I made a few notes about what I want in a pumpkin bread before I started this recipe; not too sweet, moist, not super dense, tastes like pumpkin. I love the idea of a quick bread’s flavor, squishiness, and sweet notes, but I don’t like when it feels more like I ate a piece of cake rather than bread. I want all the pumpkin all of fall but I don’t want to feel like I blew a bunch of calories on a overly sugary bomb to my stomach. This recipe uses whole wheat pastry flour, which keeps it light. It contains a whole can of pumpkin which gives it moisture and flavor without much added fat. I kept the sugar low so it’s sweet but not sugary. It’s so fall.

Healthier Pumpkin Bread Recipe

Heat oven to 350 degrees. You will need a 9×5 loaf pan.

• 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour + a little more for dusting the pan
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp cloves
• 1 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 2 eggs and 1 egg white
• 1 Tablespoon grated, fresh ginger
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup + 2 T granulated cane sugar
• 1 15 oz can organic canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Prepare the baking pan by using cooking spray or oil and flouring the pan. Set the prepared pan aside and begin the bread. Measure flour into a medium bowl. Add baking soda-salt and whisk to combine. Into a large mixing bowl, crack eggs and using an electric mixer or whisk, whip eggs until yolks are broken and bubbles start to appear. Add grated ginger and oil. Mix again until combined. Next add both sugars and pumpkin, and mix again. Scrap down sides, and give it another whip. Add dry ingredients to the egg and pumpkin mixture and mix just until combined. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Place in the middled of the preheated oven. Bake for 50-60 minutes. After 50 minutes insert a tooth pick into middle, when the tooth pick comes out clean, remove from the over. Place loaf on a wire rack to cool. After, roughly, 30 minutes tap the sides of the pan to loosen and gently remove bread from the pan. Leave loaf on the rack to cool, before slicing. If you can’t resist and go in for the kill, it might crumble some but whatever.