Bring on all things pumpkin! To start the Fall season off, I’m bringing you a Healthy Pumpkin Flaxseed Bread recipe! You can feel good about enjoying a piece every day because this bread has ingredients like whole wheat flour, cranberries and flaxseed in it! 

Pumpkin is such a wonderful ingredient and it’s so popular to bake with during the cooler months. Making pumpkin bread is a great way to use a can of pumpkin. I love my original pumpkin bread recipe – this is more of a dessert than a snack, but it’s so good! This recipe however is made with healthier ingredients allowing you to indulge a little more. It’s the perfect mid afternoon snack or breakfast treat in the morning. 

I love the addition of the tart cranberries – they offer a beautiful color but also a tart sweetness to every bite. The whole wheat flour offers whole grains and the addition of flaxseed offers fiber and omega-3s along with other great health benefits!

Pumpkin seeds on the top with a good sprinkle of sugar give this bread a crunchy, sweet and salty topping that you will just love. I found myself saving the top for last because it was so good! 

This pumpkin bread baked up beautifully – had that perfect mounded top with the rustic crack in the center. The whole house smelled amazing. My two little girls loved it as well! They ate it up and thought of it as a treat!

Let the Fall baking begin!

Yield: 1 loaf

Healthy Pumpkin Flaxseed Bread

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A healthy version of pumpkin bread made with whole wheat flour, flaxseed and cranberries.

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour 50 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 55 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 15 ounces pumpkin puree
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 2 tablespoons salted pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
• 2 tablespoons sugar for topping

Instructions

1. Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan and preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, flaxseed, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and pumpkin pie spice; set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil and vanilla.
4. Add the pumpkin mixture to the flour mixture and gently stir together until thoroughly mixed - be careful to not overmix as the bread will then turn out tough.
5. Fold in cranberries and pour into prepared pan. Top with pepitas and sugar and bake for 50 minutes or until a knife comes out clean when inserted in the center of the bread. At 50 minutes, feel free to also tent the bread with tin foil so the top does not burn if it needs more time to bake.

Recipe slightly adapted from Illinois Farm Bureau Partners Magazine.