Whole Wheat Pumpkin Bread

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• All it takes is two bowls and a quick whisk of the dry into wet ingredients
• It’s completely dairy-free and refined-sugar free, with an ingredient swap to make it vegan
• Celebrates the flavors and colors of the fall season
• Gets you one step ahead on your holiday prep as the bread keeps for days and freezes beautifully

Here’s what you need:

• whole wheat white flour – whole wheat white flour or whole wheat pastry flour will provide a softer, tender loaf. half all-purpose flour and half whole wheat flour is a good sub or an equal amount of 1:1 gluten-free baking flour will make it gluten-free.
• pumpkin spice – you can use store bought or make it at home using this simple recipe. This pumpkin bread recipe calls for a full tablespoon, but you can decrease it to just 1-2 teaspoons if you want less spice.
• baking soda – for lift and that beautiful brown color.
• salt – to bring out all the fall flavors.
• canned pumpkin – make sure to use pure pumpkin purée, not pumpkin pie mix. We will talk about this more below.
• pure maple syrup – for moisture and sweetness, use the real stuff out of the glass jar.
• coconut sugar (or dry sweetener of choice) – I love the subtle sweetness and fruitiness of coconut sugar. Plus, it is completely unrefined. Brown sugar, either light or dark, is your next best option. Feel free to increase the amount of sugar to up to 3/4 cup, depending on how sweet you like your bread.
• oil – use a neutral oil, like avocado oil or refined coconut oil. Unrefined coconut oil is your next best option, but it does impart a slight coconut flavor. Olive oil is another great option, which will give it a slightly herbal flavor.
• eggs – use two whole eggs or two flax eggs in its place to make it vegan.
• vanilla – a subtle floral sweetness you just can’t get from sugar.
• non-dairy milk – use your favorite – almond, coconut, oat or cashew all work here. You could even use water, if you do not have non-dairy milk on hand. I don’t recommend using a protein-based milk here.

What Kind of Pumpkin to Use

Use 100% Pure Pumpkin, not Pumpkin Pie Mix. The pure pumpkin has one ingredient – pumpkin. The pumpkin pie mix is mixed with sugar, spices and a ton of unwanted preservatives we don’t want and need.

Libby’s is the quintessential pumpkin brand on supermarket shelves, but I have seen Whole Foods, as well as many large grocery stores, sell their own brand.

Farmer’s Market brand is another option, which is organic, but is often more liquid-y than Libby’s brand. If you see there is liquid sitting in the top of the can, try to drain it before measuring out for this recipe.

Serving Suggestions

This whole wheat pumpkin bread is moist, flavorful and best enjoyed warm with your favorite nut butter, such as coconut butter, cashew butter or almond butter.

But a little slab of real salted sweet cream butter is amazing too, of course.

How to Store

The pumpkin bread is super moist, so it will keep wrapped tightly in plastic wrap or in an airtight container on the kitchen counter for up to 3 days. If you think it will last longer than that, store it in the fridge for up to 5 days.

To freeze, cool completely (optionally slice), wrap tightly in parchment paper, then transfer to a freezer plastic storage bag, seal tight, label, date and freeze for up to 3 months.

STORAGE TIP: I like to slice the bread before freezing and wrap each slice individually, then store in the plastic storage bag as noted above. This way, I can defrost individual slices by letting them defrost to room temperature or warming them through in the microwave or toaster oven.