Fall has three essentials: cozy sweaters, warming soups, and PUMPKIN BREAD! Whether your fond memories of this spice-filled treat are from Starbucks, Grandma’s house, or your favorite box mix, we’re bringing you alllll the nostalgia! This homemade gluten-free + dairy-free pumpkin bread is FLUFFY, tender, spice-filled, and has the perfect balance of sweetness and pumpkin flavor!
Just 1 bowl and simple ingredients required for this fall classic. Let us show you how it’s done!
How to Make the BEST Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bread
We’re no strangers to making delicious gluten-free pumpkin bread, but what does it take to make the BEST loaf? One that’s fluffy, moist, and just as classic as you remember from your glutenous days?
We’re sharing our secrets:
- Lots of pumpkin purée – an excellent pumpkin loaf (in our opinion) is one with a noticeable pumpkin flavor. Now, that’s easier said than done! Why? Pumpkin has a tendency to create a gummy and wet texture. This is especially problematic in gluten-free baking because gluten-free baked goods are already prone to being gummy.
- A really good gluten-free flour blend is part of the solution! Using a blend that’s absorbent enough to soak up all that pumpkin, neutral enough to not overpower the flavor, and light enough to achieve a fluffy texture is key. You can learn about the properties of different gluten-free flours and how we crafted our go-to 1:1 blend here.
- Almond flour is one of our go-to’s in gluten-free baking, and we almost always add at least a little of it when using a 1:1 gluten-free blend. Why? Because it locks in moisture and prevents baked goods from tasting too “floury.” The result is a light, fluffy, cakey texture!
- Eggs – while we often create vegan recipes, achieving a gluten-free loaf with the taste and texture of the classic did require eggs. The eggs create a slightly spongy loaf that isn’t crumbly and is super fluffy!
- Cane sugar – while many of our recipes are refined sugar-free, cane sugar does produce the best result in this recipe! Not only does it yield a neutral flavor; it also creates a lighter and better-structured loaf. Sugar isn’t just about sweetness: It also plays a role in the texture of baked goods, especially when baking gluten-free!
- Spices – we went heavy on the spices in this loaf, with a combination of cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice. If you don’t have or don’t want to make pumpkin pie spice, you can opt to add more cinnamon plus nutmeg and ginger! It’s worth the extra effort though, especially if pumpkin coffee cake and pumpkin pie are in your future!
The other ingredients? Just the classics: oil or butter for moisture, baking soda for rise, and salt for overall flavor. Easy peasy pumpkin bread awaits!
Just whisk your wet ingredients, add your dry, and mix until you have a smooth batter.
Then pour into a parchment-lined (or greased and floured) loaf pan and into the oven it goes!
This loaf does require a longer bake time (see full details in the recipe below!) than your classic loaf, but it’s worth the wait!
This gluten-free pumpkin bread is:
Super pumpkin-y
Moist
Tender
Spice-filled
Perfect for fall
& SO classic!
It’s perfect for a cozy weekend lounging around the house, bringing to a fall brunch, or snacking throughout the week, and it will even impress at holiday gatherings! Enjoy on its own or pair with a cozy drink for the ultimate in fall comfort!
More Gluten-Free Loaves You’ll Love:
- The Ultimate Gluten-Free Banana Bread (Bakery Worthy!)
- Lemon Loaf Cake (Vegan/GF)
- Gluten-Free Orange Almond Loaf Cake
- 1-Bowl Chocolate Zucchini Bread (Vegan + GF)
If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo @minimalistbaker on Instagram. Cheers, friends!
The BEST Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bread (1 Bowl!)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup avocado oil (use a brand with a neutral flavor — typically clear in color // or sub other neutral oil or melted butter — dairy-free as needed)
- 1 ¼ cup organic cane sugar*
- 3 large eggs* (pasture raised, organic when possible)
- 1 (15 oz) can pumpkin purée (we like Libby’s // 1 can yields ~1 ¾ cups or 425 g)
- 2/3 cup almond flour* (we like Wellbee’s)
- 1 ⅓ cup MB 1:1 GF Blend*
- 1 ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or sub an extra 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/4 tsp each ground nutmeg and ginger)
Instructions
- Position oven rack in the center of the oven, preheat oven to 325 degrees F (162 C), and line a loaf pan with parchment paper*. Leave enough parchment sticking up around the sides of the pan to lift/remove the loaf later.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the avocado oil, cane sugar, and eggs. Whisk well until evenly combined and silky. Add the pumpkin purée and mix until fully incorporated, then the dry ingredients: almond flour, gluten-free flour blend, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice, and whisk once more until smooth.
- Transfer batter to the prepared loaf pan and bake on the center rack of the oven for 75-90 minutes or until a toothpick/skewer inserted all the way into the center comes out completely clean. Poke a few spots to ensure it’s fully baked. The outside of the bread will get dark in color, but it shouldn’t burn (you can cover with foil if it is).
- Remove from the oven and let the bread cool for ~10 minutes in the loaf pan, then use the edges of the parchment paper to lift the loaf out of the pan and place on a cooling rack. For best texture, we recommend letting the loaf cool completely before slicing, ~2-3 hours. You can encourage the cooling process by placing it by a cool window or turning on a fan.
- Once fully cooled, slice and enjoy! Leftover bread keeps for 2-3 days at room temperature, or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. It’s delicious reheated in an oven or toaster oven! The loaf can also be frozen (sliced or whole) for up to 1 month.
Video
Notes
*Coconut sugar works in place of cane sugar, but is less sweet, denser, and darker in color.
*We developed this recipe using our 1:1 Gluten-Free Flour Blend. Our DIY GF Blend (or a similar store-bought blend such as Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Baking Flour) should also work well, but you may need slightly more flour — reference the texture in the video. We also tested with 2/3 cup (100 g) brown rice flour and 2/3 cup (100 g) potato starch and it worked well, but we slightly preferred the texture of the 1:1 blend.
*If nut-free, you could try subbing more gluten-free blend instead, but it’s more absorbent, so you will likely only need about 1/3 cup to replace the 2/3 cup almond flour. We haven’t tested with this modification and can’t guarantee it will turn out as well.
*We prefer using parchment paper for easy removal from the pan, but greasing and flouring the pan will also be fine.
*Nutrition information is a rough estimate.
Michele says
Delicious! Recipe was quick to put together. I subbed the MB GF flour blend for King Arthur bread flour and felt it came out great! Moist, crumbly yet good structure. Great pumpkin flavor, not overwhelming.
Wonderful! We’re so glad it worked well with that blend. Thank you for sharing your experience, Michele! xo
Andra says
I am not much of a baker but this recipe is very easy to follow and the results are delicious!
Yay! We’re so glad you found this recipe to be easy to follow and that you enjoyed the result. Thank you for sharing your experience, Andra! xo
Debbie L. says
The most delicious pumpkin bread I’ve made! The one bowl method and ease of clean up was also appealing! I used coconut sugar instead of cane sugar. I made a luxurious butter spread of grass fed butter, vanilla and cinnamon! Really easy recipe that tastes much more time consuming! Thank you!!!
Yay! We’re so glad this has been your favorite, Debbie. That spread sounds like a wonderful addition! Thanks so much for sharing! xo
Jamie Harness says
I’ve made this a few times and people are RAVING about this bread! Easy to make and delicious!
Yay! We’re so glad everyone has been enjoying it. Thank you for the lovely review, Jamie! xo
Sarah says
This bread is perfect — nicely spiced and very moist. I used 1 cup of sugar and 1/4 cup of maple syrup. Also added nuts and chocolate chips. Perhaps because of those additions, I had more batter than my loaf pan would hold, so I also made four muffins, which also were perfect (and took about 20 minutes to bake) — and cool faster so you don’t have to wait so long to eat them. I just ate one with a cup of tea this morning, and it was divine! This will be on repeat during pumpkin season.
Yay! We’re so glad you enjoy this bread and will be making it again. Thank you for sharing your experience, Sarah! xo
Sandra Niiler says
It is the best pumpkin bread. And I have tried several. Moist and flavorful. Nice texture. No gloppy sink holes in the center of the bread. Thank you for this recipe. It makes fall even richer.
Thank you for the wonderful review, Sandra! We’re so glad you enjoy this one! xo
Sarah B. says
This recipe is fantastic! I’ve made it 4 times this month already. The whole family looks forward to it and devours within 24 hrs. I’m plant based so the only sub I did was the eggs, I used 3 flax but 1 T less water than usual. For the gluten free 1 to 1 I used a combo of Pamelas and Bobs Red meal. It rose great, had a fab crust and so fluffy and soft even with the flax. Not dense at all. Thank you!
Amazing! We’re so glad you and your family are enjoying this pumpkin bread. Thank you for the lovely review, Sarah! xo
Rita says
Just made your Pumpkin bread (sans the spices). I used a gluten-free flour I had on hand, and added Almond extract to the mix. I took it out of the oven, and it smells wonderful. After it cools for 2-3 hrs, I am going to slice it (not all of it) into biscotti-size portions, put it back in the oven, and see if it turns out! I have high hopes, but just in case, half of it will be consumed as Almond Pumpkin bread with some yummy butter on top. I love your recipes so much!
Update: decided to slice it now as it had been half an hour, snuck the end slice, spread butter on it – Oh My Gosh, so good! This makes the fluffiest and nicest bread. Will make this again with the spices. Stay tuned for the biscotti trial on the other half of this loaf.
YAY! We’re so happy to hear this, Rita. Thank you for your sweet words and wonderful review! Excited to hear how the biscotti version goes!
Victoria Sørensen says
Can i substitute the sugar with maple syrup?
Hi Victoria, we haven’t tested with that modification, but cane sugar helps with the structure here so we think it could impact the texture. Let us know if you try it out!
Nicole says
Excellent flavor and texture! Perfect amount of spice- worth the wait of the long bake time. Was a little low on avocado oil, so I topped off with olive oil (I felt comfortable doing this because it was only a bit and had a low bake temp). Came out superb! My daughter and I loved baking together to celebrate the autumn equinox. Thank you for this simple and delicious GF/DF recipe!
Aw, we love that you and your daughter made it together and enjoyed it, Nicole! Thank you for sharing your experience! Happy fall :)
Carola says
This recipe turned out great, even with my modifications. I didn’t need it to be GF, and I wanted to increase the fibre. I substituted: 1/2 cup quick oats and 1/2 cup + 1/3 cup whole grain spelt flour. I decreased the sugar to 3/4 cup, and added 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips. I sprinkled more chocolate chips on top, plus pumpkin seeds, before baking. It turned out moist, delicious, and sweet. Thanks for another yummy recipe!
Amazing! We’re so glad it was a success. Thank you for the lovely review and for sharing your modifications, Carola! xo
Candice Johns says
This bread is absolutely amazing! I made it exactly as shown above and it’s so moist and yummy.
Yay! We’re so glad you enjoy it, Candice. Thank you for the wonderful review! xo
Holly says
Could I just use all purpose flour instead of almond and GF flour?
Hi Holly, we would suggest keeping the almond flour for best texture, but using all-purpose flour for the GF blend should work well. It may be slightly more absorbent, so we would recommend starting with 1 cup all purpose flour and adding more a little at a time until the batter matches the video. If you do want to try replacing the almond flour, keep in mind that all purpose flour is about twice as absorbent as almond flour so you won’t need nearly as much. Let us know if you do some experimenting!
Hannah says
This bread turned out brilliantly. I subbed dairy free yogurt (Forager Project cashew coconut yogurt) for the avocado oil b/c I avoid the use of oil in all recipes. I baked it for 65 minutes and it’s perfect. Delicious! I will definitely make this again. Thank you for another wonderful recipe.
Yay! We’re so glad you enjoy it, Hannah. Thank you for the lovely review and for sharing your modification! xo
Trisha Fisher says
Hi! i’ve made this in a loaf pan and it’s fantastic. I would like to try it in a muffin tin. Have you done that successfully? how many muffins does the recipe yield? and what about bake time? Thanks!
Hi Trisha, we haven’t tried that, but it should work! We would suggest checking around the 45-minute mark. They’re done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let us know if you try it!
AJ says
Can I use AP flour instead of gluten free flour? thank you
Love your recipes
Aw, we’re so glad you enjoy our recipes, AJ! All purpose flour should work. It may be slightly more absorbent, so we would suggest starting with 1 cup and adding more a little at a time until the batter matches the video. Let us know how it goes!
C. Lore says
Can I make this with Just Egg (Eggs From Plants) to make it vegan? Like maybe 12 Tablespoons?
Hi, eggs are important in this one for the right texture – fluffiness and binding. It would be too dense and gummy with Just Egg. For an egg-free/vegan version, check out our vegan pumpkin bread recipe. Hope that helps!
Emily Marie Weston says
Can i make this with only almond flour?
Hi Emily, we wouldn’t recommend it! The loaf would likely be dense and a bit too crumbly. If you still want to try it out, we would suggest adding more almond flour because it isn’t as absorbent as a GF blend. Hope that helps!
Mindy says
Hello! For this recipe do you recommend using an 8×4 inch or 9×5 inch loaf pan?
Hi Mindy, either will work! We used an 8×4 inch which yields a tall loaf.
Mindy Chu says
Thank you!