Perfect for the autumn holidays, this Old-Fashioned Pumpkin Gingerbread will fill your home with the scent of the season, and your tummy with delicious goodness.
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By the time Thanksgiving rolled around last year, I swore I’d never read, make, post, or eat another “Pumpkin+anything” recipe as long as I lived!
And yet, here we are. Why? Because a year has passed, and like bad breakups and childbirth, time has a way of softening the sharp edges of our memories.
I’m one of those bakers who is always fiddling and tweaking my recipes, so of course I made a few changes to my old standard recipe this time too – most notably the substitution of coconut oil for butter. Wow, what a difference that made!
All those sweet spices danced across my tongue with whole new level of rich, gingerbready goodness!
Just to make sure it wasn’t just my imagination, I made two more batches of Pumpkin Gingerbread (all for you, my friends), with equally delicious results. When I shared it with the family, my mother-in-law Carol even told me I was (and I am quoting her word-for-word here), “A damn good cook.” That’s high praise indeed!

Old-fashioned Pumpkin Gingerbread
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1/4 cup powdered milk
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 ounces unrefined coconut oil or butter [1/2 cup melted]
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup canned pumpkin
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325° F [165°C]. Spray loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine flour, powdered milk, baking soda, baking powder, ground spices, and salt. Set aside.
- In a small, microwave-safe bowl, heat coconut oil in microwave for 30 seconds to melt. Set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, beat eggs until the are lemon colored. Add pumpkin, brown sugar, molasses, warm water and vanilla. Mix on low to combine. Add coconut oil and mix thoroughly.
- Stir in dry ingredients until well combine. (You can also mix this by hand.)
- Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Tap pan on counter a few times to get out the air bubbles, and then bake in preheated oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Loaf is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Allow loaf to cool in the pan on a wire rack until he pan is cool enough to touch; at least 10 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Dust loaf with powdered sugar if desired.
Nutrition
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information provided is accurate, complete, and useful.
Do you love pumpkin? So do we! Here are a few more of our favorite pumpkin recipes!
- Roasted Stuffed Pumpkin (Makes a perfect vegetarian holiday meal centerpiece!)
- Pumpkin Spice Sourdough Scones (Soooo good!)
- 10 Best Roasted Pumpkin Seed Recipes
- Homemade Pumpkin Spice (made with FRESH spices!)
I love it when things look as good as they taste! To create this lovely harvest-themed loaf, I used my beautiful new harvest pumpkin loaf pan.
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I love that pan! It’s so festive. Perfect for this recipe. Fall is my favorite time of year for cooking and baking.
This makes me so happy for fall! Now I really want to make pumpkin bread too! And seriously loving that cake pan!
What a fun pan!
Ooh that is high praise indeed! Sweet! LOVE that baking pan, too. Perfect for fall! I like how you used coconut oil in this recipe. Can’t wait to try it!
That IS a great pan – I can almost smell this bread baking right now! It looks SO good!
I just love your bread pan!
Can’t wait to have the smell from making this gingerbread make my kitchen go “Woohoo, holidays!” Favulous way to create the right mood this season – thank you!
This recipe combines all of my favorite fall flavors!! And I love the idea of replacing the butter with coconut oil – it made the gingerbread perfectly moist!
OMG, I love your pan! It’s perfect for festive occasions. In the meantime, I’ll be baking this with my oh so standard and plain loaf pan. 😉
This turned out perfectly soft and moist and full of flavor! All around delicious!
The whole family is officially obsessed with this gingerbread! We’ve already made it twice… it has the perfect balance of spices and the texture is HEAVEN!