Vegan Pumpkin Bread

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Full of rich spices and the hearty sweetness of pumpkin, this Vegan Pumpkin Bread is one of my favorites to make during the fall and winter. It pleases everyone at the table, and is naturally egg-free and vegan.

Serve this spiced pumpkin bread at a Holiday Brunch alongside Spiced Pear Cake and Sweet Almond Toasts. If you have an extra loaf, freeze it for later for a quick treat to have on hand.

slice of vegan pumpkin bread on a white plate on an orange napkin next to a small cup of tea.

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I suppose everyone has a favorite pumpkin bread recipe, right? If you don’t, you need to try this one.

This Vegan Pumpkin Bread needs no adornment. It’s moist, flavorful, and perfectly captures the tastes of fall. I’ve been making for over 20 years, and it doesn’t really need much messying with.

Why Make This

It’s egg-free and vegan. Using flax seed as a substitute for eggs works wonderfully this way if you want to eliminate eggs, to enjoy more heart-healthy flax in your diet, or to serve to vegan eaters.

It freezes beautifully. If I’m really going to bake myself happy, I bake two batches of this. At least one loaf to eat fresh out of the oven and three to cool and freeze. I love being able to pull a loaf of this Vegan Pumpkin Bread from the freezer for a yummy breakfast, snack, or dessert.

Ingredients

Here’s what you need to bake vegan pumpkin bread:

flax seed meal – I use flaxseed meal as an egg substitute whenever I’m baking without eggs. It works really well. It’s fairly affordable and a bag lasts a long time.

water – You’ll need water to rehydrate the flaxseed meal for the egg substitute.

sugar – For a truly vegan pumpkin bread, be sure to use a vegan sugar. I usually buy Zulka brand at ALDI or Walmart where it’s very affordable. This is a sweet bread. Read the comments if you’d like to reduce the sugar.

neutral oil – A neutral oil is one that doesn’t impart a lot of flavor to the recipe. I like to use avocado oil, but you can also use something like sunflower or canola.

pumpkin puree – Pumpkin puree that comes in a can is often labeled 100% or pure pumpkin. Be sure NOT to use pumpkin pie filling. If you like, you can make your own pumpkin puree or use Butternut Squash Puree instead of canned.

flour – I like to use unbleached, all-purpose flour in my baking, but you can use bleached or even whole wheat pastry flour if you’d like a whole grain vegan pumpkin bread.

spices – Ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon complement the pumpkin flavor so well. Don’t leave them out. If you’re in a pinch, you can use one or two or substitute pumpkin pie spice or apple pie spice.

leavening – Salt, baking powder, and baking soda are all needed for this recipe. Don’t omit them.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Prep step: Preheat the oven to 350 °. Grease two 9×5 inch loaf pans with nonstick cooking spray or line them with parchment paper.

flax seed added to water in a small measuring cup.

spoon immersed in flax seed and water mixture in small measuring cup.

1. Make your flaxseed “egg”. In a small mixing bowl combine the flax seed meal and water. Allow this to set.

flour, spices, and leavenings in large mixing bowl.

whisk submerged in dry ingredients in mixing bowl.

2. Mix the dry ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, salt, and baking powder.

sugar added to oil in large metal mixing bowl.

teal rubber spatula immersed in sugar and oil mixture in bowl.

3. Prep the wet ingredients. In another mixing bowl, combine the oil and sugar. Beat until well combined.

spatula immersed in wet ingredients with pumpkin and flaxseed mixture sitting atop the sugar mixture in the bowl.

teal spatula immersed in pumpkin mixture in large mixing bowl.

4. Add the flaxseed mixture and the pumpkin puree to the oil and sugar mixture. Stir well to combine.

dry mixture added to wet in mixing bowl.

spatula immersed in fully prepared pumpkin bread batter.

5. Add the dry mixture to the pumpkin mixture in the bowl. Fold gently until all the ingredients are incorporated.

batter poured into two parchment-lined bread pans.

6. Divide the batter into the two prepared pans and bake 50 to 60 minutes or until a tester inserted comes out with a few crumbs attached.

Remove from the pans and cool on racks. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Store the bread in an airtight container for about 5 days. Freeze for longer storage.

Freezing Instructions

Just wrap cooled loaves of vegan pumpkin bread in plastic wrap and then place in a ziptop freezer bag in the freezer for up to 3 minutes. Thaw at room temperature, in its wrappings.

FAQs

How long does vegan pumpkin bread last?

This bread will be good at room temperature for about 5 days, stored in an airtight container. Refrigerate in hot weather. Freeze for longer storage.

What can you add to pumpkin bread?

There are so many ways to dress up this vegan pumpkin bread. Feel free to stir in raisins, dried cranberries, chocolate chips, or chopped nuts. You can also add a Nutty Streusel Topping to the bread prior to baking if you like. Or glaze it with a powdered sugar glaze after its cooled.

Why is pumpkin bread called a “quick bread”?

Though it does bake for almost an hour, pumpkin bread is called a quick bread because it doesn’t have yeast. Most yeast breads need to rise for several hours before they even get to the oven.

Recipe Costs

Knowing how much it costs you to prepare a recipe can help you decide if it’s the type of recipe to make regularly or one you might want to save for special occasions. Let’s crunch some numbers and see how this recipe pencils out.

flaxseed meal – $0.12
sugar – $0.22
oil – $0.32
pumpkin puree – $0.98
flour – 0.45
spices – $0.10
baking soda – $0.02
salt – $0.01
baking powder – $0.02

While your mileage may vary depending on where and how you shop, you can expect to pay about $2.24 for this batch of vegan pumpkin bread or $1.12 /loaf.

How to Save More

You know I don’t typically want to make something if I can’t make it good as well as cheap. Here are some of the strategies you can use to make this recipe more economical:

Bake it yourself from scratch – Don’t buy mixes. Don’t buy pricey vegan pumpkin bread from the bakery. You can make your own better and cheaper at home!
Stock up on ingredients when they are on sale. When I find regular kitchen staples on sale, I buy a lot. I’m currently using a price book to track prices and that’s saving me money. For this recipe, keeping an eye on the price of flour and pumpkin can help keep the price down. When it’s the holidays I like to stock up on pumpkin when I see it!
Buying in bulk – It’s rare that I would buy small bags of flour. I also have gotten into the habit of buying cases of flour from Bob’s Red Mill or VitaCost so that I always have baking supplies on hand.

vegan pumpkin bread sliced on parchment on black cutting board next to bread knife.

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