Vegan Gingerbread Loaf (GF)
Dare I say it, but Christmas is emerging. Slowly it is popping up before us, and all too soon it will be Christmas day!
I’m not a fan of winter, but i’m a big fan of Christmas. Considering how much food is involved, it’s hardly a surprise I love it. Winter flavours are so perfectly festive, one of my favourites being gingerbread!
Let’s be serious though, Me and Dillon eat gingerbread men all year round. Since the gingerbread men at work and at co-op are vegan, I can hardly help myself biting off poor gingey’s head.
This loaf is definitely a punch above the gingerbread man. With a combo of ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg combined with coconut sugar & molasses, it has a fragrant rich flavour. Both of these sweeteners are unrefined and the blackstrap molasses is actually super high in iron and mineral!
To top it all off, I drizzled some coconut butter and chopped cranberries.
I’ve seen a lot of recipes using pumpkin puree for their loaf cakes, but I used apple puree here merely because i’ve been exhausting pumpkin recently because of the build up to Halloween. However, if it’s easier for you guys, i’m sure it will also work in this recipe.
- I made my own apple puree by peeling, coring and boiling, then simmering Bramley apples for 10 minutes.
- Then mashed them with a potato masher when they were soft & tender
This is a simple gluten-free loaf. Often I use my own flour blends, but this can be problematic for those who don’t have an excessive of gluten-free flours piled up in the corner of their kitchen… ops. Instead I used the Doves Farm Plain Flour. This gluten-free blend is the easiest to get hold of here in the UK, so there should be no putting you off this delicious recipe!
The blend and combo of textures worked harmoniously and created a loaf you wouldn’t believe was gluten free! Even if you aren’t gluten-free, give the wheat-gut a rest and test out how moist and spongey it turns out.
- 2 tbsp. Chia Seeds
- 2 cups Gluten Free Plain Flour (we used Doves Farm)
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda/baking soda
- 1¼ tsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp. ground ginger
- 1 tsp each: cinnamon, ground cloves and nutmeg
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup non-dairy margarine (or coconut oil)
- ¾ cup coconut sugar or brown sugar
- ¼ cup molasses
- 1 cup apple puree*
- 2 tbsp. melted coconut butter
- 1 tbsp. chopped dried cranberries
- Firstly, make your chia-egg. Mix the chia seeds with 6 tbsp. water
- Pre-heat your oven to 325C/170F/Gas Mark 3 and grease your loaf tin with a little vegan margarine
- Whisk together GF flour, baking powder, soda, xanthan gum, spices and salt. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, cream together the margarine and coconut sugar until smooth
- Add the molasses, apple puree and stir in the chia-egg
- Stir & fold the wet mixture into the flour until fully incorporated
- Smooth down into the loaf tin and bake for 45-55mins or until a toothpick comes out of the cake with just a few crumbs.
- Keep in a air-tight container for 3-4 days
Saw this on foodgawker — SUCH A BEAUTIFUL LOAF! Reminds me of one of the loaves we make at the bakery I work out. I want to try this 🙂
Thank you Summer! Gingerbread has to be my all time fave! Let us know how it goes if you try it
Ooooo this does sound like the perfect Christmas recipe, ginger cake has always been a favourite of mine, especially with custard. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Kathryn | nimblenote.blogspot.com
Mine too! No problem, hope you get around to trying it out
This looks amazing. Anything with molasses, sign me up. I’m totally ready for the Christmas season! We don’t really get a winter in Vancouver, it just rains for months on end. I can’t remember the last white Christmas we had but it’s still the best time of year! Thanks for the recipe.
Thanks! The UK is much like that too – you’re not alone!