what that means: it’s time to make healthy pumpkin bread!
I’m a huge fan of my healthy pumpkin muffins and my classic vegan pumpkin bread, but you can never have too many healthy pumpkin recipes, am I right?
This lighter pumpkin bread is filled with pumpkin spice and chocolate chips, and marbled with a chocolate pumpkin swirl to create the most decadent slice of spiced fall goodness you’ll ever bite into.
That’s the fun twist! You not only have chocolate chips melted into the bread, but also a fudgy and thick layer of chocolate pumpkin bread swirled in between!
This classic pumpkin bread is incredibly easy, and not to mention gluten free, dairy free, eggless, and has the option of being Paleo if that’s what floats ya boat!
What makes this pumpkin bread Paleo?
So the cool thing about this pumpkin chocolate chip bread is that you don’t need to make this Paleo, but it totally can be.
For a Paleo pumpkin bread, I used cassava flour, which is a grain free flour made from the cassava root.
I find it great to use because it’s one of the best 1-to-1 gluten free flours I’ve found, and it’s nut free. This is something I always watch out for because so many Paleo, vegan, and gluten free treats contain an abundance of nuts in them.
The ingredients for this healthy pumpkin bread also include:
- Pumpkin puree
- Pumpkin spice
- Coconut Sugar
- Flaxseed
- Olive oil
- Cacao powder
- Chocolate chips
- Leavening agents
This Paleo pumpkin bread also happens to be dairy free and refined sugar free (it’s only sweetened with coconut sugar and just a touch of maple syrup for flavor purposes!).
However, like I mentioned earlier, you don’t have to make this healthy pumpkin bread Paleo or even gluten free if you don’t need it! Swap in your favorite flour, such as your own 1-to-1 gluten free flour or even all-purpose flour.
How to make super moist pumpkin bread
You can find the full instructions to making a super moist pumpkin bread down below in the recipe box, but here are a few of my top tips to ensuring that your pumpkin bread comes out amazing:
- Use the oil option for the most moist pumpkin bread: I do give an option for an oil free pumpkin bread, but I personally love the oil option more. I also recommend using olive oil over other oils, such as coconut oil, because olive oil has a bit more moisture than coconut oil.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients fully: and I truly mean use a whisk!
- Don’t over-bake the pumpkin bread! If you find that the top of the pumpkin bread is browning too fast or the chocolate chips are starting to burn, you can create a tent over the bread with a piece of tin foil (just use your oven mitts).
- Try not to make substitutions to ingredients unless noted: I have not tested this pumpkin bread with almond flour nor oat flour so I cannot speak to whether they will turn out!
To make this Paleo vegan pumpkin bread batter:
- Prep the flaxseed “eggs.” This will give them time to coagulate.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients.
- Add in the wet ingredients and fold them into the batter.
- Sprinkle in the chocolate chips.
- Divide the batter to create the marble layers. You’ll learn how to marble the chocolate pumpkin bread down below!
- Bake your pumpkin bread then serve!
How to make chocolate marble pumpkin bread
Now we’re going to marble your healthy pumpkin bread batter!
You don’t have to marble it if you don’t want to. In fact, you can just leave out the cacao powder all together and make it a straight up lighter pumpkin bread). But I just love the effect of a marble chocolate pumpkin bread so here’s how you do it.
Start by pouring half of the chocolate pumpkin batter into a parchment paper lined loaf tin. Spread it around so that a lot of surface area is covered, but it doesn’t need to all be covered.
Add a layer of just pure pumpkin batter on top, and distribute it over the chocolate layer, making sure all areas are covered now.
Then repeat for the remaining batter of each, first with the chocolate then with the pumpkin. Use a knife to lightly swirl the marbled pumpkin bread layers together, but only a little! Too much and you won’t see the beautiful pumpkin color!
Then place into the oven and bake! Simple enough, right?
Tips and tricks for the best healthy pumpkin bread
Because I want you to have the absolute best experience with this fall loaf of deliciousness, here are a few tips and tricks for ensuring your loaf comes out amazing each time!
- Use your favorite flour. Like I said earlier, I used cassava flour, but this recipe works great with all purpose and a 1-to-1 gluten free flour.
- Don’t open the oven to check on your bread! This lets a lot of the heat out of the oven, changing the temperature drastically and risking the final product of your pumpkin bread. If you want to check on your loaf, simply turn on your oven light. To check its doneness, you can use a toothpick towards the end of its bake time.
- You don’t need to make this a vegan chocolate marble pumpkin bread: If marbling isn’t your thing, don’t worry! Just omit the cacao powder and make it a straight up pumpkin chocolate chip bread!
- Make it oil free: If you want an oil free pumpkin bread, not a problem! There’s an option to swap in applesauce in its place. Just check the recipe card 🙂
- How to serve your pumpkin bread: I recommend serving this pumpkin bread warm as is, or even spreading a bit of vegan butter on top! This bread is amazing with a warm cup of coffee or even a homemade vegan pumpkin spice latter! You can also crumble it over oatmeal or yogurt, or even over homemade vegan ice cream!
How to store pumpkin bread
Always allow the baked bread to cool fully before storing. This will ensure that your healthy pumpkin bread doesn’t get soggy! Then you can safely wrap it in plastic wrap, a ziplock baggy, or an airtight container.
You can store your baked pumpkin bread at room temperature (covered) for up to 3 days. Alternatively, you can wrap it tightly and store it in the fridge for up to 5 days or sliced and covered in the freezer for up to 2 months.
If you want to reheat a slice, simply bake the pre-sliced pumpkin bread on a piece of tin foil for 5-7 minutes at 350F.
I hope you love this pumpkin bread as much as I do! It seriously makes me feel all the fall feels 🙂 What’s your favorite of the healthy pumpkin recipes?
If you give this bread a go, let me know down in the comments section! And of course, I’d absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there 🙂
Happy baking and swirling!
More Healthy Pumpkin Recipes You’ll Love!
Healthy Pumpkin Pie Overnight Oats
Healthier Vegan Pumpkin Muffins
Vegan Pumpkin Bread with Cinnamon Streusel
Want to save this recipe for later? Add it to your favorite recipe board on Pinterest!
The BEST Healthy Pumpkin Bread
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 50
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 14 slices 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This moist and decadent healthy pumpkin bread is bursting with pumpkin spice and chocolate chips, and layered with a chocolate pumpkin marbled swirl. Completely gluten free, dairy free, vegan, and can be Paleo! Perfect for all ages, and makes a great breakfast, snack, or healthy dessert!
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cup cassava flour, 1-to-1 gluten free flour, regular all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup coconut sugar
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp pumpkin spice
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tbsp ground flaxseed mixed with 1/2 cup water (let sit for 5–7 minutes before beginning)
- 1 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1/2 cup olive or coconut oil, or unsweetened applesauce for oil-free
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup cacao powder
- 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut or almond milk, divided
- 1 cup vegan chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375F and line a 9″ loaf pan with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, pumpkin spice, cinnamon, and coconut sugar.
- Add in ground flaxseed “eggs”, pumpkin puree, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and olive oil or applesauce and mix until thoroughly combined.
- Fold in chocolate chips.
- Divide the batter into two bowls. One bowl will be for the chocolate layer.
- Add cacao powder to one bowl, and 1/8 cup of coconut/almond milk to each batter. Mix thoroughly.
- Add half of the chocolate batter to the loaf pan, and then layer on with half of the pure pumpkin batter. Repeat until there is no more batter in either bowl.
- Run a knife through the top of the loaf pan to marble the bread slightly. Do not over mix, as this will ruin the marble effect. Less is more!
- Place the loaf tin into the oven and bake for 50-55 minutes, or until the toothpick comes out clean.
- Let cool for 10 minutes before removing from the loaf tin and enjoy!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice made with olive oil
- Calories: 221
- Sugar: 11.2 g
- Sodium: 92.2 mg
- Fat: 11.9 g
- Saturated Fat: 3.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 32.9 g
- Fiber: 6.8 g
- Protein: 3.1 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Keywords: healthy pumpkin bread, vegan pumpkin bread, paleo pumpkin bread, paleo vegan pumpkin bread, chocolate marble pumpkin bread, chocolate chip pumpkin bread, pumpkin spice bread, healthy pumpkin recipes
I don’t know how ya did it, but you somehow captured all the coziness and warmth of fall in this slice of magic! Biting into this bascially tastes like jumping into a pile of leaves and then cuddling up in your pajamas and fuzzy socks with a cup of your favorite tea 🙂
★★★★★
That’s EXACTLY what I was going for 😉 So happy to hear it!!
How sweet is this? Could I use less coconut sugar with same results?
Hi Megan! It is pretty sweet still, so you could use a bit less coconut sugar if need be, but I wouldn’t slash the amount in half, as that might yield a different texture and result. I hope this helps!
It tastes good but it didn’t turn out. Maybe because I used almond flour?
Hi Bri! Oh no, I’m so sorry! And you used cassava flour? Let me know how you made it, sometimes it’s a slight difference that really drastically shifts the end result!
I used almond flour – I’m wondering if that’s what did it. The flavor is there though!
That’s definitely possible, I don’t work with almond flour too often because I find it tricky and it’s usually not 1-to-1!
My bread turned out to be a bit chewy, is that normal? I feel maybe because I was expecting it to taste like a cake vs bread.
Hi Tina! Yes, that can happen with cassava! It should feel a little chewy, as that’s what happens with cassava, but it should still yield a cake-like texture when warm! Cassava tends to harden when cooled, so to obtain the same gooey texture after baking, you can easily reheat it in the microwave or oven 🙂
I’d like to make muffins …I don’t have a 9” pan. What temp and time frame would you recommend?
Thx!
Hi Connie! Absolutely! So my pumpkin bread is basically my pumpkin muffins in bread form 🙂 Here is the link to the muffins! https://thebananadiaries.com/healthy-pumpkin-muffins/ You can follow the ingredients of the pumpkin bread (as the muffins aren’t marbled), but follow the directions to the muffins for baking! 🙂
Hi!!
I made this with a mixture of these flours together and then subbed it in for the cassavor flour and it turned out light and amazing!
I make a big batch of:
2 cups finely ground almond flour
1 1/3 cups tapioca flour/tapioca starch
2/3 cup coconut flour
Then measured out 1 3/4 cup of the mixture for the recipe. Absolutely scrumptious!
Thank you <3
★★★★★
Oh my goodness, this is awesome!! Thank you for sharing!
Could I add in more pumpkin in replace of oils and applesauce?
Hi Caroline! If I were you, I’d only replace one of the two: either the oil or the applesauce, as I don’t think pumpkin puree has much structure to it! I’ve never tried swapping it out for more pumpkin, so I can’t speak to if it works or not!
Hi how can I replace coconut sugar without loading up on white sugar? I’m allergic to it 🙁
Hi Jas! Not a problem at all! Have you heard of maple sugar? It’s basically dried maple syrup. My brand that I use it Crown Maple, which I get at my local store but you can also order it online!
Hey, could I make this using coconut flour? don’t have cassava flour and haven’t been able to find it in-store :/
Hi Tiffany! Ah I wish, but unfortunately, I have not tested this with coconut flour :/ I know you can still find cassava on Amazon, but you can also use all-purpose or gluten-free 1-to-1 baking flour here!
Ok thank you, I’m going test it out and see how it comes out, if not ill-use another one of your suggestions. Thank you again so much 🙂
Aw wonderful!! Let me know how it goes!!
Hi! I absolutely love this pumpkin bread. I’ve made it both with and without the chocolate swirl, and it’s great either way. The texture is so soft and fluffy yet moist at the same time, and the level of pumpkin spice is perfect. I reduced the sugar to 1/2 cup and it was still sweet enough for me, especially with the chocolate chips stirred in. I’ve also made it with molasses instead of maple syrup for some gingerbread vibes. This recipe will definitely be on repeat this fall!
★★★★★
Oh my goodness!! So wonderful to hear, thank you so much for giving it a go!!! Love to hear that these swaps worked too!!
I made this recipe into mini muffins and they were to die for! I used applesauce instead of oil and about 3/4 c maple syrup instead of any coconut sugar. I’m about to go make a second batch right now!
★★★★★
Aw this is so wonderful to hear!! So glad you loved it, thank you for trying!! Enjoy!