This pumpkin bread is super easy and delicious not only around holidays but anytime you need a sinless pleasure! It is naturally sweetened and wheat flour free what makes it perfect to enjoy in a dessert without sugar crash after eating.
This recipe is quick and easy even for beginners. The bread is soft and moist, full of warming spices with a creamy frosting and a tangy touch of cranberries.
It is possible to easily turn it into dairy free or vegan.
Ingredients and substitutions
1. Oat flour – I used a regular oat flour, if you want to create a gluten free option, you can choose gluten free oat flour.
2. Rice flour – it adds fluffiness to the batter and keeps it gluten free.
3. Olive oil – Coconut oil will also be good choice as well as any other oil, just choose the ones that are not highly processed. If you don’t mind dairy, you can use butter as well.
4. Eggs – if you want vegan version, eggs could be substituted with flax eggs (mix of ground flax seeds and water).
5. Milk – regular or plant, what best fits to your preferences.
6. Dates – since I didn’t add any sugar, dates are used as natural sweetener. They are adding a caramel like taste also but if the pumpkin puree is sweet enough, you can omitt dates.
7. Pumpkin puree – I made pumpkin puree because it was the season for pumpkins. You can use store bought also, just watch ingredients to avoid added sugars.
8. Cranberries – fresh or frozen, the result is the same. Cherries could be used instead, or any other berry.
How to make the best pumpkin bread - tips and steps
First, start with making cranberry sauce because it has to be cooled before coating the bread. Place cranberries, orange juice and star anise in a saucepan and bring to boil over medium heat. I didn’t add any sugar, cranberries are naturally rich in pectin and will begin to thicken. Stir and boil around 10 – 15 min, until reaching a sauce that’s perfectly thickened and not too runny.
Prepare pumpkin puree. Cut the fresh pumpkin into 2cm cubes, place them in a saucepan with a little bit of water. Stir and let it simmer until tender, around 10 minutes. Transfer to a food processor and blend until very smooth. Remember to let it cool completely before adding to the eggs.
At this point, prepare the frosting. Mix cream cheese and orange juice with a hand mixer until smooth and set it aside.
Preheat the oven to 230°C and prepare a loaf pan (25x10cm) by lining it with parchment paper.
Next, make the batter. Whisk together dry ingredients (oat and rice flour, baking powder, cinnamon, cardamom, pumpkin pie spice, and salt). In a separate bowl combine wet ingredients starting with a mixture of eggs and dates. I used a food processor to finely blend the two and then transfer to a mixing bowl. There is no added sugar, this way sugar from dates was able to make the mixture pale and fluffy with additional mixing with a hand mixer. Add in pumpkin puree, oil and milk and whisk. Add dry ingredients and combine.
Pour the pumpkin bread batter into the prepared loaf tin and then, transfer the loaf to the preheated oven and bake for between 35 – 40 minutes.
Transfer the pumpkin loaf to a wire cooling rack and leave it to cool completely. Coat it with frosting and cranberry sauce, slice and serve!
- Notes -
♦ soak the dates in luke warm water to soften (in the case they are not soft enough) before blending with eggs
♦ add more spices if you like, such as nutmeg, clove etc.
More options
Depending on your taste and ingredients you have, there are plenty of options to make tweaks with this recipe. Here are a few to give you ideas:
♦ add some chopped nuts and/or dried cranberries to the batter (dried fruits add sugar content, keep that in mind)
♦ leave the loaf without frosting and drizzle it with honey and cinnamon or leave it plain.
♦ instead of frosting, cover the loaf with some nut butter (peanut, almond, hazelnut…)
Storing and serving
You can store the pumpkin bread in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
I recommend warming it up before eating, all the spices gorgeously pop up making it perfect as a holiday snack.
If you try this healthy pumpkin bread recipe, let me know how it goes, show your recreations and tag me on Instagram @SapolinaSoaps
Best Pumpkin Bread with Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients
Dry ingredients
- 130 g oat flour
- 100 g rice flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp cardamom
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1/4 tsp salt
Wet ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 3 medjool dates
- 60 ml milk
- 360 g pumpkin puree
- 40 ml olive oil
Frosting
- 200 g cream cheese
- juice from a half of orange
Cranberry sauce
- 250 g cranberries
- orange juice from two oranges
- star anise
Instructions
Cranberry sauce
- Place cranberries, orange juice and star anise in a saucepan and bring to boil over medium heat. Stir and boil 10 - 15 min. It will begin to thicken. Since it hasn't added sugar (except the natural sugar from orange juice) it won't be too thick. Let it cool.
Frosting
- With a hand mixer, mix cream cheese with orange juice until smooth.
Pumpkin bread
- Preheat the oven to 230℃ and line a 25x10cm loaf pan with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (oat and rice flour, baking powder, cinnamon, cardamom, pumpkin pie spice, and salt)
- Add the eggs and dates to the blender until well combined. Transfer them in a large mixing bowl and keep mixing with a hand mixer until pale and fluffy. Whisk in the pumpkin puree, oil and milk.
- Add in the dry ingredients and mix to combine.
- Put the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 40 minutes.
- Allow the pumpkin loaf to cool before coating it with frosting and cranberry sauce.
