{Gluten-Free, Vegan, Refined Sugar-Free}
“Pumpkin everything” is really getting to me this season, and my Starbucks copycat pumpkin scones seem to have just been the beginning of my pumpkin baking adventures :) . Here I present to you a scrumptious, fresh-out-of-the-oven (can you see the smoke rising from the still warm bread in the pictures?) vegan and gluten-free pumpkin bread!
Loaded with the goodness of add-ins such as raisins, cashews, pumpkin seeds, and some chopped dark chocolate, and spiced to perfection, this bread was all gone in one sitting this afternoon (no, I didn’t eat it all myself, but shared it with friends as one of course should with such special treats! ;) ) and I couldn’t wait to share it with you on here too, my virtual friends. Enjoy!
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Vegan and Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bread
Prep Time: 10 mins- Cook Time: 55 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
Yield: 1 loaf
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Pin RecipeIngredients
- 1 15 oz can pumpkin puree (or 2 cups drained pureed cooked pumpkin)
- â…“ cup olive oil
- â…” cup maple syrup
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp allspice
- ¼ tsp cloves
- â…› tsp nutmeg
- dash of salt
- 2 cups all purpose gluten-free flour mix (I used Bob’s Red Mill. Alternatively, you can use 1 ½ cups rice flour + ½ cup potato or tapioca starch)
- 2 tbsp coconut flour
- 1 ½ tsp GF baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp guar gum
- 1 cup of add-ins of your choice (I used some raisins, cashews, pumpkin seeds, and a bit of a chopped up dark chocolate bar. I imagine walnuts, chocolate chips, or cranberries would work great too)
- 1 tbsp extra pumpkin seeds for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line a bread loaf pan with some parchment paper, or oil and set aside.
- Place pumpkin puree, oil, maple syrup, vanilla extract, spices, and salt into a large mixing bowl and blend together using an immersion blender. Note: if you don’t have an immersion blender, blend these ingredients together in a blender and then transfer into a mixing bowl).
- Add in all remaining ingredients, except for the add-ins and extra pumpkin seeds, and mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon to combine. Fold in the add-ins.
- Transfer the mixture into your bread loaf pan and smooth out. Gently tap the pan on the counter a few times to eliminate any air bubbles. Sprinkle with pumpkin seeds on top.
- Bake in a preheated oven for about 55 mins. to an hour. Don’t forget to enjoy the aromas filling your house while it’s baking ;). Test with a wooden skewer down the center to make sure it comes out dry. Once baked, transfer onto a cooling rack and let the pumpkin bread cook for at least 10 minutes prior to serving. Enjoy!
Happy baking!
xo Audrey
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 This post contains affiliate links to the immersion blender and gluten-free flour used.
I would like to make this bread, but I have a couple of questions.
Can I use canola oil or another oil instead of olive oil?
Where does one buy guar gum or xantham gum
Hi Susan. You can definitely use canola oil — no problem there. Depending on where you are, you can find guar gum or xantham gum in the gluten-free baking section of most grocery stores or in a health food shop. Guar gum is usually pricier and can be a bit harder to find than xantham gum. You can also buy both online through Amazon, or iherb.com, etc.
Looks really delicious!! Is it possible to eliminate the guar gum or sun it with anything else? Thank you.
Hi Sara. I haven’t tried baking it without, but as an alternative I’d try using 2-3 tsp psyllium husk flakes or 1 tsp – 3/4 tsp psyllium husk powder. If you give it a go, would love to hear how it turns out and how much you ended up using.
I would prefer to use ground flax over guar gum. Would 1 tbsp flax + 3 tbsp water be a good equivalent?
Hi Bronwyn. I haven’t tried baking this with flax in place of guar gum. The guar gum offers binding, thickening, adds more resiliency to the bread, etc. I’m not sure if you’ll achieve the exact same results with flax, but I’d say it’s worth a try since it offers some of those benefits as well. If you give it a try, would love to hear how you go. I think the ratio you proposed is reasonable. You can also try a bit of psyllium husk instead, which is usually a closer substitute to guar gum. Or can use xantham gum in same measure (unless you’re trying to avoid gums altogether, of course).
What can I substitute for the coconut flour due to an allergy?
Hi Kim,
The coconut flour here adds a lot of absorption of liquid (a unique property of coconut flour), which allows a smaller flour to liquids ratio. It’s hard to guesstimate exactly how much, but if you eliminate it you’d need to add more flour to make sure the batter isn’t too thin and possibly bake the bread a little longer. These are just best guesses though, as I haven’t tried baking it without. But if you give it a try with more flour and no coconut I’d love to hear how you go and what ratio ended up working for you.
P.S. Beth left a comment below saying she left out the coconut flour and her bread still turned out beautifully. So there you go :) I’d probably still add a tiny bit more flour, but seems like it might work without it completely based on Beth’s feedback.
This has enough pumpkin and enough spice and fruit. I modified a few things like substituting flax egg for the guar gum. I used tapioca flour for the coconut as I do not like coconut flavor. Overall, a great base recipe.
★★★★★
Thanks for sharing, Melissa. I’m glad the recipe worked out well and good to know it works without the guar gum.
Hi Audrey.Annoyingly i can’t tolerate gums,so do you know what i could use instead?Psyllium or agar maybe? Thank you!
Hi Renae, I haven’t tried it out myself, but I think psyllium husk powder should work just fine — I’d go with 2 tsp in this case. If you give it a try, I’d love to hear how it turns out for you.
So good! I didn’t have quite enough pumpkin and I had no coconut flour, but went ahead with the recipe anyway. The loaf turned out beautifully.
★★★★★
Hi Beth, thanks so much for the lovely feedback. I’m so glad you enjoyed it :)
Has anyone ever tried to do an oil replacement with this recipe? Yogurt or applesauce perhaps? I would appreciate hearing what the results were if you tried something. Thanks.
Hi Cassandra, sorry I haven’t tried it for this recipe so not sure if cutting out the oil entirely will work well. However, if I can recommend, I do have a really nice pumpkin muffins recipe that’s naturally oil-free on the blog. You can find it here: https://www.unconventionalbaker.com/recipes/pumpkin-molasses-muffins-gluten-free-dairy-free-refined-sugar-free-eggless/
Coconut flour is a problem. I have to go out and buy a bag of coconut flour for 2 tbsps?
Hello Walter, in this case yes, if you’d like to of course — coconut flour is essential for this particular recipe to work.
You c an find a health food store that sells bulk, and just buy a small amount ….
Just put this in the oven, can’t wait!
★★★★
Yep, great suggestion! :)
Hi Audrey, I am wanting to make this recipe, but I would like to use coconut flour as my sweetner of choice. I know it calls for a liquid sweetner, so I’m wondering how it would turn out with coconut palm sugar. Do you think it will make the bread too dry?
Thanks, I love this rendition of pumpkin bread:)
Hi Madeline. I think it should work fine with coconut sugar. You’ll need to increase it to about 1 cup coconut sugar to substitute 3/4 cup of the maple + add 3 tbsp more of a liquid (water or plant milk). Let me know how you go if you try it.
Made this the other day and it turned out soooooo yummy!
So glad you liked it, Cari! Thanks very much for your feedback.
Hi! Is the one cup of add-ins necessary or just optional?
Thanks!
Also, could I do it without the coconut flour?
The coconut flour is very moisture absorbent, so it’s included in the recipe to make sure the batter isn’t too wet. If you exclude it, you’ll need to adjust the other ingredients (reduce liquids and up the dry ingredients a bit) — I don’t have the exact quantities unfortunately because I’ve always just made this with the coconut flour.
Without the add-ins you’ll end up with a smaller bread (because you’re taking out a whole cup’s worth of ingredients from the recipe), but that’s really not a big deal. I think the add-ins add a lot of flavor and texture to the bread, so I recommend keeping them in personally.
I have some pumpkin and I am off to make this!
Enjoy it, Sarah! :) Happy baking <3
Hi Audrey! I’m wanting to make this recipe but only have coconut flour, tapioca flour, and arrowroot powder? Can I still make this loaf or should I head out to the store to purchase the GF Flour mix?
Thanks!
Lucy p.s your recipe’s look lovely!
Hi Lucy,
Thanks very much! Hm.. I’d say go for getting that gf flour mix :)
I can’t think of a good combination for an all purpose flour with just coconut flour and a starch. You can make a good blend out of almond flour, coconut flour, and tapioca — but the almond flour is essential. I think you’ll have an easier time and less of a headache if you pick up a gf mix.
Hello!
I just put a batch of this in the oven, but it seems like it’s going to be a disaster. My measurements were precise, but by the time I mixed the flour into the pumpkin batter, it was a crumbly, dry mess. I added more syrup and olive oil in a frantic attempt to make it wetter, then added chocolate chips. I dumped the heap of sticky crumbs into my loaf pan and smashed it down, then stuck it in the overn. Not sure how it’s going to turn out, but it doesn’t seem right. Any thoughts??
Hi Erika, something is definitely off there. Not sure what would have gone wrong seeing as I’m not there, but the batter should be wet and smooth — something you’d pour into a pan and use a spatula to smooth over, so if it’s dry and crumbly sounds like somehow the ratio of dry to wet ingredients is off there (too much flour perhaps, or maybe one of the liquid ingredients was missed?).
I don’t know if this will work because I’d have to see it, but what I would probably do with it at this point is make granola — break it into crumbs, and toast further if needed, and use it as a breakfast item. That’s just a suggestion so as to salvage the ingredients, as I’m sure it’ll still taste good. Hope this helps & sorry to hear it didn’t work out for you this time around.
Hi again Erika. Something else just occurred to me today — what kind of flour did you use? Was it by chance coconut flour? As that can really dry things up quite a bit…
I’ll definitely be making this at some point Audrey, I adore these kind of breads but never made a GF one before. What is guar gum? This has been featured as one of my favourites over at Sweet and Savoury Sunday. Stop by, grab a button and link up again with us this week. Have a great day!
Thanks so much, Laura! Guar gum is interchangeable with the more commonly used xantham gum in gluten-free baking to improve the texture, as a thickener, and as a binder. It’s made from a seed. Apparently in the EU it’s labeled as E412.
Thanks very much for featuring this recipe. I’m sure you’ll love it when you make it! :)
I made this loaf on Monday and it’s almost gone!! (And it’s only my boyfriend and I eating it!) So needless to say, this bread is delicious! I’m still relatively new to GF baking, but this one is definitely a winner :) (Check out my recap post featuring this bread: http://www.atasteoftrace.com/2014/10/09/other-peoples-recipes-pumpkin/ )
Thanks so much, Tracey! Loved reading your recap and how it turned out for you. So glad you’re enjoying it with your boyfriend! :)