This gingerbread loaf cake is soft, moist, and spiced to perfection. It’s the ultimate dessert to brighten the holiday season.

We are big fans of both loaves and cake but couldn’t figure out what to call this one, so we decided gingerbread loaf cake was the most appropriate name. This is one gingerbread recipe you’ll want on your table this Christmas and possibly all December long.

Here’s What You Need for this Gingerbread Loaf Cake:

Wet Ingredients

• Oil: We like to use sunflower oil for our loaf cake, but any neutral oil should do the trick. By “neutral” oil, we mean essentially flavorless oil. Other neutral oils include grapeseed, vegetable, and canola oil.
• Molasses: This is a thick dark syrup made during the sugar-making process. We like to use unsulphured molasses and recommend you do the same. Also, avoiding blackstrap molasses is best for this recipe as well. We like to use this brand.
• Flaxseed Meal: The reason we include flaxseed meal with our wet ingredients is because when the flaxseed is combined with the liquid in this recipe, it will get thick and act as an egg would.
• Apple Cider Vinegar: I know vinegar may seem like an odd ingredient to include in baked goods, but when an acid reacts with the baking soda in the recipe, it will help make the loaf cake nice and fluffy.
• Hot Water: Using hot or boiling water will help “bloom” the spices and make our gingerbread loaf cake much more flavorful.
• Vanilla Extract: Adds a delicate and subtle vanilla flavor to the gingerbread.

Dry Ingredients

• Flour: We use all-purpose flour for this recipe. If you’re looking for a good brand, we like this one. Please note that we haven’t tested this recipe with gluten-free or whole wheat flour.
• Brown Sugar: We like to use light brown sugar vs. dark brown sugar in this recipe. The main difference between light and dark is the molasses content. Light brown sugar has about 3.5% molasses and dark brown sugar has about 6.5%. Also to ensure that the sugar you are using is vegan-friendly, we recommend using an organic variety. We like one.
• Baking Powder and Soda: You may be asking why we are using both baking soda and baking powder in this recipe. The main purpose for the baking powder is to act as leavening agent. The baking soda will also help in this process, but will also help create a more alkaline environment to brown the loaf to perfection.
• Spices: The spice blend we use for this gingerbead loaf is a combination of ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and allspice.

Cream Cheese Icing

• Powdered Sugar: To ensure the powderd sugar you are using is vegan-friendly, we recommend using organic. Otherwise, there is the possibility of the sugar being processed through bone char. We like to use this one.
• Cream Cheese: We’ve found that the best dairy-free cream cheese to use for this recipe is the Kite Hill brand. It’s made from almonds and has a perfect light and fluffy texture. We tried this with Dayia cream cheese and the result was more loose and resulted in a glaze-like consistency.
• Butter: Any dairy-free stick butter will do the trick for this recipe. We like to use either the Country Crock Plant Butter or Earth Balance buttery sticks. We don’t recommend using a buttery spread from a tub to make this icing. Also, if you can get vegan unsalted butter that would work great as well. 
• Lemon Juice: This will help bring out all of the flavors in the icing and gift it a nice bright flavor.
• Almond Milk: We use almond milk to help loosen the icing to get it to the desired consistency. If you prefer not to use almond milk, you can use any unsweetened plant milk of your choice.

Equipment Needed

• Loaf Pan
• Oven
• 2 Medium Mixing Bowls
• Spatula
• Whisk
• Immersion blender (optional)

Topping the Gingerbread Loaf Cake

While this gingerbread loaf cake doesn’t need a topping on the frosting, it definitely helps take the taste and presentation to the next level. Here are some ideas to top yours.

• Candied Pecans
• Pomegranate Seeds
• Pumpkin Seeds
• Sprinkles
• Dried Citrus

Looking for More Holiday Desserts? Here are Some of our Favorites:

• Ginger Molasses Cookies (Gluten-Free)
• Vegan Eggnog Snickerdoodles
• Vegan Gingerbread Cookies
• Homemade Vegan Hot Chocolate Mix
• Gluten-Free Thumbprint Cookies (8-Ingredients)

Make sure you tag us on Instagram @sweetsimplevegan and @consciouschris and hashtag #sweetsimplevegan if you recreate any of our recipes, we love to see your photos!

Vegan Gingerbread Loaf Cake

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★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

• Author: Jasmine @ Sweet Simple Vegan
• Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
• Yield: 12 slices

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Description

This gingerbread loaf cake is soft, moist, and spiced to perfection. It’s the ultimate dessert to brighten the holiday season.

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Ingredients

Wet

• 1/3 cup sunflower oil
• 1/2 cup unsulphured molasses
• 2 tablespoons flaxseed meal
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice)
• ¾ cup boiling hot water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Dry

• 2 cups (272g) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice

Cream Cheese Icing

• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 2 ounces vegan cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons softened vegan butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
• Almond milk, as needed to thin

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Instructions

1. Prepare an 8×4-inch bread pan with parchment paper or oil, and preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients and set aside.
3. In a separate large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients until smooth. Form a well in the middle and pour in the wet ingredients. Mix everything together until combined.
4. Pour the batter into the lined bread pan, being sure to smooth out the top of the batter.
5. If you would like, you can lightly sprinkle the pecans or walnuts over top before baking the bread. Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick runs clean.
6. Remove the bread from the oven and allow it to cool for at least 15 minutes.
7. As it cools, prepare the cream cheese icing by mixing everything together in a bowl until smooth. Optional: To get it extra smooth, we like using an immersion blender.
8. Drizzle the bread with the cream cheese icing and slice as desired (we cut ours into 12). Enjoy!

 

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 55 minutes
• Category: Breakfast
• Method: Oven

Keywords: holiday, dessert, gingerbread, loaf, spices, bread, cake,

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