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March 29, 2019

Pistachio Poppyseed Orange Yogurt Bread

Gorgeous pistachio poppyseed orange yogurt bread naturally sweetened with honey, fresh orange juice, and topped with a perfectly sweet orange glaze. A delicious, healthy yogurt bread for spring!

Prep Time
15 mins
Cook Time
45 mins
Total Time
1 hour

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Most of you know that my 84 year old Grandma Gloria loves to bake. She’s inspired several recipes on the blog including these buttermilk waffles, sunflower honey oatmeal bread, Peruvian chicken, healthy bran muffins and this fabulous butternut squash green chili chicken stew.

 

A few weeks I was in New Mexico visiting my mom and grandma and noticed about 30 oranges sitting on her counter (no joke!).

orange bread ingredients on a board

Most of you know I’m obsessed with all things orange so I decided to bake some healthy orange muffins and then eventually went home and tweaked the recipe into this healthy orange bread made with protein-packed yogurt, naturally sweetened with honey and full of crunchy poppyseeds and pistachios.

GUYS, this could be my favorite bread EVER!

orange bread on a cutting board

Orange bread ingredients:

Whole wheat pastry flour: I love using whole wheat pastry flour in baking because it’s a little more nutritious then regular flour. This is the brand I use.

Baking powder & baking soda: You need to use both in this recipe to make it nice and fluffy!

Butter (or coconut oil): I prefer to use butter in this recipe to for both flavor and texture, but melted coconut oil would also work well.

Yogurt: the most amazing part of this bread the texture thanks to the yogurt. I recommend using whole milk plain greek yogurt because it adds an addition level of moisture to the bread. It’s delicious!

Honey: I love using honey in baking; it’s a great all natural unrefined sweetener.

Eggs: two eggs are used in this recipe for a cake like texture. I haven’t tried flax eggs but I think it might work.

Vanilla & almond extract: use both for a hint of unique flavor!

Fresh orange juice and zest: Make sure you use freshly squeezed orange juice and zest for amazing orange flavor.

Poppyseeds: there’s just something to love about the flavor poppyseeds bring to breads and muffins.

Pistachios: I wanted to do something different so I decided to use pistachios in this bread. Please know that you can sub them out for toasted walnuts or pecans, or you can omit them completely.

photo of orange bread on a cutting board with glaze on top

The orange glaze on this bread is so ridiculously good that I want to put it on everything. It’s full of sweet, fresh orange flavor and incredibly easy to make. It’s butter free too; all you need is powdered sugar, fresh orange juice and orange zest! YUM.

I love topping the bread with a few extra crushed roasted pistachios on top for added crunch.

sliced orange bread on a cutting board

How to make this orange bread dairy free:

Instead of yogurt, feel free to use a dairy free coconut, soy or almond yogurt. Make sure to use coconut oil instead of butter too!

How to make this orange bread gluten free:

If you want to make this bread gluten free, I suggest this 1:1 gluten free baking flour or you could try and sub chickpea flour, but the flavor may slightly change.

sliced orange bread with pistachios on a cutting board

Other orange recipes you might like:

Paleo Orange-Kissed Loaf with Dark Chocolate

Italian Iced Orange Cookies

Orange Carrot Zucchini Cake

Dreamy Orange Chocolate Chip Muffins

overhead photo of sliced orange bread on a cutting board

If you make these orange bread, be sure to leave a comment and rate the recipe below! I’d love to hear from you and it helps encourage others to make the recipe too!

Pistachio Poppyseed Orange Yogurt Bread

4.9 from 19 votes
Leave A Review Print Recipe
photo of sliced orange bread on a cutting board
Course Breakfast
Cuisine bread
Keyword orange bread
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Serves 12

Gorgeous pistachio poppyseed orange yogurt bread naturally sweetened with honey, fresh orange juice, and topped with a perfectly sweet orange glaze. A delicious, healthy yogurt bread for spring!

Ingredients

  • Wet ingredients
  • 1/3 cup butter, melted (or sub melted and cooled coconut oil)
  • 1/3 cup honey (use 1/2 cup if you like a sweeter bread)
  • zest from 1 large orange
  • 1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
  • 1/2 cup plain or vanilla greek yogurt (i like to use whole milk yogurt but a dairy free yogurt will also work)
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
  • Dry ingredients
  • 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour*
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon poppyseeds
  • Mix-ins:
  • 1/2 cup chopped roasted pistachios
  • For the glaze:
  • ½ cup powdered sugar
  • 1 tablespoon fresh squeezed orange juice, plus a little more if necessary to thin the glaze
  • 1 teaspoon orange zest
  • To garnish:
  • 2 tablespoons chopped roasted pistachios

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 8 x 4 inch pan with parchment paper and spray with nonstick cooking spray.

  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, honey and orange zest until smooth. Next, whisk in orange juice and greek yogurt. Finally, whisk in the two eggs, vanilla and almond extracts.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the whole wheat pastry flour, baking powder, baking soda and poppyseeds. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon or until just combined. Gently fold in chopped pistachios.
  4. Pour batter into prepared pan and spread out evenly. Bake for 45-55 minutes until tester comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack before glazing.

  5. For the glaze: Mix together powdered sugar, orange juice and orange zest until smooth. You may need to add in more orange juice to thin out the glaze, but remember we want it to be a thicker glaze. Spread over the top of the loaf. Garnish with chopped pistachios. Cut into 12 slices.

Recipe Notes

To make into muffins: Divide batter between 12 greased muffin liners. Bake for 18-24 minutes or until tester comes out clean.

If you want the bread to be just slightly sweeter: I suggest using ½ cup honey instead of ⅓ cup, this is especially necessary if you aren’t using the glaze. You can also use a vanilla yogurt.

*Instead of whole wheat pastry flour, you can use 1 cup whole wheat flour and 1 cup all purpose flour, or 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour and 1/2 cup whole wheat flour.

To make dairy free: use a dairy free yogurt such as soy, coconut or almond instead.

If you are looking for a gluten free recipe, I would suggest my paleo orange loaf.

Calories: 228kcal
Fat: 9.6g
Saturated fat: 4g
Carbohydrates: 31.5g
Fiber: 3.4g
Sugar: 13.8g
Protein: 5.4g

Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats

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