Super moist and tender, this vegan pumpkin bread recipe is truly made in one bowl and honestly rivals the Starbucks pumpkin loaf. You only need a few ingredients from the cupboard (NOTHING from the fridge) for a perfectly spiced pumpkin loaf topped with either a cinnamon streusel or vegan cream cheese icing. It’s the most MOIST and soft pumpkin bread you’ll ever have, vegan or not!

This recipe is actually so good, it inspired my moist vegan pumpkin muffins with cream cheese filling: the same phenomenally moist and soft pumpkin treat in bakery-style muffin form.

sliced vegan pumpkin bread loaf with frosting on top on a wooden table with mini pumpkins and a caramel jar behind it.

Table of contents

Why this vegan pumpkin bread is even better than Starbucks

You can stop the search. The best vegan pumpkin bread is officially here. And, like my classic vegan banana bread, 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. 

This vegan pumpkin bread is every bit as moist and tender in texture, with sweet warming spices that come through for the ultimate pumpkin flavor. 

The key ingredient is using JUST PUMPKIN PUREE for the vegan egg replacement. That’s how we replace the eggs, and you won’t even miss them!

Made in just one bowl and with just a few simple ingredients, this is easily one of my easiest vegan quick bread recipes (though the vegan gingerbread loaf is a favorite! Check out my vegan cookbook for even more!) and the perfect cozy fall breakfast treat that you need this holiday season. 

Wonderful after a Thanksgiving dinner with a cup of coffee, or even for Christmas morning breakfast!

sliced vegan pumpkin bread slices leaning on each other with a small bowl of cinnamon sugar next to it on a wooden table.

ONLY Pantry Staple Ingredients- Nothing from the fridge!

pumpkin bread ingredients on a marble table.

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- most you have in your pantry already! But the key ingredients that make this vegan pumpkin bread so special are:

  • Oil: No butter is required here- oil locks in way more moisture for a bouncy and tender soft pumpkin bread slice!
  • Organic sugar & light brown sugar: You really need BOTH for a super moist pumpkin bread that has flavor beyond just sweetness. Technically, you can also use coconut sugar to be refined sugar free, but the richness in flavor from the light brown sugar really brings home the autumnal flavors. Just be sure your sugar is organic or certified vegan- all other sugar might NOT be vegan then!
  • Pumpkin spice: This is a blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and cardamom. You can purchase it in stores or make it yourself! 
  • Pumpkin Puree: Not JUST the flavor and moisture of this bread, but the egg replacement as well. Yep, you read that right! Pumpkin puree is one of my favorite vegan egg replacements. Just like my one bowl pumpkin cake, it helps the recipe to rise perfectly while locking in that moisture.
  • Baking soda & baking powder: Because we don’t use eggs, we’re leaning a bit more on the leavening agents to do the rising work alongside our pumpkin. Combined with the pumpkin, it acts as if it’s an egg!

Now of course, if you’re making the maple cream cheese frosting, you’ll need vegan butter and vegan cream cheese, which do come from the fridge. But I promise this pumpkin bread is JUST as delicious plain as it is frosted or with streusel!

How to make the BEST One Bowl Vegan Pumpkin Bread:

bowl and whisk making the pumpkin bread on a marble table.
  1. Whisk together the wet ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
finished pumpkin bread batter in a bowl on a marble table.
  1. Then add in the dry ingredients, and whisk gently into the wet ingredients. Mix the batter JUST until all of the dry is mixed into the wet. You don’t want to over mix the batter.
pumpkin bread before baking in a loaf tin on a marble table.
  1. Pour the pumpkin bread batter into the loaf pan.
pumpkin bread after baking in a loaf tin on a wooden table.
  1. Bake for 65 minutes at 350F then allow the pumpkin loaf to cool.
maple cream cheese frosting in a bowl on a wooden table.
  1. Once cooled, you can either slice and enjoy as is or prepare the vegan maple cream cheese frosting.
frosted pumpkin loaf with a drizzle of caramel on top and a jar of caramel behind the loaf with mini pumpkins next to it.
  1. Similarly to my vegan pumpkin bars, it’s essential that this pumpkin bread is COOL before frosting. Otherwise the frosting slips onto the floor! Frost the cooled pumpkin loaf bread, slice and enjoy!

Option for the streusel topping:

Here are my notes on the streusel topping:

  1. If you’re making a streusel topping, prepare that first! Then onto the pumpkin bread.
  2. Sprinkle the streusel on top and COVER the loaf as it bakes. This prevents the streusel from getting too hard in the oven.
pumpkin bread before baking
with streusel before baking
pumpkin bread after baking
with streusel after baking

And if you LOVE cinnamon streusel, definitely try my moist vegan pumpkin coffee cake with cream cheese ripple next, which really emphasizes that gorgeously spiced crumble on top!

Optional add-ins:

You can, of course, jazz up your vegan pumpkin bread with a few of these optional stir ins:

  • Vegan chocolate chips
  • Walnuts
  • Cranberries
  • Pumpkin seeds or pepitas
  • Pecans

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 pumpkin and oil.

That being said, here’s a trick for making sure that your pumpkin bread is always moist:

Keep the vegan pumpkin loaf covered immediately after your remove it from the oven!

I like to use a piece of parchment paper (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.

bitten slice of vegna pumpkin bread

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 make this loaf into mini pumpkin loaves?

I recently tested this recipe as mini loaves, and it worked perfectly! I tested the loaves without the streusel, and the full recipe made 4 loaves baked at 350F for around 32 minutes (though check on them after around 30 minutes).

🌟MADE THIS RECIPE & LOVED IT?🌟I’d love it if you’d like 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!

Watch how to make vegan pumpkin bread:

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sliced vegan pumpkin bread slices leaning on each other with a small bowl of cinnamon sugar next to it on a wooden table.

One Bowl MOIST Vegan Pumpkin Bread Recipe

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.9 from 47 reviews
  • Author: Britt Berlin
  • Prep Time: 10
  • Cook Time: 65
  • Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
  • Yield: 12 1x
  • Category: Breakfast
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: American
  • Diet: Vegan
Print Recipe

Description

Super moist and tender, this vegan pumpkin bread recipe is truly made in one bowl and honestly rivals the Starbucks pumpkin loaf. Perfectly spiced and topped with either a cinnamon streusel or vegan cream cheese icing for the moist MOIST and soft pumpkin bread you’ll ever have, vegan or not!

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 1/4 cup (300 g) pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
  • 1/2 cup (100 g) organic granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup (150 g) organic light brown sugar
  • 2/3 cup (160 g) cooking oil, such as avocado oil, olive oil, or a blend
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
  • 2 tsp pumpkin spice blend
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 2 cup (250 g) all purpose flour or gluten free 1:1 baking flour

Below are the optional toppings. Keep in mind that the cinnamon streusel changes the baking time by 20 minutes.

  • Cinnamon Streusel:
  • 1/2 cup (67 g) all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp ground pumpkin spice blend
  • 1/3 cup (75 g) light brown sugar
  • 3 tbsp vegan butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/8 tsp sea salt

Vegan Maple Cream Cheese frosting:

  • 1/4 cup (65 g) vegan butter, room temperature
  • 1/4 cup (65 g) vegan cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1 cup (120 g) powdered sugar
  • 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated maple sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. Please read through all instructions before beginning.
  2. Prep: Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a  9″ 1 lb.  loaf pan and line with parchment paper. Measure out all ingredients before beginning. 
  3. If using a the streusel topping: Whisk together the melted vegan butter, brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon until it resembles a crumble. Then set aside. 
  4. Whisk together the wet ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, sugar, brown sugar, oil, vanilla extract, and sea salt. Mix until combined. Then add in the pumpkin spice, cinnamon, baking powder, and baking soda, whisking to integrate. 
  5. Finish the pumpkin bread batter: Add in the flour. Whisk until the dry JUST combines with the wet. Be careful NOT to over mix. It’s okay if there are still some clumps- the batter shouldn’t be entirely smooth, just no dry mixture showing. 
  6. Bake the pumpkin bread: Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. If topping with the streusel, sprinkle the streusel on top. Place the pumpkin bread into the oven to bake. If baking with the streusel, baking for 1 hour and 20 minutes, covering the pumpkin bread after 1 hour to prevent the streusel from burning. For a plain pumpkin bread, bake for 65 minutes. Remove the pumpkin bread once fully baked and a toothpick comes out clean.
  7. 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. If using the frosting, cool entirely before topping with frosting.
  8. Cream cheese frosting: To make the frosting, use a hand mixer to cream together the vegan butter and vegan cream cheese. Then add in the powdered sugar, maple sugar, and vanilla extract, and mix just until combined. Top the pumpkin bread with the frosting, slice and enjoy!
  9. 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. I recommend using King Arthur Measure for Measure gluten-free flour blend. 

Storage: 

    • 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.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 slice, no frosting no streusel
  • Calories: 275
  • Sugar: 21.4 g
  • Sodium: 81.3 mg
  • Fat: 12.8 g
  • Saturated Fat: 1.9 g
  • Carbohydrates: 39.6 g
  • Fiber: 1.5 g
  • Protein: 2.5 g
  • Cholesterol: 0 mg