This healthy pumpkin cake recipe goes back a number of years on this recipe site.  Using ingredients such as Greek yogurt, pumpkin, and whole wheat flour, it’s healthy baking at its finest!  There is no white sugar or butter in this fall cake.  We creatively blend a combination of coconut sugar, honey, and unsweetened apple sauce for unprocessed, natural sweetness.  The result is a unique, moist, toasty-flavored, and mildly sweet cake bread.

Moist, delicious, low sugar Pumpkin Cake with vegan caramel drizzle!

In my earlier days of blogging and recipe writing, one of my creative outlets included taking healthy ingredients and re-creating favorite dishes and desserts.  Here we use unique twists and clever substitutions for both refined white sugar and refined white flour.  

Healthier ingredients for healthy pumpkin cake

• pumpkin puree
• Greek yogurt
• whole wheat flour

We use whole wheat pastry flour in this pumpkin bundt cake recipe.  Whole wheat white flour may be substituted for whole wheat pastry flour although the resulting cake will be slightly a heavier, more dense bread-like cake.

Not only are Greek yogurt and unsweetened apple sauce good for you, these ingredients really moisten things up in this cake.   

pumpkin puree and apple sauce are the secret ingredients that make this cake extra moist and flavorful

Along with pumpkins and pumpkin spice, apples are everywhere this time of year including on our side yard tree!  If you are up for some chopping, Homemade Crockpot Applesauce takes this recipe up a notch.  Typically we use store-bought, unsweetened apple sauce.

Why coconut sugar?

• less processed
• less of a glycemic spike for sugar sensitivities and pre-diabetics
• a fuller, toasty sweet flavor!

If you are new to using coconut sugar in baking, be prepared for a slightly different texture experience.  Coconut sugar produces a caramel sauce that is not quite as smooth as using white or brown sugar but just as tasty with hints of savory or nutty notes.  The aesthetic is also a bit different – coconut caramel sauce will be darker than a white sugar sauce made with butter.  Using coconut sugar over white refined sugar makes this cake marginally healthier.  It has ‘hints of healthy’ which is what we’re going for.

Over the last decade, there has been an influx of many different varieties of pumpkins on the market.  My favorite ones include the flatter, princess pumpkin, or fairytale pumpkin variety.

our front porch fall decor

I like finding varying sizes and stacking the flatter white pumpkins on my doorstep for unique fall decor.  Another fun thing to do with pumpkins is to make Succulent Pumpkins for fall table decor.

Healthy Pumpkin Cake is a cozy, moist, delicious cake.  It’s easy to dress it up with some vanilla bean ice cream, pecan pieces, or chopped walnuts. Impress your guests with this moist, delicious fall cake.  Then use the extra pumpkin puree and make Healthy Pumpkin Scones.

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Yield: 8

Pumpkin Bundt Cake

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Our pumpkin bundt cake is good for you but you'll never guess that it's healthy.  To sum it up, pumpkin bundt cake is one part good for you, two parts super moist, and three parts yummy!  Try as you might, you will not find any butter, white flour, or white sugar in here - simply moist, spicy-sweet goodness with just a little pecan crunch.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 55 minutes

Ingredients

Cake

• 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup liquified coconut oil, melted and cooled to room temperature
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar
• 4 tablespoons honey
• 1/4 cup unsweetened 100% applesauce
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup plain, nonfat yogurt
• 1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts or pecans pieces (optional)

Vegan Caramel Drizzle

• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 cup coconut sugar
• 1 cup coconut sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Canola spray oil

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Combine dry ingredients - flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt
3. Soften/melt coconut oil in the microwave
4. Mix sugar into coconut oil until the sugar is moistened
5. Add in honey, applesauce, and vanilla and stir until well incorporated
6. Stir in the pumpkin puree until fully incorporated
7. Blend in Greek yogurt until smooth
8. Add and whisk in the eggs to the pumpkin mixture and stir until just combined being careful not to overmix
9. Add the dry flour mixture to the wet pumpkin mixture and mix until well blended and smooth
10. Add optional pecan pieces or chopped walnuts to the cake batter
11. Liberally spray canola oil in a nonstick bundt pan
12. Spoon batter into prepared bundt pan
13. Bake at 350 for about 38 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean
14. Allow the cake to cool
15. Turn upside-down onto a serving dish
16. Instructions for Caramel drizzle:
17. Stir all ingredients together in a saucepan
18. Bring to a slow boil stirring constantly
19. Stir on a low boil for about 5 minutes
20. Reduce heat to simmer and continue stirring for another 15 minutes
21. The sauce will thicken as cools
22. Drizzle caramel sauce with a spoon

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 513Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 47mgSodium: 468mgCarbohydrates: 91gFiber: 7gSugar: 64gProtein: 9g