This almond flour pumpkin bread recipe is quick, easy to make (just one bowl), naturally sweetened (no refined sugar), grain free, gluten free, and can be made dairy free. It’s simply the best pumpkin bread that also happens to be healthy. The perfect fall breakfast treat to serve with a homemade pumpkin spice latte or chai latte.
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What Readers Say:
“Great recipe! So moist. Super fluffy and no one knew it was made without white flour! Win win!”
TERRY
This recipe is very similar to my easy almond flour banana bread. It’s made without any butter or oil, yet it’s incredibly moist and flavorful!
Almond flour, which is rich in healthy fats and some protein, makes the best quick bread, chocolate chip cookies, and muffins (like almond flour banana muffins). It’s become one of my favorite flours to bake with, so you’ll find plenty of almond flour recipes here on the blog. This particular recipe is on constant repeat during the cooler months, when I crave all things pumpkin.
Ingredients Needed
- 2 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
- 1/4 cup arrowroot flour starch (some readers have used coconut flour instead with great success)
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice (buy this at the grocery store or make your own pumpkin pie spice with simple ingredients)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup or honey
- 1/4 cup plain whole milk yogurt or dairy-free yogurt
- 1 cup pumpkin puree, either canned pumpkin puree or homemade pumpkin puree; not pumpkin pie filling (which includes spices and pumpkin)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds (optional for sprinkling on top)
What is Arrowroot Starch? Arrowroot is a white, flavorless powder. It’s similar to cornstarch (without the corn) in that it thickens food. Almond flour alone can result in a soggy, dense bread. Arrowroot starch (which is paleo-friendly, gluten-free, and vegan) improves the texture of almond flour treats. Arrowroot lasts a long time. Use it to make stir-fry sauce, almond flour chocolate chip cookies, this particular recipe, almond flour waffles, and homemade foundation powder or dry shampoo.
Step 1: Combine dry ingredients.
In a large bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients, except the pumpkin seeds: almond flour, arrowroot flour starch, arrowroot, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.
Step 2: Add wet ingredients.
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add all the wet ingredients: eggs, maple syrup, yogurt, pumpkin puree, vanilla extract. Stir to combine the ingredients to form a thick batter.
Step 3: Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan.
Step 4: Bake for 50-60 minutes.
Bake for 50-60 minutes. You can test the bread by inserting a toothpick or chopstick in the center. If the toothpick is clean, the bread is done baking.
Step 5: Cool before slicing.
Allow the bread to cool for at least 15 minutes before slicing. The longer the bread rests (cools), the easier it will be to cut into slices and the firmer the bread will be.
Variations
There are a few variations to this healthy pumpkin bread. Here are a few of the best ways to tweak this recipe to your liking.
Egg Free
To make this egg-free, you’ll need to make flax eggs, which will act as the binder in this recipe, holding the bread together. Make enough flax eggs to replace the 3 eggs. Flax eggs are easily made with water and ground flax seeds.
Add Chocolate Chips
Chocolate and pumpkin are a delicious combo! Add 1 cup of regular chocolate chips or 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips, either dark chocolate or milk chocolate morsels.
Add Dried Cranberries
Another great addition is dried cranberries. Add 1/2-1 cup dried cranberries to the batter.
Add Pumpkin Seeds
I love to sprinkle pumpkin seeds on the top of the bread, as it gives the bread extra crunch on the crust. Another option is to add pumpkin seeds directly to the batter. I recommend about 1/2-1 cup of pumpkin seeds.
Top With Cream Cheese Frosting
If you want to make this bread feel more like a sweet dessert, or something you’d find at Starbucks, add cream cheese frosting to the top of the bread before slicing. Add the frosting once the bread is fully cool or the cream cheese will melt.
This frosting is from my pumpkin loaf cake recipe and would be delicious on top of this bread as well: 8 ounces cream cheese, 6 TB butter (room temperature), 1/4 cup pure maple syrup, 1 tsp pure vanilla extract. Use a mixer to combine the ingredients. For this pumpkin bread, I recommend cutting the frosting ingredients in half.
Make Almond Flour Pumpkin Muffins
Turn this healthy pumpkin bread recipe into muffins. Prepare the batter, then spoon the batter into a muffin tin lined with muffins liners. Bake for about 22 minutes or until firm on top. The muffins are great for an easy breakfast or in the lunchbox (37+ easy packed lunchbox ideas).
Pro Tips for Baking Success
- Only Use Almond Flour: Almond flour is the only flour that works in this gluten-free pumpkin bread recipe. Do not use white flour, einkorn flour, coconut flour, a gluten-free all-purpose flour, or spelt flour. If you’d like to make pumpkin bread with gluten, that’s healthy and easy to digest, I love this einkorn pumpkin spice muffins recipe.
- Use parchment paper: Line the bread pan with parchment paper so it’s easy to remove the bread and let cool. This will prevent the bread from sticking to the bread pan and falling apart, which can easily happen with almond flour before it’s fully cool. Grease the pan with a bit of oil or butter, then place the parchment paper inside the pan. The butter/oil will keep the parchment in place so it’s easy to add the batter to the pan.
- Weigh the flour. There is one thing that you need for fail-proof baking: a scale. Well, actually, two things: a scale and quality ingredients. My cup of flour is not the same as your cup of flour. Not weighing flour may result in disappointment when making cookies, cakes, or quick breads. Plus, weighing ingredients is much easier; just keep adding ingredients to the bowl until the scale tells you to stop. I’ve been using this digital scale for a few years now.
Best Healthy Almond Flour Pumpkin Bread
Equipment
- 1 bread loaf pan standard-size
- 1 large bowl for mixing the batter
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups blanched almond flour (260g)
- 1/4 cup arrowroot flour starch (34g)
- 1 TB pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup or honey (134g)
- 1/4 cup plain whole milk yogurt or dairy-free yogurt (58g)
- 1 cup pumpkin puree (222 grams)
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 TB pumpkin seeds optional for sprinkling on top
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a bread pan with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients, except the pumpkin seeds: almond flour, arrowroot flour starch, arrowroot, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.
- Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add all the wet ingredients: eggs, maple syrup, yogurt, pumpkin puree, vanilla extract. Stir to combine the ingredients to form a thick batter. (Add any chocolate chips, dried cranberries, or nuts at this time-see recommendations in the article above under "Variations".)
- Pour the batter into the bread pan.
- Bake for 50-60 minutes. You can test the bread by inserting a toothpick or chopstick in the center. If the toothpick is clean, the bread is done baking. Optional: Halfway through the baking, sprinkle pumpkin seeds over the top of the bread.
- Allow the bread to cool for at least 15 minutes before slicing. The longer the bread rests (cools), the easier it will be to cut into slices and the firmer it will be. I recommend serving this bread with a homemade pumpkin spice latte: perfection!!
Notes
Which Almond Flour Should You Use?
Blanched almond flour: Made by grinding up almonds with the almond skin removed. This is done by dropping the almonds in boiling water, then cooling the almonds and peeling away the skin. Once the skin is gone, the almonds are “blanched.” Blanched almond flour is a yellow/cream color, and is typically light and fluffy. It’s ideal for making pastries, cakes, and breads. Almond meal: Made by grinding up almonds with the skin. This flour is typically brown, has a coarse texture, and results in heavier, dense baked goods. I’ve used both almond flour and almond meal to make this bread recipe with success. I prefer fine almond flour for a lighter texture, but almond meal may also be used in this recipe.Nutrition
What to Serve With This Bread
Serve individual slices of this pumpkin loaf with your favorite breakfast protein, like eggs, yogurt bowls, or a smoothie. For an afternoon snack, top a slice with peanut or almond butter, butter, cream cheese, or serve as-is without anything else. Here are a few of my favorite foods to serve with this bread…
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Hi Kristin. Love your site and recipes, thanks for all you do! I was wondering if you have a recommended nut-free flour instead of almond flour for this recipe? Thanks 🙏🏼 Emma
Hey Emma, Thank you! I would suggest using einkorn flour and this recipe: https://livesimply.me/einkorn-pumpkin-spice-muffins/ You can turn the muffins into a bread and bake for about 50-60 minutes.
Can i sub corn starch for arrowroot equal measure
Hey A, Yes, you can use 1:1 corn starch for the arrowroot.
This recipe is delicious!
Yay! So glad you enjoyed it
Do you have any recommendations for egg substitutes for this recipe? I can’t eat eggs or bananas. Thank you!
Hey Amy, You could try homemade flax eggs. I personally haven’t tried that, so not sure how it would work in this recipe.
Great recipe! So moist. I used coconut flour instead of the arrowroot. Super fluffy and no one knew it was made without white flour! Win win!
Yay, Terry! That’s so awesome!! Thank you for sharing.
Hi,
Can I substitute 3 tablespoons of arrowroot powder for the coconut flour or would it be less?
Thanks,
Andrea
Hey Andrea, I’ve never tried it, but my thought is the arrowroot will work. I would do anywhere from 3 TB to 1/4 cup.
Thank you so much. My son is gluten free so this will help!!
Wonderful, Monica. Enjoy!
Excellent! Very moist and nutritious. I exchanged the yogurt with Silk Protein Cashew milk and added about 4 oz of hulled hemp seeds for more protein.
If you divide into 10 servings, you get 356 cals per slice, 25g carbs (5.4g fiber) and 14g protein, 62% vit C, 23% iron, 10% calcium. I might replace the honey with stevia to reduce the calories even more. This bread is delicious!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Ursula. Thanks for the info.
Whole family, even the little ones, loved the almond flour banana and almond flour pumpkin breads. I was thinking of an almond flour apple bread, replacing the banana with a cup of natural unsweetened applesauce. I would appreciate suggestions on spices, etc. Thanks
This looks great! Can I use whole greek yogurt in this? Or should it be standard?
Hey Jenna, Thank you :). I think greek yogurt will work for this recipe.
So much yumminess. Today, I made a moist fruity cake with part ground almonds (yep, I’m from the UK!) and part wheat flour. The recipe was originally for rhubarb, but I had plum pieces I’d soaked in vodka to make Christmas-prezzie liqueurs, and I wasn’t going to waste those plums once I’d drained off the liquor. So, plum and almond cake it is.
By the way, if you haven’t come across her, check out my friend Kezia Hall at Super Naturally Healthy. I’m sure she would be a great contributor/fellow-thinker for you 🙂 http://supernaturallyhealthy.org
Yum! Thanks for sharing, Angela.
I checked out Kezia Hall, and although her blog is interesting, it’s not doable for a family. Recipes are complicated and call for an ingredients list that most don’t keep at home. I love the Livesimply blog because it’s easy to follow. I can always rely on Kristin to provide my family with absolutely delicious, doable healthy recipes for amazing home meals. Thank you Kristin for your continued work to make our homes healthier.
Hey Stacy, I’m honored, thank you so much. It brings me so much joy to know that families are loving the recipes on the blog-thank you for sharing. I apologize for my delayed response, I’ve been out of the country the past few weeks without internet.
Thank you so much for your kind shout-outs! Love this article and your new recipe for pumpkin bread – it looks absolutely divine! xo
Thank you, Kelly. I love your almond flour recipes. I just made another batch of the “oatmeal” cookies last night.