QUICK SUMMARY
Mama Z’s Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bread is a moist, warmly spiced quick bread made with pumpkin puree, gluten-free flour, coconut flour, coconut oil, and your choice of the sweeteners listed in the recipe card.
The recipe makes three loaves, freezes beautifully, and includes dairy-free and egg-free options right in the protected recipe. It is perfect for breakfast, holiday gatherings, meal prep, or sharing with friends.
For the best texture, use pumpkin puree rather than pumpkin pie filling, follow the flour and liquid amounts in the recipe exactly, and avoid overmixing the batter.
Pumpkin may be a Fall favorite, but I enjoy this bread all year long! My Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bread fills the house with warm pumpkin-spice aroma and makes a wonderful breakfast, snack, or holiday treat.
It’s moist enough to enjoy on its own, though you can always add coconut oil or butter. Best of all, the recipe makes three loaves, so you can freeze extras or share one with a friend. There’s something special about giving homemade food to someone you love.
Table of Contents:
Make Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bread
Homemade baked goods don’t have to be complicated! This recipe is pretty straightforward and so much fun to make. Get the kids involved! The best memories are made in the kitchen.
Pumpkin Bread
Servings
Ingredients
- Unrefined (no propellant) coconut oil or olive oil cooking spray
- ½ cup grass-fed organic sea-salted butter OR ½ cup raw organic coconut oil AND ¼ teaspoon pink Himalayan salt OR sea salt, ground
- ½ cup raw organic coconut oil
- 3 cups organic coconut sugar, Christmas Cookie Blend, or 2 cups Grade A Dark Amber maple syrup, organic*
- 4 pasture-raised organic eggs OR 2 tablespoons egg replacer PLUS ½ cup purified or distilled water
- 1 15-ounce can organic pumpkin puree
- 2 ¾ cups all-purpose gluten-free flour
- ¾ cup coconut flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons pink Himalayan salt OR sea salt, ground
- 3 teaspoons organic pumpkin pie spice powder
- ⅔ cup purified or distilled water
Supplies
- 3 7 x 3-inch loaf pans
- Toothpick
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly spray three 7 x 3-inch loaf pans with olive or coconut oil cooking spray, then sprinkle with gluten-free flour.
- In a large bowl, mix the butter and coconut oil until smooth. Add the coconut sugar and mix well.
- In a small bowl, beat the eggs. Add the eggs and pumpkin to the butter mixture and whisk until well combined. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, sea salt, and pumpkin pie spice.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients, alternating with water, to the wet mixture. Stir until just blended. Pour the batter into prepared loaf pans and bake for 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Step One: Prepare the Loaf Pans
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray three 7 x 3-inch loaf pans with olive or coconut oil cooking spray and sprinkle with gluten-free flour.
Step Two: Combine the Butter and Coconut Sugar
In a large bowl, mix the butter and coconut oil until smooth. Add the coconut sugar and mix well.
Step Three: Add Eggs
In a small bowl, beat the eggs. Add the eggs and pumpkin puree to the butter mixture and mix until well combined.
Step Four: Mix the Dry Ingredients
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, sea salt, and pumpkin pie spice. Slowly add the dry ingredients, alternating with water, to your wet mixture. Stir until just blended. Do not overmix.
Step Five: Bake the Pumpkin Bread
Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake for 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.
Let cool on a baking rack, then slice and enjoy! You can freeze your pumpkin bread if you’re not planning on eating it within the week. Cover it well with plastic wrap to prevent freezer burn. You can also freeze your loaves for up to 2 months.
On the day you plan on serving them, let them thaw on the counter, then warm for 10 minutes in the oven. This easy hack makes hosting holiday parties a breeze!
The reviews are in..this gluten-free pumpkin bread tastes just as good (if not better!) than unhealthy versions. Check out Mama Z’s Recipe Makeover if you want to learn how to convert recipes yourself.
This free ingredient substitution guide will empower you to stock your pantry with everything you need to create healthy, delicious meals.
Healthy Bread Ingredients 101
The secret to excellent gluten-free baked goods is the right combination of ingredients. This sweet bread uses simple pantry staples to create a moist, tender loaf. Friends and family may never guess it’s gluten-free, and the recipe card includes easy dairy-free and egg-free options.
Pumpkin Puree: Canned pumpkin is one of my favorite baking shortcuts. It tastes great and is much easier than roasting a pumpkin yourself. Just remember that pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie filling are not the same thing.
Read the label and look for pumpkin as the ingredient. Pumpkin pie filling is already sweetened and seasoned, which can change the finished recipe.
Eggs: Eggs add structure and richness to quick breads. When purchasing eggs, I look for pasture-raised organic varieties when available. If you use the egg-replacer option in the protected recipe card, follow the listed amount and added water exactly.
Healthy Fats: This recipe uses butter and coconut oil for moisture, richness, and texture. If you follow a dairy-free diet, the protected recipe gives you the coconut-oil option.
Older concerns about margarine often centered on products that contained significant industrial trans fat. The original study cited in this article was conducted during that era, so it should not be used to claim that every modern margarine is automatically worse than butter. (1) We choose butter and coconut oil here because they work beautifully in this recipe.
Purified Water: Water quality varies from place to place. Public drinking water is regulated, but contaminants can still occur from source water, treatment byproducts, or household plumbing. (2) We prefer purified or distilled water in our recipes because it gives us more control over what goes into our food.
Purifying your water doesn’t have to mean buying plastic bottles. An appropriate in-home filtration system can be a practical option depending on the contaminants in your local water.
Sweetener: This recipe avoids refined white sugar and gives you several sweetener options. Coconut sugar is my favorite for baked goods because it adds bulk and has a brown-sugar-like flavor that pairs beautifully with pumpkin. You can also use Grade A Dark Amber maple syrup or Christmas Cookie Blend.
One important distinction: coconut sugar and maple syrup are still added sugars, even though they are less refined than white table sugar. FDA includes sugars and syrups used as sweeteners within its definition of added sugars. (3) If you are choosing a sweetener for blood-sugar reasons, use the option that fits your personal needs rather than assuming “natural” means sugar-free.
Gluten-Free Flour: A high-quality gluten-free flour creates fluffy baked goods. Some flour blends include ingredients you may not prefer, so always check the package. I recommend using a cup-for-cup blend for best results.
If you are baking for someone with celiac disease, choose ingredients labeled gluten-free and be mindful of cross-contact from shared flour containers, utensils, mixers, and work surfaces.
Coconut Flour: Coconut flour gives this bread body and absorbs a lot of liquid, which is why a little goes a long way. I love adding it to loaves like this! Follow the recipe amounts rather than adding extra, because even a small change can make gluten-free batter much drier. You can find coconut flour online or at many well-stocked grocery stores.
Sea Salt: We recommend using Colima sea salt because it’s hand-harvested and we love the flavor and sourcing. Specialty sea salts can contain trace minerals, but they are still primarily sodium chloride.
Most specialty sea salts and Himalayan salts are also not iodized, so families who do not use iodized salt should make sure iodine comes reliably from other foods or an appropriate source. (4) You can also use pink Himalayan salt in this recipe.
Pumpkin Pie Spice: This is what gives the loaf that warm holiday flavor. For our non-American friends, pumpkin pie spice is typically a blend built around cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves, though exact formulas can vary by brand.
You can find it at most grocery stores or make your own favorite blend at home.
Bonus Fall Diffuser Blend
Everyone wants their home to smell yummy, which is why so many people turn to artificial fragrances. We prefer to skip synthetic fragrance when we can and use a diffuser for a simple seasonal aroma.
I love citrus oils in the Fall, and a diffuser makes it easy to create the best diffuser blends for your health. This Fall diffuser blend is always on repeat at the Z house.
You may not be able to make my Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bread every day, but your home can smell like you did!
To fill your home with the scents of Fall, add the following to your diffuser:
- 3 drops tangerine essential oil
- 2 drops cassia essential oil
- 1 drop clove essential oil
- 60-80 ml water, depending on your diffuser
Sit back and enjoy a seasonally scented home without synthetic fragrance. Follow your diffuser manufacturer’s directions, diffuse in a well-ventilated space, and adjust use for the people and pets in your home.
- Gillman MW, Cupples LA, Gagnon D, et al. “Margarine intake and subsequent coronary heart disease in men.” Epidemiology. 1997;8(2):144-149. PubMed.
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. “Drinking Water.” Source.
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “Added Sugars on the Nutrition Facts Label.” Source.
- National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements. “Frequently Asked Questions: Does All Salt Contain Iodine?” Source.
