Vegan Pumpkin Bread
Moist and delicious, this easy vegan pumpkin bread recipe is a delightful fall treat, especially with a smear of vegan honey butter on each slice! The warm pumpkin pie spices and cinnamon add intense flavor to every bite. You’ll love the minimum ingredients in this tasty pumpkin bread recipe.
If you’re into vegan pumpkin recipes, try these Vegan Pumpkin Muffins with Chocolate Chips or these Pumpkin Cookies.
I’ve been making pumpkin bread every autumn for years. It’s a household favorite thanks to its moist texture and warm spices. Some people look forward to the fall season because of pumpkin spice lattes. But me? I’m all about the pumpkin bread.
Believe it or not, figuring out the best way to make my pumpkin bread vegan was easy. I took my popular vegan banana bread, made a few tweaks, and voila!
Why This Recipe is a Winner
- Brown sugar adds moisture and the perfect texture in addition to a caramel flavor
- Adding apple cider vinegar interacts with the baking soda to create a nice, lofty loaf
- Pumpkin pie spices add all the right warm spices, like nutmeg and cloves, making every bite delightfully delicious
What You Need
You can find the full printable recipe, including ingredient quantities, below. But first, here are some explanations of ingredients and steps to help you make this recipe perfect every time.
- Lemon — We’ll use both the zest and the juice of the lemon.
- Oats — I used rolled oats for this recipe, but you can substitute instant oats.
- Chia — We’ll add some ground chia seeds to create a thicker texture. You can use whole chia seeds; I just prefer ground because it creates a smoother finished texture.
- Syrup — I used maple syrup, but you can substitute agave nectar.
- Milk — We’ll use almond milk for the best overnight oats! Substitute your favorite plant-based milk.
- Yogurt — I love adding some plant-based yogurt (plain, unsweetened) for an even more tangy flavor.
- Protein Powder — I add some vanilla protein powder for increased flavor and nutrients. If your protein powder is not sweetened, you may want to add an extra teaspoon or two of sweetener.
- Cornstarch — We’ll use cornstarch to thicken the lemon curd topping.
- Turmeric — A pinch of turmeric makes that lemon curd sunny yellow.
- Brown sugar — You can use light, dark, or make homemade brown sugar
- Vegetable oil
- Water
- Pumpkin puree — Be sure to use the plain (not spiced) pumpkin puree
- Apple cider vinegar — The vinegar interacts with baking soda to create a rise
- All-purpose flour — You can also use whole wheat pastry flour (different from whole wheat flour)
- Salt
- Baking soda — Make sure your baking soda is fresh
- Pumpkin pie spice — If you don’t have it, you can make your own pumpkin pie spice
- Optional Chopped nuts — If you like nuts, you can add chopped walnuts or chopped pecans
Ingredient Spotlight
What Pumpkin is Best for Bread
It’s best to use pumpkin puree for pumpkin bread. You can make this yourself from small, sweet pumpkin pie pumpkins, but using canned pumpkin puree works great, too. Canned pumpkin puree can be made from a variety of squash, including pumpkins. Be sure to buy plain canned pumpkin rather than the kind with spices.
How to Make Vegan Pumpkin Bread
This is such a simple recipe, you’re going to love it! Now, you can prepare a loaf of easy pumpkin quickbread in minutes and have it in the oven baking. Here’s how to make it:
- Combine Dry Ingredients — In a mixing bowl, whisk together everything from the flour to the spices.
- Combine Wet Ingredients — In a separate bowl, combine the sugar, vegetable oil, applesauce, pumpkin, and vinegar. Stir to combine. Set aside.
- Make the Batter — Pour the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture and stir to combine.
- Pour and Bake — Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 60–65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center, comes out clean.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here’s a more visual guide to help you make this recipe:
Step One: Combine Dry Ingredients
In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and spices. Pour the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture and stir until just combined. Add optional nuts if using.
Step Two: Combine Wet Ingredients
In a separate bowl, combine the sugar, vegetable oil, applesauce, pumpkin, and vinegar. Stir to combine. Set aside.
Step Three: Make the Batter
Pour the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture and stir to combine.
Step Four: Pour and Bake
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake 60 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center, comes out clean.
Storage Tips
To store, allow the pumpkin bread to cool completely, then wrap in plastic wrap to seal in moisture. You can store this bread at room temperature for up to 3 or 4 days. You can refrigerate for up to 7 days. To freeze pumpkin bread, wrap it in plastic wrap and store it in a freezer container or freezer bag You can freeze the entire loaf or individual slices. To thaw, sit the loaf at room temperature.
Making Gluten-Free Vegan Pumpkin Bread
Make your pumpkin bread gluten-free by substituting a quality gluten-free baking flour in place of the all-purpose flour. Because this recipe uses the gluten in all-purpose flour as a binder, you should add an egg replacer like a flax egg or a chia egg to your batter.
However you slice it, this super-moist vegan pumpkin bread is the best!
Marly’s Tips
- You can make vegan pumpkin bread with walnuts by adding a half cup of chopped walnuts to the batter
- Don’t want to use oil? Make your vegan pumpkin bread with applesauce instead. Substitute the oil called for in the recipe with a half cup of applesauce
Eggless Pumpkin Recipes
This pumpkin bread is made without eggs or dairy. Interestingly enough, you don’t need an egg replacer for this recipe. Some typical pumpkin bread egg replacers would be ground flax, chia seeds, mashed bananas, or even applesauce.
However, you don’t need any of those. First of all, pureed pumpkin is a great egg substitute, and there’s plenty of that in this recipe. Also, the gluten from the all-purpose flour serves as a great binder, creating the necessary structure. Once this pumpkin bread cools, it holds together nicely.
More Vegan Pumpkin Recipes
If you love pumpkin bread, you’ll want to try these tasty vegan pumpkin recipes too:
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Vegan Pumpkin Bread
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice (see note)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Optional Topping: Chopped nuts
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- ⅔ cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup water
- 15 oz can pumpkin puree
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a large loaf pan (or two smaller loaf pans) with vegetable spray. Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the bottom of the pan. Place the parchment in the bottom of the pan and spray with vegetable cooking spray.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and spices. Add nuts if using them.
- In a separate bowl, combine the sugar, vegetable oil, applesauce, pumpkin, and vinegar. Stir to combine. Set aside.
- Pour the pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture and stir to combine. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 60 to 65 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- When done, remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Then invert the pan and place the loaf on a cooling rack to cool completely.
Recommended Equipment
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Notes
The nutrition information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator and should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
This post was originally published in 2020 and was updated to include new photos, new text, and an updated recipe in 2021.
So it is 2/3 c. oil OR 1/2 c. applesauce instead of oil? The different amounts are correct , yes? Don’t want to ruin me bread!!! Thanks.
Hi Dawn. Great question! Yes, substitute 1/2 cup applesauce for the 2/3 cup of oil. Hope you love it!
This is the best pumpkin I’ve ever had. I guess we didn’t need eggs all along!