If there’s one thing I bake every fall season, it’s this vegan pumpkin bread.
For one, it’s soft and light, moist and lusciously tender, and packed with warm fall flavor thanks to a homemade pumpkin spice blend.
And two, everyone in my life—Max, my sister, my parents, my friends—asks me to make it as soon as the temperature drops below 60ºF (who am I kidding? we live in San Diego… as soon as it drops below 72ºF).
Cut yourself a slice for an indulgent breakfast, snack on it with your afternoon latte, or add a swoop of cream cheese frosting for a dessert that will catapult you into cozy autumnal bliss.
Tested, Re-tested, and Improved!
A few of you told me your pumpkin bread was staying dense and overly moist at the bottom, so I re-tested this recipe eight(!) times to get to the bottom of it. Pun intended.
It only happened to me when I used a smaller 8.5×4.5″ pan instead of the 9×5″ the recipe calls for. Still, after more tinkering, I realized the batter could use a bit less moisture.
The fix: I removed the oat milk and slightly reduced the pumpkin. As you can see in the photo below, it bakes all the way through with no dense ring at the bottom.
Ingredient notes
- Canned pumpkin puree: Obviously! After making this umpteen times, I can confidently say that we get the best results with Libby’s pumpkin puree. If canned pumpkin isn’t available, check out the FAQ section for fresh pumpkin instructions.
- Homemade pumpkin spice: This easy homemade blend—featuring freshly grated nutmeg for spicy zing and a generous amount of warmly sweet cloves and zingy ginger—elevates this pumpkin bread to a league all its own. SO much better than pre-bought pumpkin spice blends.
- All-purpose flour: Necessary for structure. Unfortunately, I haven’t had good results with gluten-free flour, though some commenters have given it a try (with mixed results).
- Brown sugar: Necessary for sweetness and structure. Compared to white sugar, it lends more moistness and brings those caramel-like molasses notes we all want in fall baked goods.
- Apple cider vinegar: Assists the baking powder and baking soda with leavening, giving this pumpkin bread great rise.
- Aquafaba: AKA the liquid from a can of chickpeas! Whipping it lightly to incorporate some air gives the pumpkin bread lift and lightness.
Trust me—aquafaba will level up your vegan baking game. It’s my go-to egg substitute for so many baked goods, including my best ever vegan brownies, incredible vegan lemon cake, fluffy gingerbread cake, and lemon olive oil cake!
Step by Step Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and homemade pumpkin spice.
- In a large bowl, mix the brown sugar and oil using a hand mixer until well combined.
- Whip the aquafaba on medium, rotating the bowl to get the bottom until uniformly foamy.
- Add the whipped aquafaba to the sugar-oil mixture and beat on medium until well combined.
- Add the pumpkin, maple syrup, vinegar, and vanilla.
- Beat until the liquid ingredients are very well combined.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.
- Gently fold just until combined and no flour pockets remain.
- Pour the batter into a parchment paper-lined 9×5″ loaf pan and smooth out the surface.
- Bake at 350ºF/175ºC for 55 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove the parchment paper and cool on a wire rack for 1 hour.
Tips for making this recipe
Opt for conventional over organic canned pumpkin purée
For whatever reason, organic canned pumpkin puree (at least in the U.S.) tends to be more watery than conventional canned pumpkin. In my recipe tests, the organic canned pumpkin yielded a more liquidy batter and a loaf with a soggier bottom.
If you only have organic canned pumpkin, I highly recommend straining the pumpkin purée over a fine-mesh sieve to remove excess water.
Whichever brand you use, if you measure it out in advance, and find that it has collected some water by the time you’re ready to add it to the liquid ingredients, be sure to strain that water first.
Bake by weight if possible
Baking is a precise science, particularly egg-free, dairy-free baking. You’ll get the most precise results if you weigh ingredients using a digital scale rather than using measuring cups (each brand of measuring cup is slightly different and everyone measures differently). Weighing ingredients is also easier and uses fewer dishes!
Beware of overmixing!
Mixing develops the gluten in the batter, but over mixing leads to overdeveloped gluten. And that gives you a cake that is dry and tough, or dense and gummy.
Less is more here—once the wet and dry ingredients are just incorporated and there are no flour pockets remaining, stop mixing. The batter shouldn’t be perfectly smooth.
Skip the pre-bottled pumpkin spice
Ground spices lose their punch the longer they sit around, and pre-made “pumpkin spice” blends add extra variability. it’s impossible to know when each individual spice was grown, leaving you with underwhelming pumpkin flavor.
This recipe uses a homemade blend of spices that takes 2 minutes to throw together but really changes the flavor game.
Baking Precision Tips
Baking is a science, so here are tips to help you nail this pumpkin bread!
- Use a digital scale to measure your ingredients. It yields the most exact results! If you don’t have a digital scale, measure your flour using the spoon and level method: Fluff the flour with a spoon, then spoon the flour into the measuring cup, spoon by spoon, until mounded and overflowing on top, then use a butter knife to level it off.
- Get an oven thermometer. Every oven is different, and if yours isn’t calibrated, chances are it’s a bit off. Most home ovens haven’t yet reached the stated temperature when the preheat cycle is over.
- Test for doneness with a thermometer (or toothpick). For the best results, insert an instant-read thermometer in the center of the bread until it reaches 207 to 210ºF (97 to 99ºC).
If you don’t have a thermometer, insert a toothpick into the center of the bread at an angle, not straight down. This angled position better indicates whether a tall loaf cake is baked through. See no crumbs or just a few moist crumbs? The bread is done. - If the toothpick reveals batter that is still a bit gooey: return the pan to the oven for 5 to 10 more minutes. Worried about the top browning before it cooks through on the inside? Loosely tent the pan with aluminum foil.
Make for breakfast, a snack, or dessert!
If you want to eat this pumpkin bread for breakfast or as an afternoon teatime snack, you can serve it plain.
If you want something more dessert-like, there are two icing options!
- Vegan cream cheese icing. A decadent option reminiscent of cake. The frosting is a bit tangy from the cream cheese and lemon juice and it perfectly balances the sweetness. When you refrigerate the bread, the icing sticks to it like a traditional frosting and it is SO good.
- Maple tahini icing: The tahini brings a unique nutty flavor that pairs beautifully with the classic pumpkin spice flavors.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, with modifications. Here’s how:
1. Slice a sugar pumpkin or pie pumpkin in half using a sharp knife and rocking motion (you can also use a kabocha squash). Don’t use the really large carving pumpkins – they are pretty flavorless and don’t have much flesh. If it’s too tough to slice, pop the pumpkin in the microwave for 1 minute, then try again.
2. Lightly salt the flesh of the pumpkin, then place the pumpkin halves on a parchment paper lined baking sheet, cut side down.
3. Bake in the oven at 400°F/205°C until fork tender, about 30 minutes for a small pie pumpkin, or 40-45 minutes for a larger one.
4. Once cool enough to handle, peel the skin and add the flesh to a food processor. Puree for about 2 minutes, or until you have a really smooth puree.
5. Place the puree over a fine-mesh sieve and press down with a spoon to drain excess water. If you have cheesecloth, line the sieve with that and drain. This step is essential since homemade puree is more watery than canned.
6. Finally, measure 425 grams of pumpkin puree for this recipe (2 tablespoons shy of 2 cups).
I personally think this is better without chocolate chips because it allows the pumpkin flavors to shine and the pumpkin bread is already sweet enough.
That said, if you love them, feel free to fold in 1/2 to 1 cup of chocolate chips when combining dry and wet ingredients.
Loosely cover the pan with aluminum foil and continue baking for 5 to 10 minutes, or until one of the two methods for doneness has been achieved.
If unfrosted, store it covered or wrapped in plastic on the counter for up to 5 days.
If making the cream cheese icing, store the bread covered in the fridge for 5 days.
If you make the maple tahini icing, you can leave it at room temperature but it’s best to pour the icing only over the amount of bread you plan to eat that day (to prevent sogginess).
Watch me make this recipe ⤵️
Check out the YouTube video to see how easily this one comes together!
With 200K views, this recipe was a huge hit with my audience. I hope you love it just as much! Please note this is an older video and the recipe has been slightly updated since the release of this video.
If you love this Vegan Pumpkin Bread recipe, please rate and review the recipe below 🙂
Introducing
Big Vegan Flavor
Techniques and 150 recipes to master vegan cooking.
The Best Vegan Pumpkin Bread You’ll Ever Eat
Ingredients
Dry ingredients
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp fine sea salt
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 3/4 tsp ground cloves (see Note 1)
- 1/4 tsp ground allspice
- 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (see Note 2)
Liquid ingredients
- 1 2/3 cups (375g) pumpkin puree (ideally NOT organic pumpkin, see Note 3)
- 6 TBSP (84g) sunflower oil, (or any neutral oil)
- 1 tightly packed cup (185g) organic brown sugar (packed but not tightly packed)
- 1/4 cup + 2 TBSP (90g) aquafaba
- 1 TBSP (14g) apple cider vinegar
- 2 TBSP (38g) maple syrup
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Vegan Cream Cheese Icing (optional, but recommended)
- 4 TBSP (56g) vegan butter (1/2 stick), softened at room temp
- 2 oz (56g) vegan cream cheese, softened at room temp (see Note 4)
- 1 cup + 2 TBSP (135g) organic powdered sugar, sifted
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- Pinch of sea salt
- 1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 handful pepitas (optional, for topping)
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C. Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven. Line a 9×5-inch loaf pan (23×13 cm)* with parchment paper, letting the excess hang over the long sides. *Do not use a smaller loaf pan, or it may not fully bake through.
- Measure out the pumpkin puree in a bowl and set aside.
- Mix the dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, allspice, and nutmeg. Whisk well to ensure the leaveners and spices are evenly distributed.
- Mix the sugar and oil: In a large bowl, add the brown sugar and oil. Using a handheld electric mixer, start mixing on low then medium, until the sugar is moistened by the oil and there are no large clumps.
- Whip the aquafaba: Add the aquafaba to a small bowl. Wipe off the beaters. On medium speed, whip the aquafaba for 45 seconds, rotating the bowl as you go to get the bottom, or until uniformly foamy and pale in color. Add the whipped aquafaba to the sugar-oil mixture and beat on medium speed until well incorporated.
- Finish the liquid ingredients: If the pumpkin puree has released any water, strain it in a fine-mesh sieve. Shake the bottle of apple cider vinegar. Add the pumpkin puree, vinegar, maple syrup, and vanilla to the liquid ingredients. Beat on medium speed until completely smooth with no streaks.
- Combine: Add the dry ingredients to the wet. Use a silicone spatula or wooden spoon to gently fold just until combined and no flour pockets remain, then stop mixing. The batter will be quite thick at this point.
- Bake: Pour the batter into the pan and smooth the top. Bake for 53 to 57 minutes, or until done using one of these methods: Method 1 for checking doneness: Bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the center reads 207 to 210ºF (97 to 99ºC). Method 2 for checking doneness: Insert a toothpick downwards but at an angle. It should come out clean or with just a touch of slightly moist crumbs.NOTE: If the top is browning but the interior is not baked through / has gooey batter on a toothpick, loosely tent the pan with aluminum foil and continue baking.
- Cool: Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then lift the bread out using the parchment paper handles. Carefully peel the parchment off the bottom and sides. Cool on the rack for 1 hour.
- Serve plain or spread on the Cream Cheese Icing. Scatter with handful of pepitas. See the FAQ section for storage instructions.
Vegan Cream Cheese Icing (optional)
- To a medium mixing bowl, add the softened butter. Beat on low speed with an electric hand mixer until smooth.Add the softened cream cheese and beat until well incorporated and creamy (but don't overbeat or it gets runny).
- Add half of the powdered sugar, mix on low speed to combine, and then add the rest of the sugar. Mix until well combined and fluffy, scraping down the sides as you go. Add the vanilla, salt, and lemon juice and mix until smooth. If too thin, briefly refrigerate.
Video
Notes
- If you are grinding whole cloves, use less as it’s more potent, about a scant 1/2 teaspoon.
- Freshly grated whole nutmeg makes a difference! If using pre-ground nutmeg, use only 1/4 teaspoon.
- Organic canned pumpkin tends to be more watery than regular. If that’s all that is available, strain the puree in a fine-mesh sieve first to get rid of excess water. To make homemade pumpkin puree, read the FAQ section.
- My favorite vegan cream cheese brands are Violife and Tofutti.
- This recipe was updated in October 2026 to address some user comments that the pumpkin bread was not cooking through. We’ve tested the bread a half dozen more times and as a result, have removed the oat milk and slightly scaled down the pumpkin puree amount.
- This recipe originally contained a Maple Tahini Icing as an alternative to the cream cheese frosting. I’ve removed it from the recipe card to save space, but here’s the recipe if you’d like to make it.
- Sift 1 cup (120g) powdered sugar into a large bowl.
- Add in 2 TBSP (28g) tahini, 3 TBSP (45 mL) oat milk, and 1 tsp maple syrup.
- Whisk to combine until thick but pourable. If too thin, add more sugar. If too thick, add more milk. Pour icing ONLY on the amount of bread you plan to eat (or serve it on the side).
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Love this? Leave a rating below!
This was really delicious! Thanks for helping recreate a recipe from my pre-vegan childhood days. It is moist without being gummy and sweet without being too rich. I didn’t add the frosting at it was so good. I will definitely be making this again and to serve to family.
I’ve made this delicious bread twice this month and used the the old as well as the updated recipe. Although the first one wasn’t moist, the one following the updated recipe is so fluffy. I cheated a bit using a pumpkin spice mixture (4,5 teaspoons) but it still has great flavor. And in stead of making the icing, I sprinkle pumpkinseeds and chocolate chips on top. Although my son and I agree that your banana bread is the best banana bread in the world, in autumn we happily swap that for this pumpkin bread.
Very good recipe BUT for me and my wife : we thought it was more like a gingerbread flavor with some pumpkin. Fine by us, but less of a straightforward pumpkin bead. OI will try some other similar recipes and update this review, thanks.
Hi Sam, thank you for the honest feedback, and we’re glad you still enjoyed it! This one is warmly spiced on purpose, and the cloves are on the generous side, which can give it that gingerbread feel. If you’d like the pumpkin to take center stage next time, you could try cutting the cloves back a little. Hope your next loaf is just how you like it!
Was way too bland. My house didn’t even smell like baking pumpkin bread. Next time I’ll double (or more) the spices, especially cinnamon.
Hi Karsen, thank you for letting us know, and we’re sorry it fell flat for you. Spice freshness makes a big difference here. Ground spices lose their punch pretty quickly, so older cinnamon or cloves can make the bread taste much milder. That’s also why Nisha has you mix your own pumpkin spice blend and grate the nutmeg fresh, rather than using a pre-made blend. Did you make the homemade blend, or use a store-bought pumpkin spice? If you try it again with fresh spices and still want more warmth, feel free to add a little extra cinnamon to suit your taste.
This recipe is really good. Mine turned out a little dense at the bottom but I think that’s down to my oven so I am going to get an oven thermometer. It was still extremely nice though and didn’t spoil the enjoyment of the pumpkin bread. I make your banana bread recipe all the time and this is very similar. I freeze the banana bread in portions, can this pumpkin bread be frozen too (obviously prior to frosting)?
Hi Julie, it’s great to hear you enjoy the recipe 🙂
We’ve retested this recipe several times in the past few days to address the dense/sogginess issue and have removed a bit of the moisture from the recipe, which should give you a nicely baked-through loaf without any soggy or dense bottom. Hope that helps!
And as for freezing, yes you can freeze this pumpkin bread just like you’d normally freeze banana bread. Cheers!
Loved it! The flavors were delicious and really hit the spot this October. Exactly what I was craving. The bottom of my loaf, like the bottom 2-3 mm was a tad soggy but the rest of the loaf’s texture was GREAT. So, I don’t really mind. 🙂 Additionally, this is also the first loaf of bread (of any type of bread) I have baked in my 51 years of life. Maybe i should have baked it a tad longer? I used a rack placed in the bottom third of the oven. Thank you for another fantastic recipe
Hi Kerry, I’m so happy you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks for bringing that to our attention. I’ve retested this recipe several times in the past few days to address this issue and have removed a bit of the moisture from the recipe, which should give you a nicely baked-through loaf without any soggy or dense bottom. Hope that helps!
This recipe is sooooo good. We made it with coconut sugar, which is what we had on hand. It was much less sweet than brown sugar would have been. We also added some chocolate chips, which was a nice addition to the pumpkin. So now we will make this with coconut sugar every time. We baked it for 55 min. The texture was dense, but even, and nicely moist. This will be on repeat at our house this fall!
Thanks for sharing, Sandra! We’re happy you loved the pumpkin bread!
I have a question about the aquafaba. I use a brand of canned chickpeas that has no salt. Should this be a problem for the recipe?
Hi Sophie, no problem at all! That works great.
Is is possible to use this recipe for pumpkin muffins?
Hi there, we haven’t tried this ourselves at RPL, so no promises! But here is what I’d suggest: Follow the recipe as written to prepare the batter. Preheat your oven to 350F and line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or grease the cups with a nonstick spray. Fill each about ¾ full and bake for 20-25 minutes. Insert a toothpick into the center of the muffin, if it comes out clean or with just a few crumbs, they’re done. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Best of luck!
How did the muufins come out? I want to try that too
Same as the other recent comments, my pumpkin loaf turned out flavourful but dense/almost uncooked at the bottom. I’m not sure if whipping the aquafaba was worth it, since the bubbles disappeared the moment I added the dry ingredients.
Also, I looked a bit more closely at the cross-section photos and the video here, and they all seem to suffer from the dense/unrisen bottom problem, just to a slightly lesser degree than mine.
Hi Sam, Nisha here. Thanks for your comment. I’m very sorry to hear this did not work out. Your comment made me revisit this recipe and since then I’ve re-tested it many more times to figure out what’s going on. I did try it without the aquafaba, and it does add something texturewise, though it’s possible your aquafaba wasn’t whipped enough. Check out the step-by-step instructions for a visual on what the aquafaba should look like.
We have updated the recipe to remove a bit of the moisture so that it bakes through evenly in about 55 minutes. We hope you give it another try in the future!
Not sure what happened, but this took much longer to cook and still came out sunken and soggy. I’ve had much more success with less-complicated “one-bowl” vegan pumpkin bread recipes. It tasted pretty good, but the texture was a mess.
Hi there, Nisha here. Thanks for your comment. I’m very sorry to hear this did not work out. Your comment made me revisit this recipe and since then I’ve re-tested it many more times to figure out what’s going on. We have updated the recipe to remove a bit of the moisture so that it bakes through evenly in about 55 minutes. We hope you give it another try in the future!
I made this yesterday and the flavors were great but the bottom was soggy and thick. I didn’t use organic pumpkin. any ideas how to improve the texture to make it lighter and fluffier?
Hi Amanda, Nisha here. Thanks for your comment. I’m sorry to hear about the soggy bottom. Your comment made me revisit this recipe and since then I’ve re-tested it many more times to figure out what’s going on. We have updated the recipe to remove a bit of the moisture so that it bakes through evenly in about 55 minutes. We hope you give it another try in the future!
I love this bread. It has amazingly light texture yet full on flavor packed with warming spices.
We appreciate the wonderful review, Diane! 🙂
Can I use regular whole Milk or 2% milk instead of the plant based milk ?
Do I need to make any other substitutes ?
Hi Bhavika, we’re vegan and don’t cook with cows milk, so I’m afraid we cannot advise you about whether it will work in this recipe.
can something be substitute for the pumpkin puree? another fruit or vegetable?
Hi Mally, we’ve only tested this recipe with pumpkin, because it’s a pumpkin bread recipe. So unfortunately we can’t say how other fruits/veggies would work.
Might I suggest you try our banana bread instead?
Could you sub whole wheat pastry flour or spelt flour?
Hi Judi, we haven’t tried these swaps in this recipe so we unfortunately cannot say for sure how they’d turn out. I found this article online if you want to try tinkering with the recipe. Or better yet, you can try this pumpkin pancakes recipe that’s already developed with whole wheat pastry flour!
Indeed Indeed! It is the most moist pumpkin bread they’ll ever eat because there will be none left for you!
Nishaaa!!! I owe you royalties with all your recipes. They never fail and you have me out here looking like I can back and people telling me to start a business. Lol! Thanks for all your hard work, dedication, and love with these recipes along the way.
Thank you for your lovely comment, Brittany! It makes us happy to know that you are such a fan of the recipes. 🙂
Hi there, I’m a huge fan! Your Instapot cookbook changed my life and helped my family thrive as we made the switch to a vegan diet! Also I’m hitting up Big Vegan Flavor cookbook about 4 times a week. Like I said, huge fan! I am looking forward to making this recipe, however I don’t own an electric mixer (and neither does my neighbor :)). Do you think I could mix the cream cheese icing by hand? Or maybe in a Vitamix, or food processor? Thanks!
From Nisha: “Hello! I’m so honored to hear that my books have been helping your family eat more plant-based foods. Truly such an honor! If you don’t have an electric mixer or stand mixer, you can mix the cream cheese icing by hand with a whisk and/or a silicone spatula. Just use some elbow grease! As for the aquafaba called for in the pumpkin bread recipe, you might want to add it to a blender if you have one (or you can try whisking it by hand for few minutes to make it foamy). Hope that helps!”
Hi!
This recipe looks amazing, but i would likke to substitute the oil. What substitutes would work well? What do you think about tahini, how with it change the ratio’s?
Thank you!
Hi Ferre, unfortunately we haven’t tried a substitute, and since baking is very precise (especially egg-free baking), we don’t feel comfortable offering alternatives, as we know they’d significantly change the final texture and flavor.
Hi! I love making this every year, its one of my favorite fall recipes! This year I wanted to try it as muffins. Do you have any recommendations on how long to bake it and at what temp? Thank you!
That’s so sweet to hear, Olivia! I need to make this one again myself very soon.
We haven’t tried making this bread into muffins ourselves at RPL, so no promises! But here is what I’d suggest: Follow the recipe as written to prepare the batter. Preheat your oven to 350F and line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or grease the cups with a nonstick spray. Fill each about ¾ full and bake for 20-25 minutes. Insert a toothpick into the center of the muffin, if it comes out clean or with just a few crumbs, they’re done. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Best of luck to you!
I’ve made this recipe as a loaf many times and was happy to find this comment about changing it to muffins. I have done this successfully as you suggested above and they came out great. I microwave chocolate chips into this recipe as a loaf, and in the muffin iterations, there’s a much better representation of chocolate chips. My kids love the ease of grabbing a muffin to go.
Yay, great! Thanks for sharing, Morgan!
*mix* chocolate chips, not microwave