I Tried the Internet’s Favorite Healthy Pumpkin Bread and Did Not Expect These Results

Love & Lemons, created by Jeanine Donofrio, is one of my favorite resources for creative recipes that celebrate seasonal produce. (Recently I’ve been drawn to these rice-stuffed peppers — and this nutty vegan pesto.) So when searching for recipes to include in our pumpkin bread showdown, who better to turn to than the expert on cooking vegetables? After all, pumpkin is a vegetable, and Jeanine has an impressive collection of desserts on her site, so I figured she must have an interesting pumpkin bread recipe up her sleeve.

It didn’t take me long to find. The Love & Lemons recipe pops up on the first page of Google in a search for “pumpkin bread,” and it has a five-star rating and tons of comments from eager fans. The recipe, which she describes as “healthy and easy to make,” uses a few interesting ingredient swaps — including whole-wheat pastry flour and extra-virgin olive oil — which I was curious to compare to more traditional loaves. Would these swaps improve the flavor and texture of the bread? I headed into my kitchen to try it out.

Get the recipe: Love & Lemons’ Pumpkin Bread

Love & Lemons’ recipe is super easy and can be whipped up in about one hour. You’ll start by prepping your pan. Line an 8×4-inch baking pan with parchment paper and set it aside. (This recipe only makes one loaf of pumpkin bread, so you only have to prep one pan.) In a medium bowl whisk together whole-wheat pastry flour (which can be found in specialty grocery stores or ordered online), baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. In another large bowl whisk together pumpkin purée, eggs, cane sugar, almond milk (or another type of milk), extra-virgin olive oil, and vanilla extract. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and stir until a batter forms. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. That’s it!

This recipe wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t my favorite. It was a bit drier than the other recipes I tested and had a slightly crumbly texture that I didn’t care for. I think the texture was a result of using whole-wheat pastry flour — which also gave the bread a subtle gray color. The flavor itself was pretty good, and it had the perfect amount of spice to balance the sweetness. The recipe calls for using two whole teaspoons of cinnamon, which gave the bread a bright flavor without being overwhelming, and I appreciated how bold it was. I couldn’t necessarily taste the olive oil or the vanilla extract, but I could taste that there was something interesting going on. They added a subtle background flavor that made the loaf a bit more exciting.

While I understand this recipe is meant to be a “healthier” version of pumpkin bread, it just didn’t do it for me. I missed the rich, pound cake-like texture that pumpkin bread usually has and was a bit disappointed. While the flavor was good, the texture left a bit to be desired.

1. Make sure you use the right flour. My grocery store didn’t have whole-wheat pastry flour, so I ordered it online. If you’re planning to make this recipe, make sure your store sells it or go ahead and order it ahead of time.
   
2. Grease your loaf pan. Although the recipe calls for lining the loaf pan with parchment paper, I still found that my loaf stuck a bit to the sides. To prevent this, grease your pan in addition to lining it with parchment paper for added insurance.
   
3. Feel free to use regular olive oil in place of extra-virgin. Although the recipe calls for extra-virgin olive oil, you can get away with using regular olive oil in this recipe. It will save you some money and you probably won’t be able to taste any difference.
   
4. Don’t overbake your loaves. I found this recipe to be a bit drier than the others I tested, so make sure to keep an eye on it as it bakes to prevent it from drying out. Start checking it with a toothpick about 15 minutes prior to when it’s supposed to be done baking.
   
   Rating: 5/10

Have you ever made Love & Lemons’ pumpkin bread recipe? Tell us what you thought!