Healthy Vegan Gingerbread Loaf
Healthy Vegan Gingerbread Loaf- made with whole grain flour and iron rich molasses, this gingerbread is nourishing and packed full of flavor!
Now that I’ve served you chewy ginger molasses cookies and flourless gingerbread muffins, it’s time for a gingerbread loaf! Because there is always room for more gingerbread.
In all honesty, I wasn’t sure if this loaf was going to make it to the blog. I had to test it 4 times to get it just right. I almost gave up when trial number 3 exploded inside of my oven. True story.
Thankfully persistence paid off on the 4th round with the most perfect gingerbread loaf a girl could ask for. I discovered the trick was using applesauce instead of a flax egg to keep it from sinking in the middle and juuuussstt the right amount of leavening agent to keep it from exploding. It’s a delicate balance.
I tested the recipe using one bowl (as seen in the process shots above) but I found that using two worked best to assure proper blending of the wet and dry ingredients. I know it’s more dishes and believe me, I probably hate doing dishes more than anyone. But for a perfect gingerbread loaf even I think it’s worth it.
I deemed the recipe healthy because it’s made with fiber-packed whole grain flour and blackstrap molasses which gives it a hefty boost of iron. I also used pure maple syrup to keep it refined sugar-free. I haven’t tested the recipe with gluten-free flours but my suspicion is that an all-purpose gluten-free blend would work in equal amounts in place of the spelt flour. If you decide to give it a try, please let us know how it turned out!
Healthy Vegan Gingerbread Loaf
Yield: 8 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Ingredients:
- 2 cups spelt flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup unsulphured molasses
- 1/3 cup melted virgin coconut oil
- 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/3 cup applesauce
- 3/4 cup hot water
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350°F then lightly grease a 9×5” loaf pan.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Whisk together then set aside.
In a separate bowl, combine the molasses, maple syrup, applesauce, coconut oil, and vanilla extract. Whisk together.
To the bowl with the wet ingredients, add the dry then fold together with a spatula a few times. Pour in the hot water then stir until everything is well combined. Pour the batter into the loaf pan. Bake in the oven for 60 minutes, until set. Allow to cool for at least 15 minutes.
The icing on top is made from 1 cup powdered sugar with 2 tablespoons lemon juice whisked together. The gingerbread is perfectly sweet on it’s own but the icing is a nice way to dress it up.
Did you try this recipe? Please let me know how it turned out by leaving a comment below or sharing a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #makingthymeforhealth. I love hearing your feedback!
I can’t believe one loaf blew up in your oven! I’m glad you got the recipe right after all that. :) I’ve been baking my own healthy gingerbread with spelt flour lately and love the results — that flour has such great flavor. This loaf looks wonderful Sarah and yes, there’s always room for more gingerbread!
It overflowed more than blew up but it looked like it blew up, lol! Glad to hear you are enjoying the spelt flour!
what glaze did you put ontop?
Sorry I forgot to mention that! It’s a lemon glaze. It doesn’t need it but it makes it look pretty for pictures. Just 1 cup of powdered sugar mixed with 1-2 tablespoons of lemon juice. :)
Well done! I’m glad you didn’t give up and you were able to get the perfect gingerbread loaf. Baking is such a science! Looks scrumptious! ;)
oh wow – it looks so moist and delicious! love the fact that it’s vegan!
Thanks Caralyn!
Ohhh the delicate balance… but oh my Sarah! You did it! I find flax eggs are a mixed bag – great for moisture/binding, but no so much for loft… I’ve not made any gingerbread this year… I guess you could say I’ve been a timid baker because of my need to be gf :/ . But you’ve got me craving gingerbread! Thank you for your inspiration. Delicious!
They are a mixed bag! The first loaf I made with the flax eggs did not rise at all. Baking is just so hard sometimes!
Applesauce and two bowls for a proper ingredient mixing. When baking is almost science where you only get it right after a few experiments!
That is so true! I just wish the ingredients weren’t so expensive, lol!
I absolutely ADORE your gingerbread muffins, so I know I will love this! Must try ASAP <3
I’m so glad you like them! <3
It’s so beautiful! I can’t wait to test it out. Thanks for sticking with all the trial and errors so we can all benefit. hehe.
That’s what I’m here for, lol! ;)
Hi! I’m making this now and it calls for baking powder in the directions, but it’s not in the ingredients. Please advise, thank you!
I’m so sorry about that! I just realized that I had forgot to delete baking powder from the directions. The recipe only needs baking soda!
Oh my gosh! This is sooooo sooo good! i’ll definitely be making it again next week — haha. It has such a rich deep flavor and just slightly sweet.
I just made this. Very moist. I think it could be spiced up a bit more, though.
Hi! Delicious cake but how is it best stored? Counter top or fridge?
It will keep for longer if stored in the refrigerator (up to a week) but you can also store it at room temperature for 3-4 days. :)
Wow! Wow! Wow! I had this cake all ready to pour into the pan. Then I had a wild idea to see if it would work as a fruitcake … and boy, it did!!! I added 1/2 cup of each dried fruit (snipped) – figs, dates, apricots, raisins and 1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts.
I baked it in a large loaf pan … lined with parchment paper … for the 60 minutes. After removing from pan, I allowed to cool overnight. Then wrapped it up tight in wax paper and placed in tightly sealed storage container for a week before slicing and eating. Better than my little German mother’s fruitcake filled with butter and eggs!
This recipe looks great; can’t wait to try it! One question – do you use whole or white spelt flour?
Whole spelt flour but white can also be used :)
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Thanks for this recipe mine turned out perfect. I used a bunt tin and so didn’t have to cook it quite as long. Then just dusted with icing sugar. The loaf was super soft and fluffy at the same time and perfectly spiced :)
OMG thank you for this recipe! I used oat flour in place of the spelt. Although the middle sank while baking, the bread turned out absolutely fantastic! I added an extra 1/2 teaspoon of ginger because I really love ginger! Yum!!!
Made this gingerbread loaf last night and my goodness, breakfast this morning was delicious! Had a slice with some vegan cinnamon vanilla yogurt and it was divine. Thank you! The only thing I would say is that the recipe says to bake for 60min – I checked mine at 50min and the toothpick came out totally clean (it’s even slightly too dry for my preference). This may be because i baked mine in a metal loaf tin (perhaps yours was glass?). Regardless, you may want to edit the recipe to bake 45-60min, doing the toothpick test at 45min. Thanks for the delicious recipe!
Thanks for the feedback, Chrissy! It’s likely that your oven is a little hotter than mine which is why it cooked faster (I also used a metal baking dish). But I will update the instructions to reflect that. Thank you!
This is delicious! I followed the recipe exactly, using a decorative loaf pan, and dusted it with powdered sugar. It turned out looking so fancy and festive! The flavor is pretty mellow– not too sweet, not too spicy, which is how I like it and I really enjoyed this. It’d be good with some icing or nut butter spread on a slice as well. Thanks so much for this recipe!