One of my all-time favorite recipes: Pumpkin Gingerbread

There’s pumpkin bread and then there’s pumpkin gingerbread. This version of the pumpkin gingerbread recipe is full of warm spices and a little healthier than most recipes! 

I’m about to share something near and dear to my heart.

Pumpkin Gingerbread

I cannot tell you how much I love this recipe. It’s such an easy recipe but makes a delicious loaf with lots of warm flavor. It’s not overly sweet and it’s not overly heavy. It won’t leave you feeling like you ate a brick. I mean, we all know that feeling after inhaling Starbuck’s Pumpkin Bread right? Tastes so good in the moment and the WHAM, we realize we made a bad decision.

It’s amazing fresh out of the oven with it’s still a little bit crispy. The end slices are the best, in particular. Tommy came home to find both ends cut off. Totally normal.

It’s also amazing the next few days as the flavors deepen. And after two days, when I recommend sticking it in the fridge, it’s great cold served with a little yogurt for breakfast. (I highly recommend the Noosa Pumpkin yogurt. Seriously. Try it.)

Then if you still have some left by the time Sunday comes around, I highly recommend making this into french toast. (Tip: if you make this into french toast, let it sit in the french toast mixture overnight. It’s a slightly dense bread so it just makes it better to have more time to let the egg, milk and spice mixture soak in!)

Anyway, can we talk about how pretty this loaf is, in addition to just tasting freaking delicious?

Similar Vietri serving platters here, here and here | Similar fall dish towel here and here

This is my go-to when I need to bring a dessert or a side dish to a party. It also makes a great gift for neighbors during the holidays. It can be doubled without any issues.

I answered some FAQs at the bottom of the post so be sure to check those out before you get started baking!

My all-time favorite quick bread. My all-time favorite sweet bread. Maybe just my all-time favorite bread, period. Let’s go.

Pumpkin Gingerbread

• Author: Teri
• Yield: 1 loaf (12 slices) 1x

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Description

My favorite fall treat ever!

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Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

1.5 cups coconut sugar

1/4 cup melted coconut oil

1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce

1/3 cup water

1/2 of a 15oz can of pumpkin (about 2/3 cup)

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

2 eggs

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease a 9×5 inch loaf pans.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, oil, applesauce and eggs using a hand mixer or stand mixer; beat until smooth. Add water and beat until well blended. Mix in pumpkin until combined.
4. In medium bowl, combine ginger, allspice, cinnamon, cloves, flours, soda, salt and baking powder. Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture and blend just until all ingredients are mixed. Pour into your prepared pan.
5. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, 30-45 minutes. Don’t over bake!
6. Cool completely on a wire rack and store in an airtight container.

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Notes

• I used One Degree Sprouted Whole Wheat Flour
• I have added chocolate chips before, but I think it’s better without it. You get more of the ginger flavor without the chocolate competing.
• For the flour, you could likely use 3.5 cups of spelt or whole wheat pastry flour instead of the split ratio. I just never have. You could also use all-purpose flour for the full amount if you don’t have spelt or ww pastry flour on hand.
• I have been known to eat an entire loaf by myself within 24 hours.

How long is pumpkin bread good for?

It will be fine for 1-2 days at room temperature in an airtight container. I recommend putting it in the fridge after that, when it will store nicely for a week. It just may get a little drier, so add extra butter when you eat it. Problem solved.

It’s amazing when it’s fresh right out of the oven, warm with a little butter, but still fantastic as it cools. And it gets better after a day or two. My favorite time to eat it is the day-of when the crust is still slightly crunchy (it softens up after it’s stored). Just stick it in the fridge after 2-3 days.

How do you know when pumpkin bread is done?

You definitely don’t want to overbake this since it will dry out and may get a little crumbly. I recommend checking your loaf at 30 minutes with a toothpick. Insert it in the middle of the loaf. If it comes out with raw batter, it needs to cook longer. Check every 7 minutes or so since it can go from unbaked to overbaked very quickly. Once the toothpick comes out mostly clean (a few crumbs on it are okay), you know your pumpkin bread is done!

So is pumpkin bread healthy?

This recipe is a little healthier than most recipes. Don’t get me wrong – the original version I got in a church cookbook over 15 years ago is GOOD. I tweaked this to be a little healthier since I eat a LOT of it in a short amount of time. To make it healthier, I  subbed some of the oil with applesauce. I also replaced some of the white, all-purpose flour with sprouted whole wheat flour.

If you don’t have applesauce, just replace that amount with oil. I prefer coconut oil since it’s a healthier oil, but you can also use canola oil.

And if you don’t have sprouted whole wheat flour, use whole wheat pastry flour. Or, just go wild and use the full amount of flour with all-purpose flour.

You can also use regular cane sugar instead of coconut sugar.

There, I basically told you the original recipe that’s a little less healthy.

Live a little. It’ll be fine!

Can you make this gluten-free?

I tried making this with a gluten-free flour blend once and I didn’t love it. The end result was gummy. But there are so many different gluten-free flour blends out there so some may be better than others! If you tried it with good results, let me know!

If you’re looking for a gluten-free quick bread that passes my test, try my Banana Blueberry Gluten-Free Quick Bread!

Get the goods to make the bread!