Pumpkin Bread (Gluten-Free, No Added Sugar)

Pumpkin Bread (Gluten-Free, No Added Sugar)

2016-11-23 /
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If you’re looking for a last minute Thanksgiving dessert, I’ve got one for you! Last week I shared my Lentil Pot Pie and now I’m sharing the most delicious pumpkin loaf I’ve ever made. Make both and you’ll have a great vegetarian feast!

I was talking about pumpkin recipes with a friend (@veganeatstoronto) and she told me about a delicious pumpkin bread recipe from Detoxinista. She usually used this recipe and made a few modifications, so I thought I’d give it a try as well. I also had my pumpkin cookies in mind while trying this loaf. What I ended up with is a recipe similar to my cookies, but with a different texture. Good news: Unlike my cookies, this loaf is gluten-free!

I started by adding all my wet ingredients in the food processor (other than the egg). I blended my Medjool dates, pumpkin puree, melted coconut oil, water and vanilla until I had a smooth and creamy mixture. I then mixed all of my dry ingredients in a medium bowl, including light buckwheat flour as a base and cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves which gives this loaf a delicious fall flavor. I transferred the pumpkin mixture to the bowl with my dry ingredients, added the egg and mixed it all together. I baked it for 45 minutes and voila! It’s not too complicated is it?! And of course you can make it the day before and serve it for Thanksgiving (that would be today I suppose, so maybe not?). I guess I’m a little late for Thanksgiving recipes. On my defense, we celebrated Thanksgiving almost a month ago in Canada. 😉Pumpkin Bread (Gluten-Free, No Added Sugar) - Unsweetened Caroline

For those of you who aren’t celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow, don’t worry, you don’t need any special occasion to make this bread. Every day is pumpkin bread day for me! Seriously, I just make it on the weekend and enjoy a slice as a snack every day of the week. It goes great with a cup of coffee in the morning.

I suggest eating it straight from the oven with butter/margarine. It’s the BEST. If you want to take this treat to the next level, crumble it over a bowl of chocolate chai nice cream (like the one I shared on Instagram). Just follow my nice cream recipe, add a pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg and swap the peanut butter for almond or sunflower seed butter. It’s the ultimate treat!

Pumpkin Bread (Gluten-Free, No Added Sugar) - Unsweetened Caroline

Pumpkin Bread (Gluten-Free, No Added Sugar) - Unsweetened Caroline

Pumpkin Bread (Gluten-Free, No Added Sugar) - Unsweetened CarolineLooking for more pumpkin recipes? Try my Pumpkin Pie Smoothie bowl and my Spelt Pumpkin Cookies. Clearly I’m all about pumpkin lately.

Pumpkin Bread (Gluten-Free, No Added Sugar)
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5 from 5 votes

Pumpkin Bread (Gluten-Free, No Added Sugar)

This pumpkin bread is so sweet and satisfying, you would never guess that it's sweetened with dates only. And did I mention it's gluten-free?! Buckwheat flour, pumpkin puree, dates, coconut oil and an egg makes this loaf surprisingly light and moist while cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves gives it a lovely fall flavor. I suggest eating it straight out of the oven with butter or margarine. Who knew sugar-free bread could be this good?!
Course Breakfast, Snack
Cuisine gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings 8

Ingredients

  • 1 cup pure pumpkin puree, canned
  • 1 cup Medjool dates, pitted
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup buckwheat flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon, ground
  • 1/2 teaspoon ginger, ground
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, ground
  • 1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
  • Pinch of clove, ground

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350F. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper.
  • Add your pumpkin puree, water, melted coconut oil, Medjool dates and vanilla in a food processor. Blend until smooth. Set aside.
  • In a large mixing bowl, whisk together your flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt and clove.
  • Stir in your wet ingredients.
  • Add your egg and mix everything together.
  • Transfer to your prepared dish and bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Notes

Store in an airtight container or plastic bag at room temperature or in the fridge for 3-4 days or in the freezer.
For a vegan option, omit the egg. You can replace it with a 2 tablespoons of water, but the texture might change.

If you try this recipe, make sure to tag your photo #unsweetenedcaroline on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Don’t forget to also tag me @unsweetened.caroline on Instagram so I can see your creations!

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26 Comments

  • Ashlee
    2017-12-04 at 10:34 pm Reply

    Made this tonight! I didn’t have dates so I used soaked raisins and cranberries. It was delicious!! Nice and fluffy.

    • Unsweetened Caroline
      2018-11-02 at 7:17 pm Reply

      Hi Dan, I never tried it, but I’m thinking the whole wheat flour will work. The loaf will probably even have more volume! As for the gluten-free flour blend, it’s hard to say. I know each brand is a little different, but if you try it, please let me know how it turned out. It may help others as well. Thank you!

  • Donna Sawchyn
    2019-02-05 at 9:54 am Reply

    I believe that if you want to omit an egg, 3 tbsp of water to 1 tbsp ground flaxmeal is an egg replacement (let sit to thicken for 5 min). Thanks for your website, it is really difficult to find completely sugar free recipes.

  • Danica
    2020-06-20 at 7:26 am Reply

    5 stars
    These were amazing! I have been on a no sugar challenge including added sugar and this site has been really nice. Thank you so much! Is there any way you can turn this into muffins?

  • danica
    2020-06-26 at 5:32 am Reply

    Is there any way that you could substitute the pumpkin/carrots/bananas for zuchini in some of your recipes to make zuchini muffins/bread?

    • Nourished by Caroline
      2020-06-26 at 8:32 am Reply

      Hi! I can’t say for sure as I haven’t tried it myself. If you’re looking for a zucchini recipe, I do have zucchini cookies and an apple zucchini cake. If you’re looking for a bread, I think the best bet would be my carrot cake loaf. You could try using zucchini instead of carrots. Try squeezing the liquid from the zucchini first. Let me know if you try it! 🙂

  • Sarah
    2020-10-01 at 5:02 pm Reply

    5 stars
    Mmm delicious! I did oat flour (no buckwheat on hand) and also 1/2 banana + ~5 small dates to lower the sugar content more (Candida over here ) and yum so good still! Ty for sharing!

    • Nourished by Caroline
      2020-10-26 at 10:24 am Reply

      Hi Raya, sorry, but I haven’t tried other options and reducing the dates or changing it for other ingredients will likely change the recipe significantly. What I could suggest is to try my fruit-sweetened banana bread and use pumpkin puree instead of bananas. You could also add the spices from the pumpkin bread to that recipe. I haven’t tried it and I can’t guarantee it would work, but this is the best option I can recommend. Keep in mind that it won’t be sweet though. I hope this helps!

      Here’s the banana bread recipe: https://www.nourishedbycaroline.ca/sugar-free-breakfast-banana-bread/

  • Lindsay Cavett-Goodwin
    2020-10-27 at 3:50 pm Reply

    5 stars
    I used 3/4 cup oat flour and 1/4 cup gluten free baking flour instead of the 1 cup of buckwheat flour and it turned out well. I also added some chopping walnuts. Delicious! I’m looking forward to trying more of your recipes! Thank you so much for sharing. 🙂

  • Sarah
    2020-11-16 at 2:31 pm Reply

    5 stars
    Made this bread with a few substitutions and it turned out delicious! Used 7 dates + 1 Tbsp maple syrup + 1/2 ripe banana for the cup of dates. For the oil I filled 1/4 cup with extra pumpkin purée and applesauce. Replaced the egg with a flax egg. Added 1/2 cup walnut pieces and a handful of pepitas to the batter and top of loaf. For spices I used 11/2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp cloves and 1 tsp nutmeg. Loved the result! Just what I was looking for – healthy buckwheat pumpkin bread that’s lightly sweetened and generously spiced.

  • Christine
    2021-01-04 at 9:03 am Reply

    5 stars
    I love this recipe! I made it for Thanksgiving and Christmas and even my sugar loving boyfriend thought it was delicious. I add 100% cacao chips and chopped walnuts for a little more texture. Absolutely fabulous. Thank you for making recipes that don’t use processed sugars/honey/maple. When I cut back on sugars, I made the decision to only use whole fruits for sweeteners. Thank you for making recipes that feel like I’m not giving up anything.

    • Nourished by Caroline
      2021-01-04 at 10:15 am Reply

      Hi Christine! Thank you so much for your feedback. I’m happy you love the recipe! And I do love the sound of the walnuts and cacao chips in there. I hope you’ll enjoy the other fruit-sweetened recipes too. 🙂

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