It’s officially that time of year again: pumpkin season! In my opinion, nothing is more quintessential autumn than a loaf of pumpkin bread. This vegan pumpkin bread is moist, fluffy, and just all-around perfect. Once you slice into it, you’ll see that it’s firm enough to hold together while not being dense or heavy.
It’s also easy enough to make that you can whip it up any night of the week. So once you feel that cool breeze start coming in, run to the store, grab some pumpkin, and bake up a loaf!
Table of Contents
Ingredients for Vegan Pumpkin Bread
- Pumpkin purée. Make sure to use real pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling, which comes in a very similar looking can.
- Oil. A neutral oil works best.
- Brown and white sugar.
- Soy milk and apple cider vinegar. Together, these two ingredients create a vegan buttermilk substitute.
- Vanilla extract.
- All-purpose flour.
- Baking soda and baking powder. To ensure a proper rise of your pumpkin bread.
- Cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger. This combo of spices is what makes this sweet treat taste like fall!
- Salt.
How to Make Vegan Pumpkin Bread
Step 1 — Preheat Oven and Prep Loaf Pan
Preheat your oven to 350℉. Lightly grease a 9″x5″ loaf pan. (I also like to line with parchment so it’s easy to lift the loaf out of the pan, but this is optional.)
Step 2 — Make the Vegan Buttermilk
In a large mixing bowl, combine the soy milk and vinegar, stirring well. Let sit for 5 minutes.
Step 3 — Mix Dry Ingredients
In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together all of your dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and all spices.
Step 4 — Mix Wet Ingredients
To the bowl with the now-curdled soy milk, whisk in the pumpkin purée, oil, brown sugar, white sugar, and vanilla. Make sure this is mixed well enough so that the oil is fully emulsified.
Step 5 — Combine Wet and Dry Ingredients
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients 1/3 at a time, stirring in between additions. Stir until everything is thoroughly combined, but don’t over-mix. (You can add in your optional chocolate chips at this stage.)
Step 6 — Bake the Pumpkin Bread
Pour your batter into your prepared loaf pan. Transfer to the middle rack of your preheated oven. Bake for 55-65 minutes. Allow loaf to cool fully before slicing.
Step 7 — Glaze (Optional)
While your pumpkin bread is cooling, whisk together sifted powdered sugar, vanilla, and plant milk. Once your loaf is completely cooled, drizzle with icing to your heart’s content!
Sarah’s Recipe Tips
- Adjust the spice blend to your liking. The amount of each spice in this recipe are to our liking (both Eric and I are super sensitive to nutmeg and cloves). Feel free to increase either of these spices to a 1/2 tsp of each.
- Mix your ingredients properly. When you’re mixing together your wet ingredients, it’s important to make sure the oil is fully emulsified in the mixture. If there’s any oil still floating on top of your wet mixture, keep mixing! Conversely, when you add that wet mixture into the dry mixture, only mix it enough so that everything is combined and there are no lumps. Over-mixing your batter will give you a tough loaf of pumpkin bread!
- Let your loaf cool all the way. I know it’s very tempting to cut into your vegan pumpkin bread right after it comes out of the oven, but the texture won’t be perfect if you don’t allow it to cool completely. Resist the temptation!
Storing Leftover Pumpkin Bread
Leftover pumpkin bread can be stored covered on the counter for about 3 days. If you want to freeze your loaf, cut into slices before placing in one layer in a freezer-safe storage bag. It will last about 3 months in the freezer. To defrost, just pop in the microwave until warmed-through.
Did You Make This Recipe?
If you’ve made this recipe and loved it, please leave a 5-star rating and review below! Also, if you post a picture on Instagram and tag me @sarahsvegankitchen_, I’d love to see your work.
Vegan Pumpkin Bread
Video
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups pumpkin purée (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 1/2 cup neutral oil such as sunflower oil
- 1 cup dark brown sugar packed
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 3/4 cup unsweetened soy milk or any plant milk
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour spooned and leveled
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (or sub 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice for *all* of the spices)
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
Option 1: Glaze
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 tablespoon plant milk
Option 2: Chocolate Chips
- 3/4 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉. Lightly grease a 9"x5" loaf pan. (I also like to line with parchment so it's easy to lift the loaf out of the pan, but this is optional.)
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together soy milk and apple cider vinegar. Set aside for about 5 minutes to let curdle. (Depending on the type of milk you use, it may not visibly curdle. That's ok.)
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and all spices.
- To the bowl with the curdled soy milk, add the pumpkin purée, oil, brown sugar, white sugar, and vanilla. Whisk until everything is well-combined and the oil is integrated into the mixture (i.e. not floating on top).
- Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture about 1/2 at a time, stirring between each addition, taking care not to over-mix.
- If you are adding chocolate chips to your pumpkin bread, gently fold them in at this point.
- Pour batter into your prepared loaf pan and bake on the middle rack for 55-65 minutes. Every oven is different, so keep an eye on it. When ready, it should spring back when gently poked. A toothpick or knife in the center of the cake should come out clean (or with just a few moist crumbs). Add extra time in 5 minute increments if needed.
- Let cool in the pan for about 15 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool fully.
Icing (optional)
- Wait for the loaf to cool completely before adding the glaze, otherwise it will melt rather than harden.
- Sift powdered sugar into a bowl. Add milk and vanilla extract and whisk together until the sugar is dissolved. Drizzle over the loaf. It will can up to 30 min for the icing to fully set but you can dig in right away.
Notes
The nutrition information provided on Sarah’s Vegan Kitchen is an estimate and is offered for general informational purposes only. Values will vary depending on the specific brands and amounts used.
So easy and delicious! I accidentally used the whole can of pumpkin puree but the bread still came out yummy (it was just a tad bit dense).
Sarah’s the goat! Every recipe is a banger. I made my pumpkin bread with chocolate chips because who doesnt love that combo? I shared with my nonvegan coworkers and everyone loved it!
Delicious and easy to make! Thanks for the recipe.
Could we please have baking recipes in weight, love your recipes tho!
I made this in my cast iron sourdough loaf pan. 10/10. This bread lasted about 24 hours, it was incredible! I made it with the icing on top and my next one will be with the chocolate chips. With the rest of the pumpkin puree, I made a pumpkin overnight oats which was equally incredible. Thank you for this fantastic recipe’
So good! I didn’t have any Baking soda, so I used 3 tsp of baking powder instead (totalling 4.5 tsp baking powder) and it still turned out amazing!