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Super moist and delicious pumpkin ginger bread. Made with healthy additions like applesauce, maple syrup, whole wheat flour, and pomegranate seeds. Every bite of this bread is filled with sweet pumpkin, and infused with hints of ginger and cinnamon…beyond good. This recipe comes by way of Joy Bauer and her latest book, Joy’s Simple Food Remedies, where every recipe is nothing short of delicious.
It’s hard to believe, but this is my first ever pumpkin bread recipe. In my six years of creating recipes I’ve yet to share a pumpkin bread recipe. I know, it’s shocking, but it’s true.
That all changes today, and it’s all thanks to Joy Bauer and her delicious (healthy) pumpkin ginger bread. If you read my last nine favorite things post, then you know that a couple of weeks ago I headed to New York to film something extra special with Joy. It was such a fun trip and we had a blast cooking a holiday meal for you all…coming this December to her series Joyful Eats. Joy has been a friend for a while now, so it was great to finally do something together on camera!
What’s even more exciting? Joy’s latest cookbook (she has quite a few), Joy’s Simple Food Remedies, just came out a few weeks ago. It’s full of DELICIOUS recipes that are geared towards curing whatever happens to be ailing you. Looking to boost your energy? Cure a hangover? Reduce wrinkles? Need a holiday detox? Joy has amazingly yummy and healthy recipes for all these, and so much more. It’s honestly so impressive. I couldn’t be more in love with this cookbook. It’s a health focused cookbook that actually has delicious recipes that leave you feeling satisfied.
When Joy sent me her cookbook a few weeks ago, I was swamped with projects. I only had time take a quick peek inside. But immediately, I was drawn to so many recipes. I’m talking french fries, pumpkin chili, chicken noodle soup…so many good ones to choose from.
And then I came across this pumpkin ginger bread. I knew I needed to bookmark it to make, so that I could share with you all in November. It just looked SO delicious! And Joy makes her pumpkin bread with pomegranate arils, which you all know how much I love.
I waited for a cold day to bake this up, and guys, I was not disappointed. It might be healthy, but trust me, it tastes so good. This pumpkin bread is heavy on the pumpkin flavor, perfectly sweet, and has hints of maple throughout. It’s super moist, and spiced with my favorite mix of fall spices…ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg.
To make this bread, you’ll need your basic baking ingredients, plus a can of pumpkin puree, applesauce, and pomegranate arils.
The pumpkin keeps the bread incredibly moist, while the applesauce replaces the oil and sugar. Thus keeping the bread free of any processed sugars, and low on the oil. It’s genius.
My only change was to top the bread with the pomegranate seeds, as opposed to baking them into the bread. I love fresh pomegranate so much. So I wanted to keep the seeds out of the bread itself, and only used them for serving.
OK, and I maybe added a smear of salted butter. Because warm pumpkin bread just needs a little salty butter. The bread is amazing on its own, but my mom has me trained for life to always top any warm bread with a little butter.
See, I simply couldn’t help it.
Leftovers are great toasted up for breakfast. They’re also a delicious pick-me-up midday snack. But my personal favorite? As an any time of day dessert, accompanied by a steaming mug of hot chocolate (DO THIS!). Basically, this is just the perfect bread, with major health benefits. You’re going to love it!
Oh, and I love the idea of baking up this bread as homemade hostess gifts. Or even as gifts for friends and family over the holidays.
And as if that wasn’t enough…today happens to be Joy’s birthday!! So, give her a follow on Instagram, wish her a very happy birthday, and make sure to pick up a copy of her new cookbook. It’s filled with recipes for all occasions, and it too would make a great gift for the holidays!
If you make this pumpkin ginger bread please be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to also tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Healthy Pumpkin Ginger Bread
Servings: 10
Calories Per Serving: 490 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/4 cup whole milk (Joy uses almond milk)
- 1 can (15 ounce) pumpkin puree
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/2 cup real maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup pomegranate seeds, plus more for serving
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Mist a 9x5 inch loaf pan with oil.2. Add the eggs, milk, pumpkin, oil, applesauce, maple syrup, and vanilla to a medium bowl and whisk until combined. 3. Add the flours, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, baking soda, and baking powder to a large bowl and mix well. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until just combined. Gently fold in the pomegranate seeds (do not overmix). 4. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and tap the bottom a few times on the counter to even everything out. Bake on a middle rack for 60-70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean (60 minutes will result in a super moist, cake like consistency; 65-plus minutes will still create a moist but firmer consistency. Both textures are delicious). Let the bread cool for at least 10 minutes. Slice and serve with pomegranate seeds.
Notes
*Reprinted with permission from Joy's Simple Food Remedies by Joy Bauer.
This looks incredible! I noticed you tend to use real maple syrup in several of your recipes. Do you have any lower sugar alternatives that you recommend?
Hey Rachel,
It really depends on the recipe, I like to use real maple syrup because it is a natural sugar option. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Is it possible to make the batter the night before to cook in the morning? I would like to have warm bread in the morning but hate waking up early
Hey Meghan,
Yes that would be totally fine, just be sure to bring the batter back to close to room temperature before baking! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Delicious bread! Be careful of the baking time. Because the fat in this recipe is the applesauce and only 1 Tbsp. oil, I baked for 80 minutes and it was still very dense on bottom of loaf. Toothpick came out clean, but the bottom of the loaf was still very moist.
Hi Joellen! Is there anything I can help you with in this recipe? Let me know! xTieghan
Wondering if there is a way to incorporate rolled oats/quick oats into this bread? Thanks!
Hi there! You can try adding 1/2 cup with the flour. I think that should work well. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you!! xTieghan
I made this last night…it is so moist…and delicious!! I went to add the ginger and found the bottle totally empty! but I had some fresh ginger on hand so I used that. I really love that there is so little oil in the recipe yet the bread is super moist and yummy!!
Thank you so much Lyn! I am so glad you loved this bread recipe!! xTieghan
Hi Tieghan! I am totally going to make this today. I have to tell you that I was here in a shop in Tacoma a couple of weeks ago and saw your cookbook on the shelves. I got so excited to show my boyfriend that I knocked the entire display of your books down onto the shelf (not the floor thank goodness)!! It was funny as heck! So guess what I got on Christmas day (from my boyfriend)?!! So happy! 🙂
Haha oh my goodness that is so funny! I am so glad you got the book and are loving it! Thank you! xTieghan
Could this recipe be adapted using gluten free flour for both cups of the flour and using a substitute for the eggs? Flax eggs? Something that’s not an egg? i’m assuming oat milk could be subbed for the milk ingredient. My daughter has a long list of foods that she cannot have. Thank you so much!!
Hi Michael! I have never made this with GF flour so I can’t really say how it will turn out. If you do try it, I recommend Cup4Cup flour. For the eggs, yes I think a flax egg will work really well. Please let me know if you have any other questions and how it turns out. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
I have no idea what I did wrong, the loaf was dark brown on the outside and raw and wet inside ?
Hi Phoebe! I am sorry you had trouble. Was there anything you did differently at all? Any ingredients different? Method of baking this? Any info will be helpful to help me problem solve and figure out what might be happening for you. It’s hard to know without knowing any details. Hope I can help you! xTieghan
I made this today, adjusting the oven temp to 350 and baking it in a pan that is 10 x 5. I baked it for 75 minutes and my wooden pick came out clean. But the bread dropped while cooling for the 10 minutes. The bottom was not done, the consistency was spongy and the bread really didn’t have much flavor (even after adding 2 T chopped crystallized ginger). So disappointing, as it sounds so good!
Hi Connie! I am so sorry you went through all that trouble and it did not turn out well for you. Are there any questions I could help you with? Please let me know. I hope you love some other recipes on my blog as well!
This was incredible! So dense, moist, flavorful, and packed with so many good nutrients! I enjoyed a big chunk and wasn’t hungry for hours afterwards. Loved this so much! Pumpkin anything…???
Quick question- I used stone ground wheat flour and was afraid it would be too grainy. I loved the outcome but am wondering what you think is the best flour to use. Just realized that there is a regular/basic wheat flour available too on Whole Foods shelves where I shop!❤️
Hi Gia! I am so glad you loved this bread recipe and it turned out amazing for you! I love Bob’s Red Mill flours personally!
Is there a recommended substitute for applesauce? It’s not something I use often enough to buy a whole jar for – and it’s also not something I find readily available in my smaller British food shops.
Hey Mack! YOu can use an equal amount of melted butter or canola oil. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe. Thanks so much!! xTieghan ?
Made this as written with almond milk, and also eliminated the baked-in pom seeds. I am disappointed that this bread has very minimal if any sweetness, especially after the post states “perfectly sweet” and “delicious and good” over and over. If your primary objective is healthy baking alternatives, this loaf is for you. If you can’t help but think pumpkin bread, cinnamon, ginger, are synonymous with a sweet bread, like we do in the South, skip this recipe this holiday season. I will add, it’s sure to be a toddler friendly recipe for you mommy bakers, and perhaps the quality of the maple syrup could be a variant.
Hi Abigail! I am so sorry this did not turn out so well for you. I hope you try this again with some more sweetness added! Thank you!
I don’t know what went wrong! I had to bake this bread for over two and a half hours and it was still completely raw in the middle and burned on the outside. I followed the recipe exactly! What do you think went wrong?? I had to throw it away. 🙁 Thank you!
Oh no! I am so sorry! What size loaf pan did you use? Was it smaller? I recommend maybe dividing the bater between 2 loaf pans and then baking. I think might would much better! SO sorry for any trouble.
Very tasty, but the bread turned out quite moist – I needed to bake it for near 30mins longer! Maybe my oven runs on the cooler side? Not sure why it seemed to take so long to cook, but next time I will probably increase the heat to 350. Otherwise, the bread was de-lish!
Hi Michelle! I am so glad you still loved this bread! Thank you!
Made this tonight! 2 adjustments—
– 2c of gluten free flour (this lengthened my baking time by 20 mins! I think it’s the gluten free flour that I used though)
– real ginger… I love ginger shots so I used 2 tablespoons here for a nice kick.
I really appreciated the clever twist in making pumpkin bread healthy before we turn into piggies over the holidays. I did feel this recipe had a lot going on— ginger, pumpkin, pomegranate, applesauce (which I know have texture and sweet flavoring). My favorite recipes so far from this website are the stuffed bell peppers and the balsamic cheese raviolis. Excited to try the pecan cinnamon rolls this weekend for book club!
Hi Aggie! I am so glad this turned out so well for you. Also, I hope the pecan cinnamon rolls turn out amazing for your book club! Thank you so much!