Perfected Vegan Pumpkin Bread Carve Your Craving

I have a basic question for you. Why do we stop talking about pumpkin after Halloween? There is so much pumpkin craze going on starting Fall and suddenly post-Halloween, it seems to magically disappear. If you are anything like me you would enjoy pumpkin in everything throughout the year, especially in cold weather. Besides a good pumpkin pie, I love pumpkin waffles for breakfast, pumpkin sauce pasta for dinner, and pumpkin rice pudding for dessert.

Mostly, I will buy sugar pumpkins and make homemade pumpkin puree. Store it in the freezer and use it in various sweet and savory recipes. Other times, a can of store-bought pumpkin puree is very convenient. I make sure to have a couple of them in my pantry. This Pumpkin bread recipe is a delicious way to use any leftover pumpkin puree as well.

Perfected Vegan Pumpkin Bread and how?

Yes!!! I said it. When I made this version, my search for a perfect pumpkin bread without eggs or dairy came to an end. I wouldn’t change a thing in this recipe! Honestly, I have never had pumpkin bread at Starbucks or any bakeries near me as all of them have eggs! So when I started to make it at home, I shared some with my friends. They were kind to give me an honest opinion every time. Over the years I have made dry, sometimes very dense, and sometimes almost raw pumpkin bread. I have experimented with various egg substitutes like tofu, flaxseed meal, just applesauce but it was just not right. But when this recipe happened I was on cloud 9. I am happy that it uses very simple and easy to find ingredients, mostly sitting in your pantry right now. This year I was ready to share this amazingly easy recipe with you and here I am writing all the details!

Ingredients to make vegan pumpkin bread!

Whole Wheat Pastry Flour – Use pastry flour or Indian flour i.e whole wheat roti atta. Do not use husky whole wheat flour from the American stores, it will result in a tough bread loaf. All-purpose Flour – I use unbleached flour, you may use bleached. Potato Starch – Nowadays I am loving to use starches in my vegan baking recipes. It is my secret to get a tender outcome without adding eggs, tofu, or flaxseed meal to the batter. Starches help to bind the bakes and voiding them to crumble. It even loosens the gluten in the flour to produce lighter baked goods. You may use cornstarch or arrowroot instead. Baking Powder, Soda & vinegar – These are very important to fluff the bread. You may swap vinegar with lemon juice. Pumpkin puree – Please use store-bought pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling. I made this pumpkin bread with ready-made pumpkin puree. It is way thicker than homemade puree. Oil – Oil lends extra moistness to the bread. I have used avocado oil, use any flavorless oil of your choice. If using coconut oil then melt before measuring. Plant-based milk – Any plant-based milk works here. I have used oat milk for this recipe. Sugar – I have used a combination of packed brown sugar and organic white sugar. Brown sugar lends moistness and compliments the taste of pumpkin so well. Salt – A little goes a long way and adds taste to the bread. Vanilla – I use pure vanilla extract. You can scrape a vanilla bean and use it. Pumpkin Spice – Pumpkin puree is very delicate tasting and the bread won’t taste all pumpkin unless you use the spices. So do not skip it. Raw Pumpkin seeds – I love using them for extra pumpkin taste and crunch. Totally optional.

Step by step instructions to make a perfect pumpkin bread

For the entire recipe, details refer to the card mentioned at the end of the post. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease and dust the base and the sides of a loaf pan. I have used a 1 lb loaf pan. Line the base of the pan with parchment paper for easy removal of the bread later. In a big bowl sift everything mentioned in the dry ingredient list. Keep aside.

In another bowl add in the sugar, milk, pumpkin puree, oil, vanilla, vinegar and blend it with a whisk until mixed well and creamy. Make sure that the sugar is almost dissolved and the oil is completely emulsified.

Now add the liquid ingredient to the dry little by little and fold it with a spatula or whisk it. The batter will be too thick to whisk towards the end so I suggest just fold everything in with a big spoon or a spatula.

Spoon the batter in the prepared pan and level the top as much as you can.

Top it with pumpkin seeds if desired. Remember to use raw pumpkin seeds and not roasted ones. Pat the pan gently over the kitchen counter.

Bake in a preheated oven for 65-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean. See notes for different pan sizes and approximate cooking time. Once out of the oven, place the pan on a heat resistant surface, undisturbed for 10 minutes. Now loosen up the edges of the pan with a knife, making sure you don’t cut into the bread. Invert the loaf gently onto a cooling rack. Few seeds might fall out, that’s ok. Now turn the loaf right side up and let it cool completely on the rack before cutting.

It’s Pumpkin bread, not a cake!!

This recipe is very promising and yields the most amazing dairy-free, eggless pumpkin bread that you will ever taste. It has the right amount of sweetness and is big on flavor with the pumpkin spice blend. This pumpkin bread is denser as compared to a cake. But it has a tender and moist crumb, it is not light and airy like a cake. The reason behind it is that it is the bread and not a cake.

Important tips to keep in mind

Stick to store-bought puree for this recipe. If using homemade puree then you will have to use less liquid. The batter is fairly thick, do not be tempted to add more liquid. It should not be a pourable batter but easy enough to blob it in the loaf pan. Do not skip the pumpkin spice or at least add some cinnamon to the batter. Please stick a toothpick in the center of the bread to check if it is done. If it comes out with few moist crumbs it is done. It shouldn’t come out with a sticky batter. As every oven is a different one and the pan size used may not be the same if you see that the loaf isn’t done by 55 minutes and browning a lot on the top then gently slip in an aluminum foil square piece big enough to cover the top of the loaf and bake for additional minutes.

What pan size is ideal to make pumpkin bread/ loaf?

Possible substitutes to make a great vegan pumpkin bread

You may use milk of your choice. Use any flavorless oil, melt the coconut oil before measuring. If pumpkin is unavailable then quickly make it at home. Add 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon ground cloves, ½ teaspoon ground ginger, ¼ teaspoon nutmeg. You may add some roughly chopped walnuts or pecan to the batter. Please use a combination of whole wheat pastry flour and all-purpose flour for the best sturdy bread. You may swap both the flours for spelt flour.

Vegan Pumpkin bread storage instructions

Store the baked bread in an airtight container. Stays well at room temperature for up to 3 days. Keep in the refrigerator for 4 days.

Freezing instructions

Yes!! This pumpkin bread freezes very well. Just cut and individually freeze the slices wrapped in plastic wrap and foil, for up to 3 months. Then, when you wish to eat thaw at room temperature for about 20 minutes and then quickly warm it in a microwave for 20 seconds. It will taste just like freshly baked out of the oven. KEEP IN TOUCH – Are we friends yet? Let’s connect on-Facebook| Instagram | Pinterest | Twitter. Never miss a recipe. Please subscribe to my blog. It is free! Pin this photo for future reference.