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!
Thank you for the recipe!
I have used it many times already and always a great success.
Today I’ve baked in form of muffins.
As the pumkin was quite sweet- I halved the amount of sugar, and still they are delicious.
Thank you soooo much for everything you do, dear Nisha🙏
We appreciate your feedback and support, Eve. Thank you for leaving a review!
Hi Nisha,
I really wanted to make this cake on my gluten-free diet, despite the suggestion not to use anything else but all-purpose flour. So I proceeded with some substitutions: Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour, homemade honeynut squash puree, 130 g of light brown sugar, and olive oil. Even though the outcome is less fluffy than in your photos, I think the flavor is delightful and the bread rose nicely, although it did collapse a tad after a night’s rest on the counter.
Thank you for creating this recipe (and tons of others!)
Karolina
Hi Karolina, we’re glad you enjoyed your GF rendition of this pumpkin bread along with the other recipes that you’ve tried 🙂 Thanks for sharing your experience!
Hi Nisha! Can we play with the amount of sugar and decrease it a little bit? We don’t use much sugar on our house with the kids and would like to make this as a treat but use less sugar.
We are at excited to try your October recipes!
Hi Shama, I would first omit the icing / frosting instead of omitting it from the actual pumpkin bread. That way, you don’t interfere with the baking texture (sugar not only adds sweetness in baking but also contributes to texture and moisture levels). If you still want to reduce the sugar in the bread itself, I’d reduce it by no more than ¼ cup.
Enjoy the recipes! 🙂
This is hands down the best vegan pumpkin bread recipe I’ve tried. I feed it to my non-vegan friends and family and it always gets rave reviews.
Hi Kelly, thank you so much for your kind review!
Love this recipe! Trying the tahini-maple frosting this time.
That’s great to hear, Dawn! And ahh, that frosting is amazing. Enjoy!
Hi! Will be making this next week! When you suggest not using organic pumpkin purée, do you mean use regular non organic pumpkin purée in a can? Thanks!
Hi Radmila, yes that’s exactly what we mean! Enjoy the pumpkin bread 🙂
Looking forward to make this but before I do (do not usually bake) is it light or dark brown sugar?
Hi Chelsea, either or will work, but Nisha typically uses organic light brown sugar. Dark brown sugar will add more of a molasses-like flavor and produce a darker bread.
This recipe was fabulous and nobody knew it was Vegan! Do you happen to have a Vegan Zucchini bread recipe? I have tried several recipes I found elsewhere and they are all very dense and gummy. Your use of Aquafaba and vegan buttermilk seems unique and seems to be the key.
Hi there! We’re thrilled you loved the pumpkin bread. Thanks for sharing 🙂
We unfortunately don’t have a zucchini bread recipe (yet), but we’d agree that the combo of aquafaba and vegan buttermilk is a godsend for vegan loaf cakes like pumpkin bread and zucchini bread. If you love zucchini, we recommend our Greek Zucchini Fritters. We also love the recipes from the First Mess, and she recently posted zucchini baked oatmeal cups with chocolate chips that look delicious.
Thank you for this recipe! I have made it several times. I have doubled it and made 12 muffins (16 minutes) and 1 loaf without the icing. Comes out perfect every time-even at 5280 ft! My kids love having the muffins for breakfast. I have also successfully frozen the loaf and simply thawed it in the fridge when ready to use. Delicious!
You’re welcome, Jessica! We’re so happy you enjoy the pumpkin bread!
Dear Nisha,
I absolutely adore all of your recipes. Whenever I observe lent or other fasts, such as before Christmas, I always turn to your amazing website and recipes. Recently, I attempted to bake this recipe twice, but encountered some difficulties. The first time, the entire dish came out gummy and dense. After carefully reading your notes, I realized that the issue was due to over-mixing. I tried again and achieved a much better result. However, this time, the bottom of the dish came out gummy and dense. Do you have any insight into what might have caused this issue?
Thank you in advance for any guidance you can offer.
Hi Phoebe, sorry to hear you’ve been having so many issues getting this pumpkin bread right! We’re glad to hear you were able to make a better pumpkin bread the second time around by not over-mixing.
In regard to the pumpkin bread still turning out gummy and dense, here are a few things you can check or change for next time: use an oven thermometer (often our ovens are hotter or cooler than they say) which can help with over and under baking, don’t open the oven during baking which lets out heat (you can view the cake with the oven light through the door), and make sure to weigh your ingredients using a digital scale (one of our top baking tips!) because baking is much more of an exact science than cooking is.
I hope you’re able to figure out what went wrong!
I love making this without the icing, it’s the perfect sweet treat as-is without the icing (if you’ve got a sweet tooth but don’t like absurdly sweet treats).
We appreciate your feedback and support, Melissa. Thank you for leaving a review!
Love, love, love!
We’re so happy you do, Megan!
Everything I’ve made from here is incredible and no one even realizes it’s vegan until I tell them. I LOVE this pumpkin bread! I had to use organic pumpkin and I think it resulted in the bottom not fully cooking but I just cut it off and the rest was perfect 🤩
Aw, thanks for trying so many recipes, Madeleine! Great to hear you enjoy the pumpkin bread 🙂
Made this for fun for my 21st birthday tonight and in my boyfriend’s words, this recipe is “bitchnn’!”. I have never baked a bread that had as perfect of a texture as this. It is so soft and moist. I didn’t make any icing because I don’t have that much of a sweet-tooth but the bread was perfect on it’s own to me. I have never been disappointed by a recipe by you. Thank you!!
Amazing! We hope you had a lovely 21st birthday, we’re so delighted you chose to make a RPL recipe in celebration!
This really is the best pumpkin bread! I love the amount of spices- so flavorful! I skipped the icing just because I didn’t want the extra sugar. My son said the bread felt like cake, and the whole family enjoyed it!
Thanks for the lovely feedback, Coby!
I screwed up..but it still turned out amazing! I accidentally bought and opened “pumpkin pie mix” instead of pumpkin puree. I could have cried in the moment of having all ingredients spread out with an opened can of pie mix in my hand. Luckily my 92 year old grandmother was visiting and she helped save the day. She told me to reduce the sugar..and cut spices in half ( due to those things being in the pie mix already).
Well it worked!!!! BEAUTIFUL pumpkin bread was the result 😍. My family loved it. Next time I will make it the proper way…but damn sometimes those grandma’s know how to improvise a recipie 🙂 We were all super happy with this gem.
Wonderful! Shoutout to grandma for saving the day! Thanks for the wonderful review of the pumpkin bread 🙂
You were right, best pumpkin bread ever. I brought it to an Omni thanksgiving and people loved it and asked for the recipe. The cream cheese frosting took it to another level, I can’t believe it was optional!!
I used miyokos cream cheese and earth balance butter, and it was delicious but after sitting for a bit after mixing, the consistency looked a bit off, like the oil was separating or something. Curious to see if other brands would be better but it didn’t impact taste or texture so it was all good.
Hi Amanda, thanks for making the pumpkin and sharing it with others! You could try using another butter possibly? Which Earth Balance butter did you use? We love Miyoko’s vegan butter.
This was absolutely delicious! Even my picky kids and pumpkin hater husband loved this. I made the tahini icing to go along with it but wasn’t a fan, but I think it was because my tahini was a little on the bitter side. Can’t wait to try it with the cream cheese icing, but it is amazingly good on it’s own!
Wonderful, thanks for trying the recipe Erica!
Very very very good! Making for the second time now!
Wonderful, Sarah! Thanks for sharing 🙂
A lovely fall/ winter recipe! The bread turned out great! It’s fluffy, moist, warm spiced and not to sweet (which I prefer) 🙂 the glaze turned out a little less great. The taste was good but when I added the lemon juice it was no longer smooth, like the lemon juice and butter didn’t want to emulsify. the glaze/frosting the tendency to slide off the bread. However I still was able to put it on the bread. It didn’t look as smooth as in this recipe, but it was fine and still tasted delicious! Definitely would make this again!
We’re delighted you think so, Jella! Too bad about the icing, we’re sorry to hear it. Good to hear you’re still a fan despite the icing not going as well as originally intended.