Get ready for Fall with this deliciously moist and healthy pumpkin banana bread. Made with wholesome ingredients like pumpkin puree, bananas, carrots and sweetened with maple syrup and coconut sugar. Plus, it only takes 15 minutes to prepare and no mixer needed!
This recipe was originally published in September 2021. It has since been updated with an improved recipe and new pictures.
As much as I love my cinnamon crunch banana bread and my cheesecake swirl pumpkin bread, I felt like I was missing something that combined the two. This pumpkin banana bread is the perfect recipe for when you're craving something for Fall and pumpkin-y, but still want it to be healthyish. This basically tastes like fall in a loaf!
Looking for more pumpkin breakfast recipes? Check out my pumpkin muffins with streusel!
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Why you'll love this healthy pumpkin banana bread
- This pumpkin banana bread is chock full of good for you ingredients like bananas, pumpkin, shredded carrots, and pecans.
- Instead of using regular sugar, I have sweetened this loaf with some maple syrup and coconut sugar.
- If you use vegan milk then you can make this recipe dairy free!
- You don't need a mixer to make this pumpkin banana loaf, all you need are 2 bowls and a whisk.
Ingredient Notes
- Maple Syrup: make sure to use real maple syrup for this and not pancake syrup or golden syrup, which is just corn syrup with additives.
- Pumpkin Puree: you need to use real pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling!
- Bananas: use ripe bananas for this as that will make it easier to mash plus they will be sweeter
- Carrots: I recommend grating your own carrots rather than using pre-shredded carrots, as those will be too dry.
- Pecans: finely chop up pecans in a food processor, if the pieces are too big they will sink to the bottom of the loaf. You can substitute this for walnuts if you prefer!
- Milk: use any milk you like for this, regular whole dairy milk or vegan milk.
- Flour: I tested this recipe with all purpose flour.
- Coconut Sugar: you can find coconut sugar at Target, Amazon, Whole Foods, Waitrose or any health food store. I haven't tested this recipe with regular sugar or brown sugar.
Step by Step Instructions
One: Preheat your oven to 350°Fahrenheit/175°Celsius and grease and line a 8.5x4.5 inch loaf pan with parchment paper. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt.
Two: In a large bowl, whisk together your pumpkin puree, mashed banana, grated, carrot, maple syrup, milk, oil, eggs and vanilla extract.
Three: Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and use a rubber spatula to combine everything until there are no more pockets of flour. Pour in the chopped pecans and stir to combine.
Four: Pour the batter into a greased and lined 4.5x8.5" loaf pan and tap firmly on your counter to remove any air bubbles. Bake for 80-90 minutes. A toothpick inserted should come out clean. If it browns too much in the oven, tent it with foil.
Recipe Tips:
- Use a weighing scale – I highly recommend using a weighing scale and measuring out your ingredients the metric way. It makes a huge difference to your baking and is the most accurate way to bake!
- Use the fluff and sprinkle method to measure your flour – if you aren’t using a scale to measure ingredients then make sure you are measuring your flour correctly! Go to this link here to find out how to do that. If you use too much flour, then you won’t have those delicious moist crumbs!
- Watch for browning - if your loaf is browning too much, quickly take it out of the oven and cover it with foil, then place it back in the oven.
- Let cool completely - allow the loaf to cool completely before slicing, otherwise it might fall apart.
Frequently Asked Questions
The reasons for breads sinking in the middle is usually because it is underdone, so make sure you leave it in the oven long enough!
I let my pumpkin banana bread cool for several hours so I can get nice, clean slices.
You can, the loaf will be thinner and will need slightly less time in the oven though so keep an eye on it!
Keep it tightly wrapped and in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can freeze individual slices, wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to 3 months. Just defrost in the fridge overnight.
Try these pumpkin recipes next!
Have you made this recipe? Make sure to tag me on Instagram @alpineella and leave a review below if you have! If you want more baking ideas, you can follow me on Pinterest.
Recipe
Healthy Pumpkin Banana Bread
Equipment
- 4.5x8.5" loaf pan
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ cup bananas mashed
- 8 tablespoons canola oil
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- ¾ cup coconut sugar
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons milk
- ¾ cup pumpkin puree
- ½ cup carrots shredded
- ¾ cup pecans chopped finely
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°Fahrenheit/175°Celsius. Grease and line a 8.5×4.5 inch loaf pan.
- Mash your bananas until smooth, set aside. You can use a fork or a potato masher to mash them. Grate your carrots using a food processor or a hand held grater.
- Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices together. Set aside
- In a large bowl, whisk all the wet ingredients together - eggs, oil, coconut sugar, bananas, carrots, pumpkin, maple syrup, milk, and vanilla extract until smooth.
- Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, folding until combined. Add the nuts and stir those in.
- Pour the batter into your pan and tap it on the counter to remove any air bubbles. Use a butter knife to draw a line down the middle of the loaf, this creates a weak point in the loaf and lets it naturally split down the middle while baking.
- Bake for 80-90 minutes, a toothpick inserted will come out with a few crumbs. If it is browning too quickly, place some foil on top
Jennifer Phillips
Regarding the nutrition, what size slice, or how many ounces in a slice, is the nutrition ratio for?
Ella
The nutrition is for 1 slice if you cut the loaf into 12 slices!
Jennifer Phillips
Thank you-:). It’s really delicious. I made it yesterday, but it was a bit dry and crumbly. I think I should have taken it out of the oven 5 minutes earlier.I’ll try it again. Thanks again for this great recipe.
Jennifer Phillips
Hi Ella, this afternoon I made your Heathy Pumpkin Banana Bread. My first time using coconut sugar. I followed your recipe perfectly but it came out a little dry. Think I should have taken it out of the oven 5 minutes soon. But also, would adding one one more tablespoon of canola oil make it a bit more moist. It’s really delicious and a smear of cream cheese would be delightful.
Ella
Thanks so much for your review! I would also maybe use a thermometer in your oven to see if it's a little bit too hot, I did this with mine and my old oven a few years ago was 10-20 degrees hotter than it said, so that would make it drier too! Putting cream cheese on sounds delicious.
Sue Chantrell
Hi Ella, can we buy pumpkin purée in the uk? Actually I have grown some pumpkins and squashes. Any advice on making and storing pumpkin purée which would be equivalent to the tinned product? Sue x
Ella
Hi Sue 🙂 You can now find canned pumpkin at Waitrose and Tesco! But if you make your own it'll have more moisture than the canned pumpkin, so you'll need to get rid of the extra moisture. I haven't tried making my own but this looks like a good recipe!