This soft pumpkin banana bread recipe combines sweet cinnamon, ginger, and pumpkin pie spice for the ultimate Fall inspired healthy breakfast.
Healthy pumpkin banana bread
If you love pumpkin, you need to try this moist pumpkin banana bread.
The delicious recipe is packed with two whole cups of canned pumpkin and mashed banana, adding unbelievable moisture, softness, and flavor without all the extra fat.
I’ve already made the classic pumpkin recipe five times this year, with no plans to stop. It is absolutely wonderful for breakfast, snack, dessert, or any meal in between.
Plus, leftover banana bread slices freeze well too!
You may also like these Sweet Potato Brownies
Easy recipe tips and tricks
When adding the dry ingredients to the liquid, do not over mix.
Instead, stir the batter only until just evenly combined. This step guards against over activating the gluten.
It also prevents too many air bubbles from being introduced into the dough, which could cause tough, dense, and overly chewy final results.
My traditional banana bread recipes consistently come out perfectly after forty minutes in the oven. Due to climate, humidity, elevation, and uncalibrated oven temperature variations, yours may need to bake a little longer.
Do not open the oven even a crack until the cooking time is up. Every time a hot oven door is opened, the internal temperature can decrease by twenty degrees or more.
This pumpkin banana quick bread makes a great healthy snack or dessert. Turn it into a high protein breakfast by serving alongside Greek yogurt or Tofu Scramble.
Spread with almond butter, Coconut Butter, pumpkin butter, or cream cheese if desired. If you love chocolate, the loaf is fantastic with Homemade Nutella.
Finally, be sure to eat a copious amount of chocolate chips while baking, to make up for all of those calories you’re burning!
Leftover pumpkin? Make Applesauce Muffins
The best pumpkin banana bread ingredients
This quick loaf recipe is a great way to use up canned pumpkin and ripe bananas.
To make the bread, you need flour, ground cinnamon, powdered ginger, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, baking powder, salt, sweetener of choice, milk of choice or water, pure vanilla extract, optional oil and large or mini chocolate chips, and of course the mashed banana and pumpkin puree.
You can roast your own pumpkin to make homemade pumpkin puree. Or go with the easy option of buying regular or organic canned pumpkin puree at the grocery store.
For vegan pumpkin banana bread, use your favorite dairy free and plant based milk of choice, such as almond milk or coconut milk. There are no eggs and no butter required.
Feel free to sprinkle in a handful of walnuts, pecans, shredded coconut, or raisins.
No pumpkin on hand? An equal amount of roasted mashed sweet potato or winter squash (such as butternut squash or kabocha) are great substitutions.
Types of flour that work include spelt, white, or oat flour. Some brands of all purpose gluten free flour also work. And there is a flourless option included below. I have not tried whole wheat flour and do not recommend coconut flour here because it will yield a very dry bread.
Grain free option: Almond Flour Banana Bread
Pumpkin banana quick bread recipe video
Watch the step by step recipe video, above
The recipe was inspired by my Healthy Banana Bread and Carrot Cake Banana Bread.
Adding extra cinnamon and pumpkin took it over the top in deliciousness.
This particular version is hands down the best banana bread recipe I’ve tried so far.
How to make pumpkin banana bread
Start by gathering all of the ingredients and greasing a 9×5 inch loaf pan.
I also like to add a piece of parchment paper to the bottom of the pan, because this helps the homemade pumpkin banana cake loaf pop out easily after it’s baked.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Whisk the mashed banana, pureed pumpkin, pure vanilla extract, and other liquid ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
The dry ingredients can be combined ahead of time in a separate bowl. Or turn it into a one bowl recipe by stirring the dry ingredients straight into the mixing bowl.
Stir all of the ingredients together, then smooth the banana bread batter into the prepared baking pan.
If desired, sprinkle chopped nuts, coconut flakes, pumpkin seeds, or chocolate chips on top of the pumpkin bread. Place the loaf pan on the center rack of the oven.
Bake the quick bread for forty five minutes or until the pumpkin banana loaf is golden in color and has domed on top. A toothpick inserted into the center of the bread should come out mostly clean.
Remove the loaf pan from the oven, and let the recipe cool before going around the sides with a knife and popping the bread out of the pan.
If you are a true pumpkin lover, serve the quick bread with a Pumpkin Spice Latte.
How to store pumpkin banana bread
Once cooled, I like to loosely cover the recipe on the counter or in the refrigerator and let it sit in the pan overnight.
The taste and texture are even better the next day, because excess moisture evaporates, resulting in a light and fluffy pumpkin loaf.
This makes a fantastic holiday gift and can be wrapped up and given to friends and family who live locally. If you choose overnight shipping, it can also be shipped to friends who live further away.
And if you are tasked with bringing a dish to share at a brunch or a potluck party, the healthy pumpkin recipe is easy to transport and always a hit with guests.
For optimal freshness, it is best to refrigerate any leftovers after a day. In a covered container in the refrigerator, the loaf should stay good for up to four days.
You may also slice and freeze leftover banana bread for up to three months in an airtight covered container. Place a layer of parchment paper in between slices, so they do not stick together.
Thaw frozen pumpkin banana bread slices on the countertop, or in a microwave, stove top, or a warm oven before serving.
For a high protein option, try this Protein Banana Bread
Pumpkin Banana Bread
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour (spelt, white or oat, or try this Keto Pumpkin Bread)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice or additional cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cup mashed banana
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup or honey or agave
- 1/3 cup oil or water or milk of choice
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (optional)
Instructions
- To make pumpkin banana bread, preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 9×5 loaf pan, and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Whisk all liquid ingredients in a separate bowl, then pour wet into dry and stir to form a batter. Smooth into the prepared pan. If desired, press some extra chocolate chips into the top. Bake on the center rack 45 minutes or until golden and cooked through. Let cool completely. Slice and enjoy! Taste and texture are even better the second day if you can wait. Leftovers can be sliced and frozen if desired.View Nutrition Facts
Video
Notes
The Best Pumpkin Recipes
Cream Cheese Pumpkin Swirl Bread
From the Hello Breakfast Cookbook
How many days does this bread last? I’ve made it three or four times now and we always ate it within three days, but I was curious to see just how long it’ll last, especially un-refrigerated. I absolutely love this recipe and want to share it over the holidays, but I want to make sure it won’t go bad.
Fantastic recipe, Katie! I love your chocolate zucchini bread, too! I’ve never actually made either with the chocolate chips, but I’m sure that would be even better! Thanks for sharing!
We’ve honestly never kept it around more than 4 days without freezing leftovers. It should last a similar amount of time as most banana bread recipes, I’d think, since it’s similar ingredients. Because bananas and pumpkin are perishable, we do like to keep it refrigerated, but we haven’t tried leaving it out more than a day or two.
Jason
This recipe turned out perfectly. I folded some Enjoy Life brand chocolate chunks into the batter, because like you, I don’t think there’s such a thing as too much chocolate. I used coconut oil for the oil/milk component. This will MOST DEFINITELY be a repeat treat. Thank you for your amazing recipes. They never disappoint, and they’re always so easy and surprisingly healthy! (btw, my kids keep asking me to make the cookie pie over and over 🙂
That looks so gorgeous!
I finally made these today. I made them as muffins instead of bread. I used agave, coconut oil, white flour and Stevia. I also added 3/4 cup chocolate chips. I baked for 40 min @ 350°, with the 10 min wait-in-oven. They had almost a crust on the outside but so soft inside. They are amazing!
I modified with whole wheat flour and made into muffins. These are incredible! Only cooked for 23 minutes. Another amazing recipe
Best loaf recipe ever! I use half oat milk/half oil. Also half the amount of maple syrup and no sugar. I bake 3 loaves every two weeks. My daughter feels her day is not the same if it does not begin with this loaf!
Hi Katie,
I was wondering if this recipe would “probably” work with 1/2 cup of molasses as the liquid sweetener? I’d add the additional sugar, too. I know you can’t say for sure unless you’ve tried it, but I wanted your opinion before trying it. Thanks!
Lauren
Sorry there’s just really, really no way to guess without trying!
Jason
This is delicious! Really nice texture (some banana bread stays too mushy for our liking).
It turned out very nice! Very nice texture, but I had to bake it another 15 minutes after the 30 min and 10 min rest in the oven. I used half oat/ half white flour and avocado oil, no milk. Next time I will double the ginger because I think it goes well with the pumpkin and the chocolate. Thanks again for the recipe!
I was just reading your article again and I realized that your article states that there is two whole cans of pumpkin and this recipe, yet the recipe only called for half a cup. I’m so confused. I just took it out of the oven and I haven’t tried it yet, but I didn’t want to forget to post this comment.
This got me too! I re-read it and it is 2 cups of pumpkin AND banana. So, 1 1/2 cups of banana and 1/2 c pumpkin.
I just made this and it was incredible! I am already planning on making again very soon. Instead of topping with chocolate chips I mixed 2 tbsp of swerve sweetener and a couple sprinkles of pumpkin pie spice together and sprinkled the mixture onto the pumpkin banana bread before cooking. Doing this created an incredible sweet crunch to the bread and I strongly recommend you try doing it. Overall one of my favorite Chocolate Covered Katie recipes and thank you so much for this recipe!