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This Vegan Gingerbread Loaf is baked until light and fluffy then drizzled with a sweet icing sugar. Cozy up with a slice of this holiday treat and a mug of your favorite beverage. Vegan, Gluten-Free, Nut-Free Option.
This Vegan Gingerbread Loaf is packed with the perfect blend of holiday spices, made from affordable pantry staples, and the best way to ring in the holiday season. It’s also allergen friendly, meaning everyone can indulge in this holiday dessert.
A Starbucks Copycat Gone Vegan
If you’ve been seeing Starbucks Copycat Gingerbread Loaves pop up this time of year and wondered how to make them with a plant-based twist, look no further! This fuss-free recipe is the best homemade gingerbread loaf. It’s tender, delicious, fragrant, and bursting with a blend of the coziest gingerbread spices. Fall in love with a slice of this gluten-free and nut-free, vegan treat!
Ingredients for a Vegan Gingerbread Loaf
To make this vegan gingerbread loaf, you’ll need 12 key ingredients (not including oil and salt!). My guess is you have most, if not all, sitting in your kitchen pantry right now.
Before we get baking, let’s go over a few key ingredients and their purpose:
- Oat Flour: If you’ve made a number of my gluten-free recipes, you’ll know it’s one of my favorite gluten-free flours.It’s cost-effective, easy to make at home, and has a subtle nutty flavor that compliments many recipes, including this loaf!
- Coconut Sugar: Adds a deep caramel-flavor and yummy sweetness!
- Molasses: Essential to creating that classic gingerbread flavor, while also lending some additional sweetness.
- Gingerbread Spices: A blend of warming ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg are what make this bread so dang cozy
- Applesauce & Oil: Adds moisture to the bread and give it a tender crumb
- Flax Egg: Acts as the egg replacer and helps bind the batter together. As a bonus, it also adds some fiber and healthy fats!
How to Make Vegan Gingerbread Loaf
- Mix the ground flax and water together in a small bowl to make the flax egg.
- Whisk together the oat flour, spices, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the flax egg, sugar, applesauce, molasses, oil and vinegar.
- Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until combined and no clumps of dry ingredients remain.
- Pour into a loaf pan and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
- Bake for about 35 minutes or until cooked through in the center.
- Cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Drizzle with icing sugar, then serve while moist and fluffy.
Caitlin’s Cooking Tips
- Invest in a baking scale. They can be purchased for as little as $10 and you won’t regret it. Baking by weighted grams is so much simpler, requires less dishes and is extremely consistent.
- Check your baking powder’s expiration date. Baking powder’s leavening powers greatly diminish after the container has been open for a few months. If you’ve had the same tin of baking powder for over 4-6 months, it is best to discard and purchase a new one.
- Use organic molasses. Just like granulated sugars, molasses can be a part of non-vegan processes. To ensure your molasses is vegan-friendly, look for an organic brand.
Serving Suggestions
A slice of vegan gingerbread loaf can be served for a holiday breakfast, afternoon snack or post-dinner treat! Wash it down with a glass of Nut Milk or a mug of Vegan Hot Chocolate.
If you’re looking for more vegan gingerbread recipes, you’ll also love these Crunchy Gingerbread Cookies, these Vegan Gingerbread Pancakes, or these Vegan Ginger Molasses Cookies! Or check out this Cranberry Orange Bread for another festive flavor variation.
How to Store Leftover Gingerbread Loaf
This vegan gingerbread loaf will keep for up to 5 days when stored at room temperature in a container with a loose-fitting lid. Slices of gingerbread loaf will also freeze well for up to 2 months.
For best results, I’d recommend freezing without the icing sugar and wrapping the individual slices of gingerbread in loaf in plastic wrap. This will not only prevent the slices from sticking to one another, but will also prevent any freezer burn, which helps retain the bread’s flavor and texture.
Substitutions and Variations
- Oil substitutions: Use another neutral oil such as vegetable oil, melted refined coconut oil, or light olive oil. You can also make this gingerbread loaf completely oil-free by replacing the oil with ⅓ cup of drippy nut or seed butter of your choosing. I’d recommend something neutral such as almond butter or sun butter.
- Coconut sugar substitution: Use brown sugar. Note that this will make your loaf slightly sweeter.
- Spice substitutions: If you have a pre-made gingerbread spice mix, substitute 1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons (5 teaspoons total) for the ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.
- Applesauce substitute: Substitute pumpkin puree, plus 2 additional tablespoons of coconut sugar and 2 tablespoons water to the wet ingredients.
Recipe FAQs
Unfortunately molasses is a key ingredient in any gingerbread flavored recipe. There is no good substitute to mimic the same flavor profile.
Yes, the Starbucks loaf is discontinued in US stores. It was not a vegan offering though, so you’ll want to make this homemade version regardless!
I do not recommend refrigerating this quick loaf. Doing so will make the loaf dense and no longer soft and fluffy. For best results, store at room temperature.
Enjoy! If you make this recipe and decide to share it onFacebook orInstagram, don’t forget to tag me@FromMyBowl + #FromMyBowl! I would also love it if you could leave a comment below with a recipe rating! Thank you for the support 😊
Vegan Gingerbread Loaf
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients:
- 2 1/2 cups oats blended into a fine flour*
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Wet Ingredients:
- 2 flax “eggs” 2 tablespoons ground flax + 5 tablespoons water
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons coconut sugar
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1/4 cup avocado oil*
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
Toppings: (Optional)
- 2 tablespoons turbinado or raw cane sugar
- Melted coconut butter or icing sugar to drizzle on top
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 350F and line a 8×3″ baking pan with parchment paper. Mix the ground flax and water together in a small bowl and let sit for at least 5 minutes, to thicken.
- Dry Ingredients: in a large bowl, whisk the oat flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together until evenly distributed.
- Wet Ingredients: in a separate bowl, mix the thickened flax, sugar, applesauce, molasses, oil, and vinegar together. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well, until no dry clumps of oat flour remain.
- Bake: pour the batter into the loaf pan, then top with turbinado sugar, if desired. Bake in the middle rack of the oven for 35 to 37 minutes, or until the top is risen and a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out only with crumbs. Remove from the oven and let sit in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to let cool completely.
- Glaze (optional): Combine the powdered sugar and milk together in a small bowl; mix until a smooth and thick glaze forms.
- Serve: Drizzle with icing sugar, then slice and serve. Store leftovers at room temperature, in a container with a loose-fitting lid, for up to 5 days. Pre-sliced pieces of the loaf can also be frozen for up to 2 months and reheated as necessary.
Recipe Notes
- Oat Flour: to make oat flour, add quick-cooking or rolled oats to a high-speed blender and process for 30 to 60 seconds, until a fine and fluffy flour forms.
- Substitutions: Avocado oil can be replaced with another neutral liquid oil, or melted coconut oil. All of the spices can be replaced with 1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons of a gingerbread spice mix, if you have one on hand. There is no substitute for molasses. If you’d like to use pumpkin puree instead of apple puree, add an additional 2 tablespoons of coconut sugar and 2 tablespoons of water to the wet ingredients.
- Oil-Free: to make this recipe oil free, replace the oil with 1/3 cup of a drippy nut or seed butter of your choosing.
This came out great!
Lovely 🙂
If you already have oat flour, is it the same measurement?
roughly so, yes, I would maybe reduce it to 2 – 2 1/4 cups oat flour, as oats usually blend into slightly less of their volume.
So good! I’ve made this three times for my gluten-free family and friends. The flavor is great. Perfect for the holidays.
Wow, so happy you keep coming back to it! Happy holidays 🙂
I love all your oat flour loaf recipes! I can’t stomach apples so I switched for pumpkin purée using your guidelines and it turned out so great! Thanks again for another great breakfast treat!
So glad it turned out great! My pleasure 🙂
Is it possible to use blackstrap molasses in the recipe?
Blackstrap molasses tends to have a lower sugar and moisture content, and a different flavour profile compared to regular molasses. I have not tried it in this recipe myself, so I cannot say for sure, but feel free to try it out and let me know how it goes!
Would I be able to use less or no sugar ? Thanks
This would not turn out well without the sugar, and I wouldn’t recommend using any less then the recipe calls for.
Hi Jo – Try replacing the sugar with Lakanto monkfruit sugar instead – This worked for me : )
Fav fall loaf right here! I half the spices for children and all enjoy! Thanks for the easy gf and vegan recipe.
Thank you for your lovely review, Brooklyn!
Hi, you may not know, but if I were to use date paste for the coconut sugar would it still be as fluffy? Thanks!
Date paste can be a substitute for coconut sugar.
Just wondering how much commercial oat flour to substitute rather than making the oats into flour? 2.5 cups of oats would weigh 250 g, should I just use 250 g of commercial oat flour?
Hi Mary, the weight difference shouldn’t be that far off since the recipe used oats weighed at 250g before it was blended into flour.
This is sooooo good! next time I will do an icing sugar drizzle as that would be delish but for a healthy yet indulgent snack, this is amazing! I will be working my way through all your loaf recipes!
Thank you, Alison! 😊
Just made this, turned out very well. Love the measurement by weight, so much more accurate. Used grated gala apple in place of applesauce (used a rasp), and coconut oil. Also used grated fresh ginger in place of dried. Changed the method slightly, but still worked well, although I have nothing to compare it too! Oats, whole flax, salt, spices, baking powder and soda, altogether in the vitamix, then after mixing, let the filled tin sit for 5 minutes before baking. Used 9 X5 tin. Texture slightly crumbly, looking forward to seeing how the flavours bloom. Thank you for the recipe!
You’re so very welcome, Cathy. Love the small alterations you made there! ♥
Can we freeze it?
Sure! Breads freeze well.
Could this be turned into muffins? I currently dont own a bread tin 😔
Converting from a loaf into muffins requires a couple of tweaks: a higher oven temperature and a much shorter cook time. Since you don’t have an exact cook time, use the toothpick test when you see the tops start to turn golden brown and keep a close eye on the muffins. If they aren’t quite done, test them again every 5 minutes until the toothpick comes out clean and then remove them from the oven to cool.
Super delicious and easy and I’ve made it 3 times already! 🙂 A new go-to favourite. Thank you so much!
Glad they’re getting a lot of use! Thanks for making!
Super good. My oldest brother is really into it and he’s super picky- especially when it comes to vegan food. Thanks for this.
Happy to hear it! Thanks so much!
Thanks for the recipe! My loaf seemed a bit crumbly at first, and maybe that’s because I didn’t blend my oats finely enough. But after cooling and reheating in the air fryer, it was delicious! Will definitely be eating this as a snack throughout the week!!
The oats do need to be pretty fine when you blend them, so that could be it! Glad it worked out just as well though!
Same, my oats probably weren’t fine enough (I ground it in the food processor). Might be better to use store-bought oat flour.
Looks so delicious! And easy (love beautiful yet easy recipes ????). Gonna try it this weekend!
Thanks so much! Hope you like it!