This vegan pumpkin bread is even BETTER than Starbucks! Naturally eggless, dairy free, lower in fat, and easily gluten free, yet tastes just like the classic! Topped with a cinnamon streusel topping, this vegan pumpkin bread is full of warming spices, super moist, and tender- absolutely no one will know this pumpkin bread is vegan!
Why this vegan pumpkin bread is even better than Starbucks
You can stop the search. The best vegan pumpkin bread is officially here. And it’s even better than Starbucks, TRUST ME.
With fall coming in very fast, you might be craving that classic Pumpkin Spice Latte and a good slice of Starbucks pumpkin bread. Unfortunately, Starbucks doesn’t have a vegan version of their pumpkin bread. But don’t worry- we can make it at home just as easily and naturally vegan.
According to the Starbucks official website, a slice of their pumpkin loaf contains eggs, and soy, and has about 410 calories, 15 grams of fat, and 39 grams of sugar.
Comparatively, this vegan pumpkin bread contains no eggs, is naturally dairy free, refined sugar free, and soy free, and can easily be gluten free. Not to mention, the nutrition of one slice of this pumpkin bread with streusel is 171 calories, 3 grams of fat, and 16 grams of sugar.
Of course, I’m not one to pass up a slice of my vegan vanilla cake, which definitely has sugar and carbs and fat in it. But if you want a healthier pumpkin bread that DOESN’T sacrifice taste, then this is THE pumpkin bread to make!
What makes this copycat Starbucks pumpkin bread vegan?
As you probably read from the description, this pumpkin bread is entirely eggless, soy free, dairy free, and oil free.
We don’t use any animal products whatsoever to make this pumpkin bread, yet keep the same traditional moist and delicious pumpkin bread taste and texture.
In place of eggs: we’re using ground flaxseed “eggs”
In place of dairy: we’re using a combination of applesauce and maple syrup
And that’s it!
How do you make this pumpkin bread oil free?
This vegan pumpkin bread is also completely oil free, thanks to the applesauce.
One of my favorite vegan baking tricks is using applesauce for nearly everything! This trick helps to also keep this healthy pumpkin bread lower in fat, as well as reducing the sugar measurements since apples are pretty sweet.
Plus, pumpkin adds a lot of moisture already, so we’re off to a great start.
There is some oil in the cinnamon streusel topping, but you can completely omit the streusel if you don’t want to make a pumpkin bread with streusel, and just add in some vegan chocolate chips for something extra fun!
Ingredients & Substitutions:
I am quite obsessed with how simple this easy vegan pumpkin bread is. It’s so incredibly quick to throw together, and your kitchen will smell just absolutely amazing throughout the process.
Plus, the ingredients are so incredibly simple. All you’ll need for this super moist yet oil free vegan pumpkin bread is:
- Flour: you can use all purpose, gluten free 1:1 baking flour, or cassava flour. I’ve tested both and they work perfectly!
- Coconut sugar: you can also use regular sugar, but keep in mind, it won’t be refined sugar free then.
- Pumpkin spice
- Cinnamon
- Applesauce
- Pumpkin Puree
- Leavening agents: don’t forget the baking powder and baking soda!
How to make vegan pumpkin bread (overview)
For the full written instructions and ingredient measurements, see the bottom of this post in the recipe card. You can also hit the “jump to recipe” button at the top of this post! Here, we’ll go over a brief overview of the steps, along with providing visuals for a better understanding of the recipe.
To make a vegan pumpkin bread:
- Whisk together the dry ingredients.
- Fold in the wet ingredients and mix the batter until all of the dry is completely mixed into the wet. I recommend using a rubber spatula for this part.
- Pour the pumpkin bread batter into the loaf pan.
Now for this next part, you can either add a cinnamon streusel on top for a vegan pumpkin bread with streusel topping or you can just bake it as a regular (but still absolutely amazing) vegan pumpkin bread!
Once baked, remove the loaf from the oven and cover it to let it cool for 10 minutes before serving!
Cinnamon Streusel Topping
You can definitely keep this copycat Starbucks inspired vegan pumpkin bread just as is, without the cinnamon streusel topping. But personally, if I’m going to have pumpkin bread, I’m going all out with cinnamon
The cinnamon streusel is naturally dairy free, refined sugar free, and easily gluten free as well.
Simple mix together the melted vegan butter, flour (gluten free as needed), cinnamon, and coconut sugar. Sprinkle over the top of your pumpkin bread batter. Then when you’re about to bake the bread, cover the loaf tin with tinfoil to prevent the streusel from overb
Remove the tinfoil just over halfway through the baking time, and continue to bake until the bread is done!
Now keep in mind that because I recommend using coconut sugar, the streusel will look much darker in color than a cinnamon streusel made with regular sugar.
You can use regular sugar if you’d like, so that the streusel will be lighter in color and more easily detected if it’s browning too fast.
Make a vegan gluten free pumpkin bread:
If you’d like to make this a vegan gluten free pumpkin bread, simply swap in gluten free 1:1 flour.
I’ve tested both methods with nearly identical results. If you’re going the gluten free route, I highly recommend using Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1:1 Baking Flour in the blue bag.
How do you keep pumpkin bread moist?
The question everyone is asking! So because this is an eggless pumpkin bread, you might be thinking it’s impossible to get a moist pumpkin bread.
Nope! In fact, because this is a vegan pumpkin bread, it’s actually extraordinarily moist, thanks to the applesauce. Even though we’re not using any oil in the actual loaf, the applesauce provides a lot of moisture to help from drying out the bread.
That being said, here’s a trick for making sure that your pumpkin bread is always moist:
- Cover the pumpkin bread immediately after your remove it from the oven!
I like to use a piece of tinfoil (the same one I use to keep the streusel from burning- if you’re using the streusel!) and just gently place it over the loaf pan. Allow the vegan pumpkin bread to sit for 10 minutes covered, then carefully remove it from the pan.
How to know when vegan pumpkin bread is done
Typically, pumpkin bread, whether vegan or not, usually cracks at the top, and that’s how you’ll know it’s done.
However, if you’re going with the cinnamon streusel route on top of this vegan pumpkin bread, I recommend sticking a toothpick into the middle of the loaf to check the doneness. The toothpick should be completely clean when removed.
Either way, the toothpick method is a very good and tried-and-true method. If you’re not doing the cinnamon streusel topping, though, another trick you can do is towards the end of the suggested bake time, lightly press the top of the pumpkin bread.
If it bounces back, then you know it’s ready. If it’s sort of slow to bounce back, it still needs some time.
Can I substitute pumpkin in pumpkin bread?
Yes, this is a pumpkin bread recipe, but what if you’re all out of pumpkin and can’t run to the store? Not a problem!
You can easily swap in an equal amount of pureed sweet potato or pureed butternut squash. The bread will taste slightly different, but not by much.
Storage & Reheating
- Room Temperature: Because this pumpkin bread is so moist, you can store it easily at room temperature for 2 days. I recommend wrapping it tightly with plastic wrap to ensure that it keeps as long as possible.
- Fridge: Alternatively, you can keep this pumpkin quick bread in the fridge, wrapping it in plastic wrap the same day. The vegan pumpkin bread will last for about 5 days with this method (although I bet you’ll finish it before then!).
- Freezer: If you want to have pumpkin bread for weeks after you make it, not a problem! I recommend slicing the pumpkin bread and storing in a freezer safe bag for up to a month. To reheat the pumpkin bread, simply place a slice on a piece of tin foil and heat in the oven at 350F for 5-7 minutes.
You are just going to absolutely love this super soft & tender vegan pumpkin bread! This fall inspired bread is:
- Super easy to make
- Simple in ingredients
- Naturally vegan, eggless, dairy free, and nut free
- Easily refined sugar free and gluten free
- Perfect with a cup of coffee
- Full of warming spices
- Naturally lower in fat
- Tastes BETTER than Starbucks!!
As always, I love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there!
Happy Pumpkin Bread Baking!
More healthy vegan pumpkin recipes:
Nut Free Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake
Want to save this recipe for later? Add it to your favorite recipe board on Pinterest!
If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below. This helps others to find the recipes! As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there as well!
Print
Best Ever Vegan Pumpkin Bread with Streusel Topping
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 60
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This is truly the BEST vegan pumpkin bread ever made- even BETTER than Starbucks!! Super soft, fluffy, tender, and FULL of pumpkin spice, absolutely no one will know this pumpkin bread is vegan, eggless, dairy free, lower in fat, and easily gluten free! Topped with a cinnamon streusel!
Ingredients
- 220 grams all purpose flour or gluten free 1:1 baking flour
- 1 tbsp pumpkin spice
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 225 grams pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 150 grams coconut sugar
- 125 grams unsweetened applesauce
- 50 grams unsweetened dairy free milk with 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Optional: 1/4 cup extra unsweetened coconut or almond milk, if using cassava flour
- Optional: chocolate chips
Pumpkin Spice Streusel:
- 35 grams vegan butter, melted
- 40 grams flour
- 50 grams coconut sugar
- 1/2 tbsp pumpkin spice or cinnamon
Instructions
- Please read through all instructions before beginning.
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 350F and grease a 9″ loaf pan and line with parchment paper. Measure out all ingredients before beginning. Make sure that the dairy free milk and apple cider vinegar are mixed together and set aside. Moving forward, this will be referred to as vegan buttermilk.
- Make the streusel topping first: In a small bowl, combine the melted vegan butter with the flour, coconut sugar, and pumpkin spice/cinnamon with a whisk. Set aside.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, coconut sugar, pumpkin spice, cinnamon, baking soda, and baking powder.
- Make the pumpkin bread batter: In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, applesauce, coconut sugar, vegan buttermilk, and vanilla extract. Add in the flour mixture, and use a rubber spatula to mix until the dry ingredients are JUST incorporated.
- Bake the pumpkin bread: Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan, and sprinkle the streusel on top. Place the pumpkin bread into the oven to bake for 55-60 minutes. To protect the streusel from burning, you can cover the top of the pumpkin bread for the first 30 minutes of baking with tin foil. Then remove the tinfoil after 30 minutes to continue baking. Remove the pumpkin bread once fully baked and a toothpick comes out clean.
- Slice and serve: allow the pumpkin bread to cool in the loaf pan for 10 minutes before carefully transferring to a cooling rack to cool for another 10 minutes. Slice and enjoy!
- Storage: wrap the pumpkin bread in plastic wrap and allow it to sit at room temperature for up to 2 days or store in the fridge for up to 5 days. Alternatively, you can freeze the bread by slicing it and placing the slices into a freezer bag. Store in the freezer for up to 1 month. To reheat, place a piece on a piece of tin foil and heat for 5 minutes at 350F.
Notes
Gluten free: use gluten free 1:1 baking flour to make this a vegan gluten free pumpkin bread.
Keywords: vegan pumpkin bread, vegan pumpkin bread recipe, gluten free vegan pumpkin bread, pumpkin bread with streusel topping
oh my yum… even the batter taste amazing!!!
★★★★★
Aw so happy to hear it!!! ENJOY!
Suggestions on baking as muffins?
Hi Samantha! You can definitely bake these into muffins- it will bake faster, so check them after 25 minutes to see where they are in the process. Alternatively, there’s also a pumpkin muffin recipe that’s very similar to this one! Here is the link: https://thebananadiaries.com/healthy-pumpkin-muffins/
What can replace the coconut sugar?
Hi Hadley! You can use brown sugar or regular sugar here instead 🙂
Hi there,
can you replace applesauce with coconut oil or vegan butter? If so, would the measurement be the same?
thanks!
Hi Charlotte! I haven’t tried entirely replacing the coconut oil/vegan butter with applesauce. I imagine the bread might be a bit “gummier,” but if you want a lower in fat pumpkin bread, you’re more than welcome to try- I just can’t guarantee results! If you try it, the measurements will be 1:1!
Thanks For Sharing this amazing recipe. My family loved it. I will be sharing this recipe with my friends. Hope the will like it.
★★★★★
Aw I’m so happy to hear it! Enjoy! Thank you!