A healthier vegan pumpkin bread to welcome fall! This pumpkin loaf is dairy free, eggless, and made with whole wheat flour. It’s light and moist and tastes just like the classic. 

A vegan pumpkin bread loaf topped with pecans on a kitchen counter.


We are still having 90-degree days here, but maybe some pumpkin will get us in the autumn spirit? My youngest daughter and I have been working on this pumpkin bread for the past week and have been loving it. Since this vegan pumpkin bread is dairy free and eggless, she’s enjoyed licking the spatula with each test. 

This pumpkin bread loaf is topped with crunchy pecans and great plain, slathered with cream cheese, or with added melty chocolate chips or cranberries. To come up with the recipe, we simply swapped the mashed banana in our Vegan Banana Bread (which has been getting many 5-star reviews – yay!) with pumpkin, added some warm spices, and topped the whole thing with pecans.

If you love pumpkin, you must also head over to our super popular Vegan Pumpkin Pie and my favorite, Gluten-Free Pumpkin Muffins made with oat flour. For an even quicker version, try these Vegan Pumpkin Cookies, which my daughter says taste like muffin tops. Let’s go over the details for this pumpkin loaf! 

How to Make Pumpkin Bread

Bowls of wet and dry ingredients for making vegan pumpkin bread.

To make our pumpkin bread, we whisk the dry and wet ingredients separately. Sometimes when I get lazy, I’ll just make a well in the middle of the combined dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients right in, but whisking them separately is the safest bet for ensuring even distribution of ingredients. If you’re feeling especially ambitious, you can make your own Pumpkin Puree with pie pumpkins. 

Fresh cranberries are folded into pumpkin bread batter in a bowl.

Next, stir the wet ingredient mixture into the dry just until combined. You can add some optional mix-ins if you’d like. Pumpkin bread additions: 

  • Fresh or frozen cranberries for a bright juicy pop. 
  • Dark chocolate chips or chunks. Chunks are always better, like in our Vegan Chocolate Chunk Cookies
  • More pecans for hearty texture and nutrition. 

Pumpkin bread batter is smoothed into a loaf pan and topped with pecans.

Spread the pumpkin bread batter into a greased loaf pan. I got a new pan this year from Williams-Sonoma that I’m loving. It’s beautiful and quick breads come out so easily. Sprinkle the top with pecans and bake. We also love this pumpkin bread sprinkled with a pinch of turbinado sugar before baking, which results in a slightly crunchy top. 

A loaf of healthy vegan whole wheat pumpkin bread on a cooling rack.

I know it’s hard to be patient when at this point your house smells so amazing, but let the pumpkin bread rest and cool in the pan completely, then gently turn upside down and remove from the pan. 

A loaf of healthy, dairy free, eggless whole wheat vegan pumpkin bread sliced on a cutting board.

Serve your fresh vegan pumpkin bread loaf with for breakfast or afternoon tea. It’s perfect with some vegan cream cheese. Maybe a Golden Latte on the side. 

A classic pumpkin bread loaf made made with healthier ingredients. This easy whole wheat vegan pumpkin bread is dairy free and eggless.

Yield: 1 loaf

Vegan Pumpkin Bread

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Additional Time 1 hour
Total Time 2 hours 5 minutes

A healthier vegan pumpkin bread to welcome fall! This pumpkin loaf is dairy free, eggless, and made with whole wheat flour. It's light and moist and tastes just like the classic. 

A loaf of sliced vegan pumpkin bread topped with pecans.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups pumpkin puree
  • 3/4 cup organic cane or turbinado sugar
  • 1/3 cup melted coconut oil
  • ¼ cup unsweetened almond milk, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
  • ¼ teaspoon ginger
  • 1/8 teaspoon cloves
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup raw pecans (chopped or halves)

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat the bottom of a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, sugar, coconut oil, milk, vinegar, and vanilla. Set aside.
  3. In another medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, spices, and salt.
  4. Gently stir the wet ingredients into the dry just until combined.
  5. Transfer the pumpkin bread batter to the prepared loaf pan. Top with pecans.
  6. Bake in the middle of the oven for 50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  7. Place on a cooling rack and allow the pumpkin bread to cool completely in the pan.

Notes

Variations:

  • 1 cup of fresh or frozen cranberries
  • 1 cup of dark chocolate chips

Fold in before transferring to the loaf pan.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 246Total Fat: 13gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 200mgCarbohydrates: 31gFiber: 3gSugar: 11gProtein: 3g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by Nutritionix. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee accuracy. If your health depends on nutrition information, please calculate again with your favorite calculator.