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Good morning! Today I’m linking up with the Recipe ReDux to bring you a special holiday dessert recipe. 

With Thanksgiving coming up this week, the holiday season is kicking into high gear. It’s totally normal to stress about how to keep things real when there are lots of opportunities to overindulge. My advice: Prioritize.

Decide which treats are worth making room for and honor those preferences. It will be a lot easier to turn down store-bought cookies or soda at the office party if you’ve got homemade pie or a cocktail on your mind. Maybe you skip passed hoers d’ouvres because you know you’re going to want potatoes with your meal.

I feel like making holiday treats healthier can be a slippery slope. In a sense, I find that the idea of a “healthy” treat runs counter to the whole concept of a treat. If there is something super-specific that you only have once or twice a year and will not be satisfied with an approximation of, then just go for it—savor a small serving and move on with your life. In the long run, you’re less likely to feel deprived and have a better chance of sticking with overall healthy habits. That said, there are some small tweaks that can improve the nutrition stats without sacrificing flavor or texture.

-pumpkin-cranberry-yogurt-bread

While I’d still consider this bread an “in moderation” food, I enjoyed playing around with some healthy swaps. Here, I cut the sugar down to a half-cup (most recipes call for a full cup of everyone’s favorite legal white powder) and swap in some white whole wheat flour for some of the all-purpose. I also use low-fat plain yogurt and pumpkin puree to allow me to cut the butter in half. Using fresh cranberries instead of dried also offers a refreshing twist that’s also lower in sugar. I hope you enjoy this!

Chocolate Pumpkin Cranberry Yogurt Bread

Ingredients

    • ½ cup coconut oil or organic butter, melted
    • ½ cup plain low-fat yogurt
    • ½ cup pumpkin puree
    • 3 eggs, beaten (or 1 egg and 4 whites)
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla
    • ½ cup all purpose flour
    • 1 cup white whole wheat flour
    • ½ cup, sugar, coconut sugar, or stevia
    • ½ teaspoon baking powder
    • ½ teaspoon baking soda
    • pinch of sea salt
    • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
    • Pumpkin Pie Spice
    • 1 cup fresh cranberries
    • ½ cup dark chocolate chips

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a loaf pan or line with parchment paper.
  2. Mix together coconut oil, yogurt, eggs, sugar, and vanilla. Set aside.
  3. Mix flours, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and and sea salt. Set aside.
  4. In a food processor, pulse cranberries to chop (optional).
  5. Mix dry into wet ingredients. Fold in cranberries and chocolate chips. Pour into prepped loaf pan.
  6. Bake at 350 degrees about 50-60 minutes or until bread is beginning to brown on top and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  7. Let cake sit at least 10 minutes before inverting onto a cooling rack.
  8. Slice into 16 pieces.

What’s your favorite holiday treat? 

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate product links.