Vegan GF Pumpkin Bread
A vegan gluten-free pumpkin bread that is also super moist, fat free (if pecans are omitted) and incredibly flavorful is a dream come true. It is so moist you’ll never believe it’s gluten and fat free. And if you’re not a big fan of pumpkin flavor, don’t worry, the lime zest and vanilla extract does an excellent job at lessening the strong pumpkin flavor without overpowering it necessarily.
Jump to RecipeGluten-Free Flour
There are a myriad of gluten-free flours out there and they all behave differently when it comes to baking. To make this pumpkin bread, I chose to use oat flour. I usually get the Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Oat Flour; if you have a really good blender or coffee grinder, you can just blend regular oats until it becomes a very fine powder. I haven’t tried the recipe with other gluten-free flours, so I cannot guarantee you’ll get the same result if you use a different flour.
Adding Moisture to a Gluten-Free Flour
Now we know that gluten-free flour used in baking can make the baking goods quite dry. So the reasonable solution would be to add some type of moisture like oils or butters. However, pureed ingredients like, apple, banana or in this case pumpkin, act the same way as oils or butter would in adding moisture in gluten-free baking. Hence, using the pumpkin puree in this recipe helps make this vegan gluten free pumpkin bread much lower in fat.
Egg Replacement
Now we all know it’s quite challenging to bake, especially cakes/breads like these without eggs. After all, eggs are the key ingredients that provide the height and texture of baked goods. Luckily, there are a lot of ressources online providing various egg replacement depending on the type of baking good being made. For this pumpkin bread, I used apple cider vinegar. There’s an interesting chemical reaction, when the acidity of the vinegar interacts with baking soda. This chemical reaction is very similar to what eggs do in baking: it leavens and add structure to the baking good. I’ve used a similar mixture in my kelp noodles recipe, where the vinegar is replaced with lemon.
Making the Vegan Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bread
As it is for any baking, the first step is to preheat the oven, in this case at 350 degrees F.
- On a small bowl, add the almond milk and apple cider vinegar. Then set it aside. This is the base for the egg replacement and will help make our cake fluffy.
The Dry Ingredients
- On a mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients: oat flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin spice (or mix of 1/2 tsp each of nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger and cloves), and the salt. Give everything a good whisk to incorporate the ingredients, then set it aside.
The Wet Ingredients
- On a separate larger mixing bowl or a stand mixture, add the wet ingredients: sugar, pumpkin puree, apple sauce (apple sauce and pumpkin puree are great butter/oil replacement as they provide the perfect moisture for the bread/cake), maple syrup, the milk and apple cider vinegar we’ve prepared earlier, and the vanilla extract. Mix everything with the spatula to incorporate the ingredients.
Combining the Wet and Dry Ingredients
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well until the batter creamy and all the ingredients are well incorporated.
- Optional step: Fold in the roughly crushed pecans and the dried cranberries. I think these compliment the bread so well, but if you want to keep it fat free, you can skip this step.
- Add the zest of one lime to better enhance the flavor. Mix everything well for all the flavors to adhere.
- Line a baking loaf with some parchment paper, and pour the batter in. Pop it in the preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes or until you can stick a toothpick or a knife in and see that it comes out dry.
- Let it cool down on the counter for about 30 minutes before cutting (that is if you’re patient enough). Enjoy plain or with some milk, ice cream, yogurt etc!
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Vegan Pumpkin Bread (GF + Fat-Free)
Ingredients
- 3 Cups Oat flour
- 1 Cup Organic Pumpkin Puree
- 1/2 Cup Organic Cane Sugar
- 1/2 Cup Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
- 2 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1/2 Cup Unsweetened Apple Sauce
- 1/4 Cup Maple Syrup
- 2 Tsp Baking Powder
- 1 Tsp Baking Soda
- 2 Tsp Pumpkin Spice or mix of 1/2 tsp each of nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger and cloves
- 1/4 Tsp Salt
- 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 Lime zest
- 1/4 Cup Chopped Pecans Optional
- 1/4 Cup Dried Cranberries Optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven at 350 degrees F.
- On a small bowl, add the almond milk and apple cider vinegar. Then set it aside. This is a great egg replacement and will help make our cake fluffy.
- On a mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients: oat flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin spice (or mix of 1/2 tsp each of nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger and cloves), and the salt. Give everything a good whisk to incorporate the ingredients, then set it aside.
- On a separate larger mixing bowl or a stand mixture, add the wet ingredients: sugar, pumpkin puree, apple sauce (apple sauce and pumpkin puree are great butter/oil replacement as they provide the perfect moisture for the bread/cake), maple syrup, the milk and apple cider vinegar we’ve prepared earlier, and the vanilla extract. Mix everything with the spatula to incorporate the ingredients.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well until the batter creamy and all the ingredients are well incorporated.
- Optional step: Fold in the roughly crushed pecans and the dried cranberries. I think these compliment the bread so well, but if you want to keep it fat free, you can skip this step.
- Add the zest of one lime to better enhance the flavor. Mix everything well for all the flavors to adhere.
- Line a baking loaf with some parchment paper, and pour the batter in. Pop it in the preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes or until you can stick a toothpick or a knife in and see that it comes out dry.
- Let it cool down on the counter for about 30 minutes before cutting (that is if you’re patient enough). Enjoy plain or with some milk, ice cream, yogurt etc!
