Vegan Pumpkin Bread
This insanely delicious vegan pumpkin bread is soft, fluffy and moist! The recipe uses a whole can of pumpkin puree, is packed with warm spices and comes together in just one bowl.
Ingredients
Wet ingredients for pumpkin bread
- 15 ounces (425g) pumpkin puree canned or homemade (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 1 cup - 1 ¼ cups (200-250g) packed light brown sugar or granulated cane sugar, to taste (note 1)
- ½ cup (110g) neutral flavored oil
- ⅓ cup (85g) dairy-free milk
- ¼ cup (55g) dairy-free yogurt room temperature (note 2 for alternatives)
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar white vinegar or lemon juice (optional)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract optional
Dry ingredients for pumpkin bread
- 2 ¼ cups (280g) all-purpose plain flour spooned and leveled (note 3)
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (note 4 for homemade blend)
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
Streusel topping (optional, note 5 for maple glaze)
- ⅓ cup (40g) all-purpose plain flour
- ¼ cup (20g) raw pumpkin seeds
- 2 tablespoons (30g) melted vegan butter cooled
- 2 tablespoons (25g) packed brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C). Line an 8-inch (20 cm) loaf pan with parchment paper (note 6).
To make the streusel topping: (optional)
- Add all ingredients for the topping to a small bowl. Mix with a spoon or your fingertips until combined. The mixture should be flaky and crumbly. Set aside in the refrigerator until needed.
Prepare the pumpkin bread:
- Add the wet ingredients including the sugar to a large mixing bowl and whisk until combined. Add the dry ingredients and mix until there are no big lumps of flour or streaks of wet ingredients.
- Pour or scoop the batter into your prepared loaf pan and smooth the surface. Sprinkle the streusel on top.
Bake the pumpkin bread:
- Bake the bread for around 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 15 minutes. If you didn't make the streusel topping, it will take around 1 hour 5 minutes to bake. The length of time will hugely depend on how hot your oven runs. If you insert a toothpick in the center, there shouldn't be any wet batter on it, though some moist crumbs are fine.
- Allow the bread to cool in the tin for around 15 minutes then transfer to cool on a cooling rack.
- When the pumpkin bread is at room temperature, cut with a serrated knife and enjoy! The bread is wonderful by itself or you can toast a slice and serve with vegan butter.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days or in the fridge for 5 days. Or store individual slices in the freezer for up to 1 month. However, it usually doesn't last that long in my home!
Video
Notes
- For a mildly sweet bread, use 1 cup of sugar or if you prefer a sweeter pumpkin bread, use 1 1/4 cup of sugar. This is a tall loaf with a lot of flour and this amount of sugar is needed for a flavorful loaf. Light brown sugar provides the best flavor. However, you can use part or all granulated sugar (for a fluffier bread) or coconut sugar (for a refined sugar-free bread).
- Alternatively, you can use 1/4 cup (60g) of unsweetened applesauce. Or mix 1 tablespoon of ground flax seeds with 1/4 cup of water in a small bowl then mix it with the wet ingredients. If you're in a pinch, the pumpkin bread will work without yogurt, applesauce or a flax egg but it will be more crumbly.
- Make sure you measure the flour accurately otherwise, your bread will be dry and dense. If you're using measuring cups, use the spoon and level method where you fluff up the flour in the bag, use a spoon to add flour to a measuring cup, then level it off with a knife. I don't recommend using the measuring cup to scoop flour out of your container as this usually packs in too much flour. Alternatively, use the grams measurements.
Gluten-free version: This recipe works well with King Arthur's measure for measure flour, and no other changes. The bread is almost identical to the regular version! - To make your own pumpkin spice, use 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger and 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves. If you don't have any nutmeg, ginger or cloves, add more cinnamon.
- To make a maple glaze as shown in the pictures, mix around 1/4 cup (30g) of powdered sugar with 1 tablespoon (20g) of maple syrup. Add more sugar for a thicker glaze or more maple syrup for a thinner glaze.
- If you make the pumpkin bread with 1 1/4 cups of sugar and the crumble topping, it's best to use an 9-inch loaf pan as the bread will rise more. Or you can use a tall 8-inch loaf pan with extra parchment paper that sits tall and above the rim. The sugar makes the loaf rise more but the crumble weighs down the loaf so the bread needs a little extra space, especially at the sides.