Some days you just gotta bake.
And with our unusually blustery and chilly fall this year, I’m in the mood even earlier than normal.
Unfortunately, most pumpkin bread recipes are more like cake. Not that there is anything wrong with cake, per say, but it’s not the greatest thing to eat for breakfast. (And I like to eat my pumpkin bread–and my pumpkin pie–for breakfast, thankyouverymuch.)
I pulled out all of the pumpkin bread recipes that I had loitering in my cupboard and decided to smash them together, and then substitute in some healthier options for the loads of white sugar.
I’m pleased to report that I think this new recipe is even better than its predecessors– and it doesn’t contain a lick of refined white sugar. Or canola oil. Win, win, win.
Honey Maple Pumpkin Bread
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Makes 2 loaves
- 3/4 cup honey (this is my favorite raw honey)
- 3/4 cup maple syrup (I love this wood-fired, family-made syrup)
- 1 cup coconut oil or butter- melted (where to buy coconut oil)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (here’s how to make it yourself)
- 4 eggs
- 3 cups of whole wheat flour (where to purchase)
- 2 cups pumpkin puree (here’s how to cut up a whole pumpkin, the easy way)
- 2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice (here’s the DIY version)
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and grease 2 9×5″ loaf pans. (I adore my stoneware pans– no more unevenly cooked bread!)
2. In a large bowl, mix the honey, syrup, oil/butter, vanilla, and eggs together. (I like to use my Kitchenaid for this part)
3. Mix in the pumpkin puree.
4. In a different bowl (this is my favorite mixing bowl), combine all of the dry ingredients.
5. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, and stir until everything is incorporated, but avoid overmixing.
6. Divide the batter between the two loaf pans, and bake for 50-65 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
7. Cool on wire racks, and fight the urge to hack off a piece while it’s still hot.
8. Give up having self-control and cut yourself a slice. Slather it with real butter. Mmmmmmm…
Notes
- You can really use any type of flour you like for this recipe. But I was surprised to find that it was still lovely and moist, even with 100% whole wheat. I prefer hard white wheat, and I grind it myself in my Nutrimill. Learn more about grinding your own flour HERE.
- These freeze great. Just wrap ’em up tightly, and defrost when needed.
Honey Maple Pumpkin Bread Recipe
- Yield: 2 Loaves 1x
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup honey (this is my favorite honey ever)
- 3/4 cup maple syrup (where to buy it)
- 1 cup coconut oil or butter- melted (where to buy coconut oil)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (here’s how to make it yourself)
- 4 eggs
- 3 cups of whole wheat flour
- 2 cups pumpkin puree (here’s how to cut up a whole pumpkin, the easy way)
- 2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice (here’s the DIY version)
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and grease 2 9×5? loaf pans. I love these stoneware ones.
- In a large bowl, mix the honey, syrup, oil/butter, vanilla, and eggs together.
- Mix in the pumpkin puree.
- In a different bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients.
- Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, and stir until everything is incorporated, but avoid overmixing.
- Divide the batter between the two loaf pans, and bake for 50-65 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool on wire racks, and fight the urge to hack off a piece while it’s still hot.
- Give up having self-control and cut yourself a slice. Slather it with real butter. Mmmmmmm…
If you have some shredded zucchini in your freezer from this year’s garden, then you might enjoy my Health(ier) Chocolate Zucchini Bread, while you are in the baking spirit.
Other Pumpkin Goodness:
- From Scratch Honey Pumpkin Pie
- Pumpkin Cream Puffs
- DIY Pumpkin Pie Spice
- Pumpkin Pie Smoothie
- The Easy Way to Make Pumpkin Puree
- How to Can Pumpkin
Check out my Homestead Mercantile for all of my favorite homesteading, cooking, and DIY supplies.
i am always on the lookout for pumpkin bread recipes, as i too like my sweet breads to be less oil filled. but i am put off by how expensive this recipe sounds. a bottle of maple syrup around here is $7 and i think it would take most of a bottle, plus local honey is about $7 too. and then throw in the coconut oil….ouch. i know its for two loaves but there is no way i could justify this.thats over $10 a loaf just for those three ingredients. is there anyway the coconut oil can be reduced? do you need both maple syrup and honey? could you just use honey and a bit of maple for the flavor? i know i sound kind of b*tchy but i do appreciate the recipe
You might be able to sub in some applesauce for half of the coconut oil. You could also use Sucanat in place of the maple syrup– I think it would still turn out just fine. However whenever I post recipes using sucanat, people always comment and ask how to substitute in honey/maple syrup… So I decided to beat them to the punch this time. 😉
thanks! i will try it and let you know
Hi Jill! I would love to make this recipe, but I’m wondering if I could use freshly milled soft white wheat for this and still get the rise that store bought flour would get? Would I need to add gluten flour?
Thanks, the recipe sounds LOVELY! 😀
I don’t have much experience using soft white flour- I’ve only used freshly ground hard white for this recipe- sorry.
I’m sorry—forgive me. It was early and I hadn’t even had my first cup yet. That is what I meant—freshly milled hard white flour. Thanks–your response answered my question! 🙂
Ah-ha! Well that was perfect then! 🙂
Soft wheat would actually be better. Hard wheat – higher protein, better for yeast risen breads, but can make quick breads tough. . Soft wheat; lower protein, better for quick breads, not good for yeast risen breads.
I am going to make this tonight using Einkorn wheat flour. ill let you know how it turns out!
Yum! Yes, definitely let me know!
I made this today using einkorn flour. My fiancé loved it. I didn’t think it was very sweet. LOL, the batter was decadent! I think when using einkorn you have to soak the batter a bit to get all the flour hydrated.
The bread with Einkorn wheat turned out awesome!!! I upped it to 3 and 1/2 cups of flour because Einkorn seems to need more flour than regular flour in recipes, and I did 1/2 raw butter and 1/2 coconut oil for the oil. The most interesting thing is that I am pretty sure the honey I used had started to ferment. The old me would have freaked and thrown out the honey, but I am a lot more comfortable with fermentation of foods now, so I just decided to put it in anyway. I guess I won’t know how much it affected the bread until I make the recipe again with regular honey.
Whoo-hoo! Fermented honey? That sounds weird! What did it look like? I don’t think I’ve ever had honey ferment.
I know, totally weird. I tasted the honey in the larger storage jar and its got a funny tang to it as well, although not so fermenty as the stuff on the back of my stove. I thought honey would keep indefinitely, but maybe this batch had a higher water content or something. Honey can ferment- that’s what mead the alcoholic drink is, but it needs more than just the honey. So weird!
Crazy! And you are right– I had totally forgotten about mead!
I found out last night that honey’s optimal water content is exactly 18% (that is what the bees like it at) and if it gets higher than that, it will eventually ferment and turn to mead or something like it, hence my fermented honey. Its caused by either the bees failing to “cap” off their honey for various reasons and then human’s harvesting it, or after the honey is harvested the honey is not handled properly and water is allowed in it. I’ll just save mine for cooking, as it rocked the house as a fermented sweetener, yay!
“fermented sweetener” <---- heck yeah!
It didn’t look different, but it was more runny than normal and definitely smelled fermenty…
Hi Jill Thanks for the recipe it is wonderful. I used butternut squash instead of pumpkin and added some walnuts. This is a keeper. Do you have any tips for subbing honey and maple sryup in other recipes?
Yay Nancy! Glad you enjoyed it! As far as honey/syrup in other recipes, it just takes a lot of trial and error– and sometimes adjusting the dry ingredients to account for the extra liquids.
Thank you so much for this recipe! I can’t wait to try it! I bake with honey/maple syrup all the time. My husband has found that white sugar causes him back pain. From a cost factor I buy my honey and maple syrup by the gallon. Plus, I have a beekeeper that places hives on our property. He does all the work and we get free honey in the fall!
Yes– I think buying it in bulk is DEFINITELY the way to go!
Hello: This recipe sounds so yummy, but I have to eat gluten-free. Would coconut or almond flour, or a combination of both work in this recipe?
Thanks so much! ~Patty White~
I don’t have much experience using gluten-free flours, but I suppose it’d be worth a try!
Just tried this recipe this past week and it is AWESOME! My husband, who has never liked pumpkin bread before, even loves it. And ate waaaay more than his fair share! 😉
Whoo hoo! That’s what I like to hear!
Just put these loaves in the oven. I can’t wait to eat them. I love all things pumpkin.
Just dangerous. Wife and I demolished half a loaf within about 2 minutes. We fortunately have local maple syrup and honey (I have moved to a wonderful place in NE Ohio), so I’ve been ditching all other sweeteners and looking for recipes Just Like This. Just wicked good. Am thinking to add in some candied ginger to the next batch.
Tomorrow I go to the orchard (yep, 2 miles from me; can’t get much luckier) and buy up a few more pumpkins. I suppose I should bike there to burn off the bread. The price one must pay…
You’re absolutely right Don– dangerous is a very fitting description for this recipe. 🙂 Love the candied ginger idea!
I made this bread for supper to night. Actually it was incentive for my children to eat their salad for supper! I used einkorn flour, coconut sugar for maple syrup (since I’m almost out), and cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg because I don’t have pumpkin pie spice. I also cut the sweetener to 1 cup total. My family eats too much sugar this time of year… It was delicious pumpkin bread. Everyone had 2 slices and was begging me to cut the second loaf. We’ll have to wait to share that with Papa when he gets home from work. Thank you for a great recipe.
Yum! Love your substitutes/tweaks too!
Thank you so much for this recipe.. I know it’s not the season for pumpkin, but we moved in October and the can I bought with good intentions was discovered a couple weeks ago. This is JUST the taste I hoped to find. Sweet enough to satisfy but not cake! I love it and feel good about feeding it to my toddler. Much appreciated!
Thank you so much for this recipe! I am always trying to find healthier recipes for quick breads, but when you do a search online with “lower sugar” or “healthy” quick breads stuff like artificial sweeteners or canola oil recipes come up. Yuck! I’m going to try this soon.
Love the sound of this recipe. Not being a baker I was wondering if the pumpkin could be replaced with figs?
Delicious bread! I just made it today using sugar pumpkins I got from the farmers market. Only changed one thing used all honey 1 cup instead of maple syrup.
I just made this recipe (its in the oven) and I’m so excited! I don’t have any loaf pans so I’m doing muffins instead. Yum!
This pumpkin bread is awesome, warm from the oven, with a glass of milk! My family loves it & I plan to make it again soon! I used frozen pumpkin purée left over from last year’s pumpkin.
Hello… I noticed there is no salt… Was that a mistake or deliberate? Thank you I love pumpkin anything! Can’t wait to make it!
Overall I really liked this recipe, but noticed it might need some salt. Texture was amazing, sweetness was on par, but it just lacked a little something and I think it might be salt. For next time…any idea how much I should add? (Also I halved the recipe with no issue!)
Jill,
I made this bread last week and it was delicious! I would like to make it again, but substitute coconut flour for the whole wheat. Do you know how much I would need to modify the other ingredients for this? Thanks!
I just made this recipe today. We wanted a cake for a big crowd. So I doubled the recipe and poured 3 loafs worth into a big cake pan, not sure of the size, bigger than a 9×13. Then the rest went into a loaf pan. What a hit! My daughter made both a Seven minute frosting using maple syrup and a cream cheese frosting sweetened with maple syrup. WINNER!!! Everyone went back for seconds and some had thirds.
Wow! We’re so glad that you loved the recipe, Diane! It sounds like it was a hit for your crowd!
Your commentary leading into this is just hilarious!!! I so love your writing style!
I like to make one loaf is there a way to do it?
Yes! For sure! Just half all of the ingredients! 🙂
Turned out great! I made a mini loaf for me and sent a loaf each to my mom and my bf’s mom. used melted butter and regular white flour.
I have some questions what kind of maple syrup should I use grade A or B and I like to make only one loaf I can’t seem to figure out how to half the recipe to make one loaf.
I found the bread to be very bland. I couldn’t even taste the pumpkin. Even with the honey and maple syrup I think it could be sweeter. Had I had to purchase the honey and maple syrup (I used my own) I don’t know if I could have afforded it. It smelled wonderful but we were disappointed with the results. I may try dehydrating it to make a biscotti and hopefully intensify the flavor.
Definitely need more cook time and more em seasoning. This is a super simple recipe that can be jazzed up a bit with extra spices.
How much flour would you use if you are substituting with almond flower ?
According to a google search: “Almond flour can be substituted for regular flour at a 1:1 ratio. It is important to note that almond flour may require more egg to bind the flour.”