Applesauce pumpkin bread

Pumpkin bread made a little healthier with applesauce instead of oil! The perfect fall treat to satisfy a pumpkin craving and great for sharing.

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Update: Many of you have asked about the bread pan in the picture. I received as a gift, but the closest I can find are here and here. 

One of the things I love most about fall is comfort food. (Mostly the weather, but comfort food is still high on the list.)

What better comfort food is there than warm bread fresh out of the oven?

My goal was to make a pumpkin bread that was slightly more healthy than some recipes I had seen (using applesauce instead of oil), so I could eat more of it myself without feeling guilty. 🙂

I say slightly more healthy because I know it still has a lot of sugar. But it DOES make 3 loaves so keep that in mind.

So many pumpkin breads do have a lot of sugar, and I try to make healthy ingredient swaps when I can. Hence the applesauce. 

So while I say healthier, I don’t mean healthy. I’m counting this more in the comfort food category.

Though some readers have reported that they cut the sugar down to as low as 1 cup for the whole recipe, and that it still tasted good!

And it technically does count as a low-fat pumpkin bread recipe, coming in at just 1 gram of fat for 1/6 of a loaf.

Since this makes enough for 3 loaves that means you can still have a loaf all to yourself even after giving two away!

That is, if you can find two people you love enough to share this with.

It’s great to make for gifts, potlucks, or big family dinners.

I used 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice.

Don’t have it? You can make your own pumpkin pie spice blend by mixing cinnamon (1 and 1/2 teaspoons), nutmeg (1/4 teaspoon), ginger (1/4 teaspoon), and cloves (1/8 teaspoon).

This is the time of year that pumpkin spice is in everything and everywhere.

It’s the time of year I most look forward to!

If you’re thinking, “bread with applesauce?” I’m sure you’re not alone!

Using applesauce in place of oil is one of my tricks for instantly lightening up certain baked goods – like in this zucchini bread, these strawberry muffins, even these brownies.

Just note the applesauce DOES change the consistency of the bread, so if you find it too “spongy” then maybe try using half oil and half applesauce.

I personally (and many people I made it for) like it but it is enough of a difference that I feel I should give you fair notice.

Maybe add some pumpkin butter..

Or just have a couple (or twenty) slices.

If you want to get super fancy, check out my recipe for your own homemade applesauce to use for this bread!