White Chocolate Walnut Healthy Spelt Pumpkin Bread

This white chocolate walnut healthy spelt pumpkin bread is an incredibly moist, delicious fall treat made with spelt flour and unrefined sweeteners! Dotted with white chocolate chips and walnuts, this pumpkin bread is truly a treat while still being clean and nourishing.

this recipe

Get ready for a MAJOR case of the cozies with this incredible white chocolate walnut healthy spelt pumpkin bread. With a crumb so tender and a popping pumpkin spice flavor, you would never know this bread is made entirely with nourishing spelt flour and without refined sugars. Coconut oil, maple syrup, and pumpkin make this healthy pumpkin bread extra moist... a delicious fall treat!

This healthy pumpkin bread recipe was inspired by other two of my other favorite spelt flour bread recipes on my site: the best healthy pumpkin chocolate chip bread, and spelt flour banana bread. If it's not obvious... we are all about nourishing desserts that taste indulgent! For now, let's seize October with this new pumpkin bread recipe that you can share with your friends & family.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Substitutions & Variations
• Storage
• 📖 Recipe

Ingredients

• Spelt flour - I typically find this at my local Pick n' Save/Metro Market, Woodman's, or Whole Foods.
• Pumpkin pie spice - You can use store bought or make your own homemade pumpkin pie spice. Or, to make just enough pumpkin pie spice for this recipe, simply add 1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon allspice, ¼ teaspoon ginger, ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg, and ⅛ teaspoon cloves.
• Baking soda
• Salt - Fine, rather than coarse or flaky salt, as we want it to blend evenly into every bite.
• Extra virgin coconut oil
• Maple syrup
• Eggs - Make sure they're at room temp so they incorporate easily into the other wet ingredients, and so they don't chill the coconut oil. To bring eggs to room temperature quickly, submerge them in a container of slightly warm water for about ten minutes.
• Canned pumpkin - Be sure to get pure canned pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling!
• Vanilla extract
• Optional molasses - Not at all required, but even a little bit adds depth of flavor.
• White chocolate chips - I love this kinds from Nestle or Trader Joe's because they don't have any artificial ingredients!
• Walnuts - Halves and/or pieces are perfect; for halves, you'll need to roughly chop them before adding to the bread batter.

Instructions

First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and line a 9x5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper.

Then, whisk spelt flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk pumpkin puree, maple syrup, coconut oil, and vanilla extra together until well-combined.

Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Add white chocolate chips and walnuts to the bread batter, and stir them in.

Next, pour the pumpkin bread batter into your prepared loaf pan, smoothing it out with a spatula so that it's evenly distributed throughout the pan. If desired, you can sprinkle a few more white chocolate chips and walnuts on top so they bake into the top of the loaf.

Place a piece of aluminum foil over the loaf pan before putting it into the oven at 350 degrees. Bake the pumpkin bread for a total of 55 minutes, removing the aluminum foil at 20 minutes in. Check the bread at 50 minutes; if the innermost part of the top of the loaf is no longer jiggly, you can take the bread out to cool. If it still looks jiggly in the middle, leave it in for another five minutes or until the top looks cooked through.

Allow the pumpkin bread to cool completely before slicing and serving with a bit of butter!

Hint: To create the most tender baked goods every time, never over-mix your batter! This means that the moment your dry ingredients combine with the wet ingredients (last visible bit of flour disappears), stop mixing. Then when you stir in your add-ins, gently fold them in.

Substitutions & Variations

If you don't have some of the listed ingredients on hand, or you're interested in experimenting a bit, below are some ingredient substitutions and recipe variations that will work.

• Flour - If you don't have spelt flour or can't find it at any of your local grocery stores, you can sub with white whole wheat flour, whole wheat pastry flour, or whole wheat flour for equally delicious results.
• Sweetener - If you don't have maple syrup, agave syrup will work best as an alternative for this recipe. Honey will yield overwhelmingly sweet results, so I do not recommend subbing in honey for the maple syrup in this recipe.
• Add-ins - White chocolate chips and walnuts are delicious, but you can get creative with your pumpkin bread add-ins! For one, you can omit them completely for a simple pumpkin bread recipe, or you can try dark chocolate chips (see my healthy pumpkin chocolate chip bread recipe), or other add-ins. Some suggestions: dark chocolate chips or chunks, chopped pecans, pistachios, milk chocolate chips... or a combo of any of these. Just make sure not to exceed 1 cup total of add-ins.
• Pumpkin pie spice - If you don't have pumpkin pie spice on hand, you can easily make your own! The linked recipe makes more than you need for this batch, so you can save the rest for another loaf of pumpkin bread or any other recipe that needs a little pumpkin spice. OR, to make just enough for this recipe, you can use 1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon allspice, ¼ teaspoon ginger, ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg/ and ⅛ teaspoon cloves.

Storage

Storage: Store this pumpkin bread in an airtight container in a cool, dry place (such as on your kitchen counter) for up to a three days, then transfer it to the fridge for up to a week. Since this pumpkin bread is SO moist, you'll want to move it to the fridge to keep it from getting moldy. If your kitchen tends to be hot and humid, you can move it to the fridge right away. To warm it up slightly, pop your slice in the microwave for 10-15 seconds and enjoy!

Freezer: This pumpkin bread freezes beautifully! To freeze, place the pumpkin bread in an airtight container (such as a glass storage container with a lid that snaps on/seals well). Store it in the freezer for up to three months. To thaw, let the bread sit out on the kitchen counter for a couple hours.

The beauty of freezing a loaf of this bread is that you can have it ready to pull out during the holidays. The day after Thanksgiving or Christmas morning, you'll be ready with your cup of coffee and your loaf of nourishing, festive, healthy spelt pumpkin bread to share with your family!