Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread

This classic gluten free pumpkin bread is perfectly spiced, super moist, and packed with pumpkin flavor. It tastes just like that famous Starbucks pumpkin bread in the glass case filled with treats that you thought you couldn't have any more!

Why I love this gluten free pumpkin bread

This delightfully dense, richly flavored quick bread loaf will make your whole house smell like heaven. Here's a quick look at what makes it the best pumpkin bread recipe:

• Quick and easy: Reformulated to be made with regular canned pumpkin puree, this recipe is made just by mixing wet with dry ingredients, and popping the bread in the oven. Couldn't be easier.
• Ideal taste & texture: This tender loaf is only lightly sweet, with the rich flavor of pumpkin. You'll want to get every last crumb.
• Beautiful color & aroma: There's plenty of pumpkin pie spice for rich golden color, and it's that simple blend cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves and nutmeg is what smells & tastes like pumpkin.
• Unfussy in the oven: Unlike some quick bread loaves, this pumpkin bread won't ever burn before it bakes all the way through. Moisture in all that pumpkin puree makes sure of that.

Key recipe ingredients

Here are the ingredients you need to make this easy gluten free pumpkin bread:

• Gluten free flour blend – I like Nicole's Best or Better Batter here best, but Cup4Cup works well, too. Make sure to add xanthan gum if your blend doesn't already contain it.
• Salt – brightens the flavors and balances the sweetness.
• Baking powder and baking soda – responsible for the rise of this quick bread in the oven; baking soda helps the loaf brown, too.
• Pumpkin pie spice – This is the magic touch that highlights the flavor of the pumpkin and has you going, “yeah, it's fall.”
• Sugar – There's granulated sugar in this recipe, but it's not a lot, so you're going to get a moist, sweet cake that's not cloying.
• Light brown sugar – for sweetness, but also depth of flavor and richness; also keeps the loaf tender.
• Pumpkin puree – Instead of making this recipe with pumpkin butter, which can be hard to find, I now make this recipe with canned pure pumpkin puree. I've added more brown sugar than white to add richness. The result is just as fragrant and flavorful, but much easier to make all year round.
• Butter – The butter adds flavor, tenderness, and moisture.
• Eggs – They help with structure and also help with the rise.
• Sour cream – The acidity helps tenderize the crumb, and adds fat for richness and flavor; it works just like buttermilk, but with less moisture.

How to make gluten free pumpkin bread

Whisk the dry ingredients

You can make this recipe in one bowl by whisking the dry ingredients first, then adding the wet. Here, I whisked the gluten free flour blend, salt, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and white and brown sugars first in a separate small bowl.

Whisk wet ingredients & combine with dry

In a large mixing bowl, whisk melted butter, beaten eggs, pumpkin puree, and sour cream until very smooth. Add the dry ingredients right on top. There's also a version of this recipe made with pumpkin butter, buttermilk, room temperature butter, and more white sugar than brown.

Mix wet & dry together

Mix the dry and wet ingredients together until they're just combined. The batter will be thick, but not stiff. It shouldn't stick to your mixing spoon very much, either.

Bake at 350°F, cool, slice, enjoy!

Transfer the batter to a prepared loaf pan, smooth the top, and score it down the middle for a lovely top. It gives the steam a place to escape during baking. For more sweetness, sprinkle the raw top with cinnamon and sugar. Bake at 350°F, let cool, and slice thickly.

Recipe tips & tricks

Measure gluten free flour by weight

When measuring your gluten free flour blend, be sure to measure by weight rather than volume. When you scoop flour from a bag, you might accidentally compact it in your measuring cup.

This means once you’ve mixed everything together, your proportions will be off because you’ve got too much flour. If you don’t realize it, you may end up with a drier, more crumbly bread.

Use room temperature ingredients

Make sure that your sour cream, eggs, and pumpkin puree are at room temperature, so they combine with one another properly. Your butter should be melted, and then cooled until it's no longer hot to the touch so it doesn't raise the temperature of the other ingredients.

Bake it as long as it needs

This loaf doesn't really have a tendency to burn before it bakes all the way through, so be sure to give it the time it needs to bake fully. If you're using a slightly smaller loaf pan than 9-inches x 5-inches, it may take up to an hour to bake, but it won't burn.

Let your bread cool before slicing

Be sure that your bread is no longer hot when you slice into it. If you don't give it time to cool, no matter how carefully you slice it, the loaf will compress when you cut it.

Popular ingredient substitution suggestions

I love that this gluten free pumpkin bread is simple and easy to make. If you have other dietary restrictions, here are my best guesses for how you might accommodate them:

How to make this recipe dairy free

Replacing the dairy in this recipe means replacing the butter and the sour cream. In place of butter, I recommend using vegan butter, and my favorite brands are Melt and Miyoko’s Kitchen. In place of sour cream, try nondairy sour cream, or Greek-style plain nondairy yogurt. If you can't find Greek-style, try straining moisture out of plain nondairy yogurt until it resembles sour cream.

How to make this recipe egg free

There are two eggs in this recipe. You can try replacing each of them with one “chia egg” (1 tablespoon ground white chia seeds + 1 tablespoon lukewarm water, mixed and allowed to gel).

Sugar free?

For a gluten free pumpkin bread that's sugar free, you'll need to swap out the granulated and brown sugars in this recipe. Swerve has alternatives for both, or maybe you have a brand that you prefer. Keep in mind that alternative sugars tend to be drying, so pay close attention to the texture of the wet batter, and add a bit more moisture to compensate if you think it's necessary.

I don't recommend swapping out these granulated sugars for anything liquid, like honey, maple syrup, or molasses. That will throw off the moisture balance and leave you with soggy bread.

Storage suggestions

This pumpkin bread is super moist, and it doesn't dry out very quickly. Wrap each leftover slice as tightly as possible, and let it sit at room temperature for a day or so.

For longer storage, freeze the tightly wrapped slices and defrost in the microwave for about 20 seconds, or at room temperature. The frozen slices should stay in the freezer for up to 2 months.

FAQs

Pumpkin swirl bread variation

To make pumpkin swirl bread, you will need all the same ingredients, but with the addition of 3 extra ingredients to make the swirl:

• 2 tablespoons (28 g) unsalted butter, melted
• 1/3 cup (73 g) packed light brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

To make the swirl, place the melted butter in a small bowl. Add the brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice, and mix to combine well.

Make the batter as directed in the recipe above through step 4 in the recipe below. Preheat your oven to 325°F, instead of the 350°F as listed below.

Then, transfer half of the pumpkin bread batter to the prepared loaf pan and spread it into an even layer. Top with half of the swirl mixture, and spread that into an even layer.

Follow with the remaining pumpkin bread batter, spread into an even layer, and then the remaining swirl mixture, spread into an even layer.

With a butter knife or offset spatula held perpendicular to the bottom of the loaf pan, swirl the batter from one short side of the pan to the other, back and forth in a looping pattern. Smooth the top of the swirled batter into an even layer.

Place the pan in the center of the preheated oven at 325°F, and bake for 40 minutes. Rotate the pan and continue baking until the bread is firm when pressed gently in the center, at least another 20 minutes.

If the bread still isn’t firm in the center, lower the heat to 300°F and continue baking for up to another 15 minutes.

Remove the pan from the oven and allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Transfer the bread to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing thickly and serving.