Keto Pumpkin Bread
Published October 4, 2020 • Updated March 2, 2026
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Spongy keto pumpkin bread mixed entirely in a blender. Cream cheese keeps this low carb loaf moist and eliminates the eggy coconut flour taste.
I’ve been making this keto pumpkin bread since 2018, and it’s one of the recipes I come back to every fall. The whole thing mixes in a blender, which means cleanup is basically nothing and the batter comes out smoother than any bowl-and-whisk method I’ve tried.
The secret to making this work with coconut flour is the cream cheese. Coconut flour recipes need a lot of eggs for structure, and that many eggs can leave you with something that tastes more like an omelet than bread. Cream cheese neutralizes that eggy flavor completely while adding moisture that keeps the crumb soft for days. I’ve tested this side by side (with and without the cream cheese) and the difference is dramatic.
I use a standard blender, not a Vitamix or anything fancy. A food processor works too. The key is blending the cream cheese, pumpkin, butter, and dry ingredients first until smooth, then adding the eggs last and just pulsing a few times. Over-blending the eggs makes it rubbery. I learned that the hard way.
Each mini loaf comes out to roughly 2g net carbs per slice, which makes this a low carb option I feel good about having with my morning coffee. The house fills up with cinnamon and pumpkin spice while it bakes, and the whole thing is done in under 30 minutes if you’re using mini loaf pans.
If you’re in a fall baking mood, pair these with pumpkin cream cheese muffins or go a completely different direction with banana nut bread. For something chocolatey, my chocolate zucchini muffins are another one I keep in rotation.
One thing I want to mention: let the loaves cool completely before you slice. I know it’s tempting to cut into them right out of the oven, but the inside firms up as it cools. Cut too early and you’ll get a gummy center that doesn’t represent the final texture at all. Give them at least 15 minutes on a wire rack and you’ll see the difference.
How I make it
- Add everything to a blender: cream cheese, pumpkin puree, melted butter, sweetener, coconut flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon. Blend until smooth, then add eggs and pulse just until combined.
- Pour into prepared loaf pans, filling about 3/4 full.
- Bake until the center is set and spongy to the touch.
Key ingredients and substitutions
- Cream cheese: The reason this works. It neutralizes the egg flavor from the 4 eggs needed for rise and gives the crumb a soft, almost cheesecake-like density. Pop it in the microwave for 20 seconds before blending if it’s not fully at room temp. Reader Donna figured this out and I’ve confirmed it makes the batter noticeably smoother.
- Pumpkin puree: Canned or homemade both work. Just check that the label says 100% pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling.
- Butter: Melted. Adds moisture and richness.
- Brown sweetener: Gives that warm caramelized note without sugar. You can swap in regular granulated sugar-free sweetener.
- Coconut flour: I use coconut flour here because it creates a lighter crumb for this batter. If you want almond flour, use about 1 1/4 cups to replace the 1/3 cup coconut flour since coconut flour absorbs roughly three times the liquid. Reader Maria tried a straight swap and it came out too dense.
- Cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice: I use both. Cinnamon alone doesn’t give enough depth for that real fall flavor.
- Eggs: Four of them. They provide all the structure since there’s no gluten.
Explore 685+ keto recipe videos with step-by-step instructions, tips, and tricks to make keto easy.
Ingredients
8 oz cream cheese, softened -
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
-
4 tablespoons butter, melted
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1/3 cup brown sugar free sweetener
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1/3 cup coconut flour
-
2 teaspoons baking powder
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1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
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1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
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4 eggs
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loaf pans
Step by Step Instructions
Step by Step Instructions
Preheat oven
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray your loaf pan or mini loaf pans with cooking spray and set aside.
Add ingredients to blender
Add cream cheese, pumpkin puree, butter, sweetener, coconut flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon to a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth and combined. Add eggs and gently pulse until combined.
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
- 4 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1/3 cup brown sugar-free sweetener
- 1/3 cup coconut flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 4 eggs
Blend
Add in remaining ingredients and blend until smooth.
Bake
Pour pumpkin bread batter into loaf pan, filling about 3/4 of the way to the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes if using mini loaf pans or 30-40 minutes if using a larger loaf pan. Bake until cooked through.
Nutrition disclaimer
The nutrition information provided is an estimate and is for informational purposes only. I am a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.); however, this content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your physician or other qualified health provider before making any lifestyle changes or beginning a new nutrition program.
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Get My Macros + Recipes →Frequently Asked Questions
Can you freeze this bread?
I freeze these all the time. Slice first, lay them flat on a parchment-lined sheet pan, and transfer to a freezer bag once they're solid. They keep for about 3 months. I reheat a frozen slice in the microwave for 30-40 seconds and it comes back soft. The texture gets slightly more dense after freezing, but I don't notice a big difference.
Why did my bread come out dense or gummy?
Two things I'd check. First, make sure you're letting the loaves cool completely before slicing. If you cut in while they're still hot, the inside looks gummy even though it would have firmed up on its own. Give them at least 15 minutes on a wire rack. Second, your cream cheese might not have been soft enough before blending. Cold cream cheese won't incorporate and you get uneven pockets in the batter. I microwave mine for 20 seconds before it goes in the blender.
Can I make muffins from this batter?
I've done this in a jumbo muffin pan and it works well. Reader Danielle described the texture as somewhere between a muffin and a pie, which I think is spot on. Fill the cups about 3/4 full and bake for 15-18 minutes instead of 20. If you want a recipe designed specifically for muffins, my pumpkin pecan muffins are built for that format.
Can I make this dairy-free?
I haven't tested a fully dairy-free version myself, but here's what I'd try: swap the butter for coconut oil (same amount, melted) and replace the cream cheese with a dairy-free cream cheese alternative or thick coconut cream. The cream cheese contributes a lot of moisture and flavor in this recipe, so the texture will be different. If you try it, I'd love to hear how it goes.
Does this work with almond flour instead of coconut flour?
It does, but not as a straight swap. Reader Maria tried replacing the 1/3 cup coconut flour with the same amount of almond flour and it came out way too dense. I recommend using about 1 1/4 cups almond flour to replace the 1/3 cup coconut flour. Coconut flour absorbs roughly three times the liquid, so the amounts are very different. The almond flour version has a slightly more crumbly texture but it still tastes great.
Is pumpkin keto friendly?
I use pumpkin regularly and the macros work. A half cup of pumpkin puree has about 6.5 grams of carbs, with 3.5 grams of fiber, so you're looking at roughly 3 net carbs per half cup. This recipe only calls for 1/4 cup total, split across the entire batch. I never worry about it.
Can I use mascarpone instead of cream cheese?
I haven't tried mascarpone in this recipe myself, but it has a similar fat content and an even milder flavor, so I think it would work. It has zero carbs per serving, which is a nice bonus. Mascarpone is a little softer than cream cheese, so the texture of the final loaf might be slightly different. I'd keep everything else the same and see how it turns out.
Can I make one large loaf instead of mini loaves?
I've made both. A standard 9x5 loaf pan works, but you'll need to bake for 30-40 minutes instead of 20. The center takes longer to set in a bigger pan. I check mine with a toothpick at the 30-minute mark: when it comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs, it's done. I prefer the mini loaves because they bake faster and I like the crust-to-crumb ratio, but a full loaf gives you cleaner slices.
Figured out a blender trick worth sharing: cut the cream cheese into chunks and let it sit out a full 30 to 40 minutes before blending, not just barely softened. It goes completely smooth in under a minute, zero white streaks in the batter. I also stirred in a tablespoon of almond flour after blending and the slices held together way better when cutting (coconut flour-only loaves can crumble on me). Two small adjustments, totally different result.
30 minutes minimum is right. I've rushed it and always gotten those streaks. The tablespoon of almond flour after blending is smart too - doesn't shift the texture but the crumbling on the cut edge basically goes away.
My son's first question when he smelled it baking was whether I used real flour (he's been burned by coconut flour before). Handed him a slice without saying anything and he finished it in about 45 seconds. The cream cheese does something to the texture I can't quite pin down. Already have a second loaf cooling.
Ha. The cream cheese is what kills the coconut flour taste, that's the whole trick. No eggy aftertaste, nothing to give him away. Second loaf cooling already though, he's going to start asking questions.
I've made probably four different keto pumpkin bread recipes and they all had the same problem: dense, eggy, tasted like coconut flour with pumpkin spice on top. This one is just different. The cream cheese in the batter changes the whole texture. Holds together like actual bread, not one of those keto things you force yourself to finish. Blender method takes maybe 10 minutes of prep. Had a slice Saturday morning with coffee and it didn't fall apart or taste like a baking experiment. This is the one I'm going back to.
Four recipes of that same dense eggy problem and this one breaks it. The cream cheese is texture, not flavor. That's the difference.
Used Swerve Brown instead of regular sweetener and the molasses flavor paired with the pumpkin spice in a way I wasn't expecting. Tastes more bakery than I thought a blender bread would.
Swerve Brown does something the regular granulated can't. That molasses note is subtle but it rounds out the spices in a way that reads bakery instead of keto. Might have to call that out in the recipe.
First time using coconut flour and I kept bracing for that dense eggy texture everyone warned about, but the cream cheese holds it together in a way I didn't expect. Actually came out spongy. Does it stay that way all week or does it tighten up in the fridge?
Firms up a little in the fridge but a few minutes on the counter fixes it. Mine stays good through day 5.
Been making this with mini loaf pans instead of a single loaf, and the cook time drops to around 28 minutes with a noticeably better crust-to-crumb ratio on each slice. One thing I figured out the hard way: let the blender run a full 60 seconds after everything looks combined. The cream cheese needs that extra time to fully break down or you get these small white pockets through the middle. Totally fine to eat but not great if you're slicing for people. Spring cleaning mode has me batch-baking and freezing two loaves at a time now.
The 60 seconds is real. Looks smooth before it actually is, and you won't see the pockets until you slice. Mini pan crust ratio is genuinely better too, I just default to the standard loaf because it photographs easier.
On my sixth batch of this now and I finally cracked what it was missing, had to share. An extra half teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice and dropping the oven to 325 for a slower bake, and the texture went somewhere completely different (custardy through the middle, firm crust around the edges, in a way the earlier batches weren't). The blender method is something I keep talking to people about because the batter is one of the smoothest I've ever poured, no coconut flour clumps anywhere, just clean and even. I also accidentally made this without the cream cheese once (grabbed regular butter instead of the block) and it came out okay, but not this, the cream cheese interior is something else. Pulled it out this morning and the kitchen smells like October and it's March and I'm not even a little embarrassed. Seventh batch going in next weekend, probably with Lily's chocolate chips folded into one of the mini loaves.
The 325 drop is interesting, I hadn't gone that slow. And that accidental no-cream-cheese batch basically answers every question about what it's actually doing in there. Let me know how the Lily's chips mini comes out.
The no-cream-cheese batch was almost more useful as an accident than on purpose. Will report back on the chips loaf.
I've been making two loaves every Sunday for the past few weeks and I don't think I'm stopping. I slice the whole thing before it fully cools, lay the slices flat on a sheet pan in the freezer for about an hour, then bag them individually, and they hold up way better than any other keto bread I've tried. The cream cheese in this must be doing something because even after freezing and reheating it doesn't go dry or crumbly. I do about 12-15 seconds in the microwave, let it sit for 30 seconds, and it tastes like it just came out of the oven. The one thing I noticed is the mini loaf pans brown up a few minutes faster than a full loaf, so keep an eye on them if you're splitting the batch. Four stars only because I burned my first mini loaf, but now that I know it's kind of perfect for cold February mornings.
Mini loaves catch you off guard. I pull mine at 18 minutes even if the center looks underdone, they set on the rest. And yeah, the cream cheese is exactly why it survives the freezer, coconut flour breads without the fat just turn to dust after a day in there.
One thing that made a real difference: pop the cream cheese in the microwave for about 20 seconds before adding it to the blender. Even when it says 'softened,' if it's not fully at room temp you end up with little chunks that never fully blend out. I noticed the batter coming out much smoother once I started doing this, and the bread has a more even crumb throughout. Worth knowing if your blender seems to be working harder than it should.
Yeah, 'softened' is doing a lot of work in that instruction. If the kitchen is cool or you pulled it from the fridge less than an hour ago, it'll fight the blender. 20 seconds is the move.
used almond flour instead of coconut flour - way too dense, don't recommend
Yeah almond flour needs way more - like 1 1/4 cups to replace 1/3 cup coconut flour. Coconut flour soaks up three times the liquid so straight swap doesn't work.
Can I use Mascarpone to substitute for cream cheese since it has 0 carbs
I haven't tried that but it would probably work.
I was confused on the recipe. You did not have syrup listed under ingredients. However, you state in your recipe to add syrup. Looking forward to your response. 😀
You don't need the syrup. You can use it as instructed in the video or use cinnamon and sweetener for flavor instead.
I made these in a jumbo muffin pan. I served them with some whipped sweetened cream cheese on top. They were excellent. I’d say the texture was between a muffin and a pie for those curious. Thank you for sharing.
I plan on making them again and top them with a touch of whipped cream.
Jumbo muffin pan is a good call. The bigger size probably helps with that pie-like texture. Whipped cream cheese on pumpkin bread is kind of perfect given it's already in the batter.
Can i use a powder sweetener ILO the syrup or golden monkfruit?
Yes!
Made this recipe & what a delight. Enjoyed next day after flavors got a chance to marry. Made into 12 cupcake forms. Refrigerate & grab 1-2for breakfast.
My husband loves this treat. I use pumpkin pie spice as well.. ???
12 cupcakes makes way more sense than a loaf for grab-and-go. Smart. The pumpkin pie spice is already in the batter so you're basically doubling it - not mad about that.