This healthier marbled pumpkin bread is lightly sweetened and made with whole wheat flour making a healthy alternative for traditional pumpkin bread
How cool is this bread?!
I love making quick breads for a few simple reasons:
But even the most flavorful quick bread doesn’t really have that awe factor worthy of a holiday celebration.
Think about it. What’s more enticing: a slice of cranberry bread or a frosted sugar cookie in the shape of Rudolph at Christmas? I’d pick Rudolph every time.
But this pumpkin bread isn’t just another orange loaf at a bake sale. This is the Rudolph of pumpkin breads.
When I saw this marbled banana bread over at Smitten Kitchen, I knew I wanted to try out the technique. However, I wanted a flavor other than banana.
So a couple weeks ago when I was brainstorming Halloween recipes, I started thinking about how perfect a dark chocolate swirl would be against orange from pumpkin.
As proud as I am of my marbling, I’m sure many of you could make an even more impressive pattern.
And for any of you who are creatively challenged like I am, trust me when I say that it’s hard to mess this up as there’s no “right” way for it to look.
Once you have your “base” batter made, you’ll separate it into two separate bowls. To one bowl you’ll add ¼ cup of dark cocoa powder. Then, to the other add ¼ cup of white whole wheat flour.
Next, alternate dropping spoonful’s of each batter into a greased loaf pan.
The idea is to make almost a checkerboard pattern with the batter.
Once all the batter is used up, take a sharp knife and make 2-3 figure-8’s through the batter.
While most pumpkin breads take about 55 minutes to bake, I found mine was ready after 50 minutes. Honestly I could have even been taken out 2 or 3 minutes earlier.
Cooking time really depends on your oven.
I recommend setting a timer for 45 minutes and checking in 5-minute intervals until a toothpick comes out almost clean – it’s okay if there’s a few crumbs sticking to it.
Personally, I think this bread is best with a hot cup of coffee.
However, for a little extra sweetness and filling power, I recommend adding almond or peanut butter.
For the more adventurous, cream cheese is one of my family’s favorite additions on quick breads. May sound strange, but trust me. Just make sure that the cream cheese is either softened or whipped.
Get realistic recipes and nutrition tips in your inbox!
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
I don’t really make ‘bread’ (banana, pumpkin etc), but this has got me thinking I really want to – I think the addition of the cocoa has got me haha!
What a gorgeous pumpkin bread. Can’t wait to try this! Love that you added dark cocoa. YUM.
Here you’ll find realistic healthy recipes designed by a registered dietitian with your busy lifestyle in mind.
Whether you’re a busy professional or new mom, the goal of The Healthy Toast is to provide you with the recipes and nutrition info you need to live your healthiest life, even when life gets crazy. As I’m a firm believer in a whole-foods, non-diet approach, I hope my website shows that good nutrition doesn’t have to be complicated or restrictive.
Get realistic recipes and nutrition tips in your inbox!