This light and fluffy Gluten-Free Gingerbread Loaf Cake has plenty of ginger flavor and a luscious vanilla cream icing. It uses gluten-free all purpose flour as the base with molasses, brown sugar, and vanilla extract to enhance the traditional gingerbread flavors. It's made with oil and is easily dairy-free and vegan as needed.
This Gluten-Free Gingerbread Loaf Cake is the perfect easy gluten-free Christmas recipe and it will show your guests that gluten-free eaters aren't missing out on flavor or texture! Its gorgeous appearance is fit for the holiday dessert table and makes a great companion to holiday brunch or your morning coffee.
For a similar festive holiday gluten-free loaf cake, check out my Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bread. More in the mood for cookies? Check out my Gluten-Free Gingerbread Cookies!
For more Christmas brunch and dessert recipes, check out my Gluten-Free Cinnamon Rolls, Vegan Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake, Dairy Free Tiramisu, Gluten Free Double Chocolate Muffins, and Christmas Rocky Road.
If you're looking for gluten-free Christmas Cookie recipes to go along with this gluten-free gingerbread loaf, check out my Maple Brown Sugar Cookies, Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookies, Gluten-Free Sugar Cookie Cut Outs, Gluten-Free Thumbprint Cookies, Coconut Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies, Vegan Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies, Gluten-Free Monster Cookies, Almond Flour Molasses Cookies, and Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies.
If you're new to gluten-free, be sure to check out my gluten-free tips for beginners.
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How to make it (with photos)
Ingredient Notes + Substitutions
You need 12 ingredients to make this easy gluten-free gingerbread cake.
Gluten-Free Flour
I used Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour. Another rice-flour-based gluten-free all purpose flour blend with xanthan gum would make a fine replacement.
Molasses
Most importantly, do not use blackstrap molasses. This type of dark sticky molasses is used for more savory dishes, like barbecue sauce.
For best taste, you want to use a molasses labeled "dark", "robust", or unsulphured. I used Grandma's brand unsulphured molasses for my recipe trials. Wholesome brand has an excellent dark sticky organic molasses.
Eggs
Using aquafaba, the liquid leftover in a can of chickpeas, makes the best egg-free substitution in this recipe. The taste and texture are nearly indistinguishable from the traditional with eggs.
How to use aquafaba in place of eggs:
- Use a strainer to strain a can of chickpeas or white beans and collect the aquafaba in a small mixing bowl. You need 6 tablespoons (¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons, or 90 ml) of aquafaba for this recipe.
- Whip the aquafaba until uniformly foamy using an electric mixer, preferably with whisk attachment. This should take anywhere from 30 seconds to about a minute for the 1-loaf quantity.
- Replace eggs with aquafaba when the recipe calls for it, and follow the instructions as written. That's it!
For a simpler egg-free substitution, substitute 2 tablespoons of potato or cornstarch mixed into the dry ingredients and 6 tablespoons of water or milk mixed into the wet ingredients.
Vinegar
Vinegar interacts with the baking soda to help gluten-free baked goods rise. Otherwise cakes and quick breads can be too dense. Use apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar. You can't taste any traces of vinegar in the baked gingerbread cake.
You can omit the vinegar entirely, but the loaf cake will be a little denser.
Oil
Use a neutral flavored oil that is liquid at room temperature like vegetable oil or avocado oil. You can use melted butter as a substitute. With butter, the texture will be a bit more like a muffin than a cake and still very good.
More Ingredient Notes
- milk of choice - This recipe can be made with dairy milk or plant-based milk. I used unsweetened almond milk.
- sugar - Any granulated sugar will work. I used coconut sugar but this recipe works well with brown sugar or white sugar.
You also need baking soda, salt, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, and vanilla extract to make this recipe.
Icing Ingredients
To make the vanilla icing, you need butter or dairy-free butter, solid coconut cream or cream cheese, vanilla extract, salt, and powdered sugar.
See the recipe card for a full list of ingredients with quantities.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Learn how to make a gluten-free gingerbread loaf cake in 6 easy steps.
- Prep + Milk: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 C) and line a metal loaf pan with parchment paper. Combine dairy-free milk and apple cider vinegar in a liquid measuring cup or small bowl. Stir together and set aside.
- Thin the molasses: Combine molasses and hot water in a liquid measuring cup or small bowl. Stir until well-mixed and set aside to cool.
- Dry ingredients: Dry ingredients: Add the gluten-free flour, baking soda, salt, and gingerbread spices to a large mixing bowl and whisk together thoroughly to combine.
- Wet ingredients: Add the milk and vinegar mixture, molasses and water mixture, eggs, oil, sugar, and vanilla extract to a medium mixing bowl and whisk together thoroughly to combine. Make sure the molasses has cooled to lukewarm before adding to the mixture so it does not prematurely cook the egg.
- Make the batter: Add the wet ingredients to the bowl of dry ingredients. Whisk or stir until just combined. There should be no dry pockets of flour, but there will be small blueberry or pea-sized flour lumps when mixed to the best consistency.
- Bake: Pour the batter into the lined loaf pan and bake on a middle oven rack for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted at a diagonal into the center of the cake comes out clean or with a dry crumb. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire cooling rack for 10 minutes before gently removing the cake from the pan using the parchment paper. Allow to cool completely on the rack before icing.
See the recipe card for the optional icing instructions.
Expert Tips
Make an amazing gluten-free gingerbread loaf cake on the first try with these expert tips.
Be careful to not over-mix the batter.
For the ideal texture, mix the wet and dry ingredients just to the point where there are no pockets of flour but still small lumps of flour (blueberry or pea-sized). This will give a nice crumb and traditional loaf cake texture. Over-mixing can cause a dense, flat, or gummy texture.
Use a metal baking pan.
While you can use a glass loaf pan for this recipe, using a metal pan ensures that the center of the loaf is cooked through and rises well. If you're accustomed to baking in glass pans, note that cooking times are faster with a metal pan so watch the loaf more closely as it bakes.
Use a kitchen scale.
Our recipe tester made a perfect cake when measuring with cups and spoons, but I noticed some minor differences in my trials when I wasn't using a digital kitchen scale. This one is affordable and easy to use. It also saves a lot of mess since you can put dry ingredients straight into the bowl without using measuring cups or sifting the flour.
It's an excellent investment in your holiday and gluten-free baking and mine has lasted several years with no signs of wear.
Recipe FAQs
Here I answered some frequently asked questions about this Gluten-Free Gingerbread Loaf Cake. Don't see your question? Leave it in the comments at the end of this post and I'll answer within two business days.
Store leftover Gluten-Free Gingerbread cake in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 day or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Molasses can be very thick and weigh down a light and fluffy cake like this one. The hot water thins the texture so it is more evenly distributed in the cake to keep it nice and light.
Related Christmas dessert recipes to consider...
Looking for more holiday and Christmas dessert recipes like this gluten-free gingerbread loaf cake? Check these out:
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📖 Recipe
Gluten-Free Gingerbread Loaf Cake
Ingredients
- ½ cup milk or dairy-free milk (120 ml)
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- ½ cup dark molasses* (120 ml)
- ¼ cup hot water (60 ml)
- 2 cups + 2 tablespoons all purpose fluten-free flour with xanthan gum (270 grams)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil or avocado oil (80 ml)
- ¾ cup granulated sugar - I used coconut sugar but white or brown sugar work too (100 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Gingerbread Spices
- 2 ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
Icing
- 4 tablespoons butter or dairy-free butter softened at room temperature (56 grams)
- 2 ounces cream cheese or the solid part of a can of coconut cream, softened at room temperature (¼ cup, 56 grams)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup powdered sugar plus more to thicken to your desired consistency (130 grams)
Instructions
Gingerbread Cake
- Prep + Milk: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 C) and line a metal loaf pan with parchment paper. Combine dairy-free milk and apple cider vinegar in a liquid measuring cup or small bowl. Stir together and set aside.
- Thin the molasses: Combine molasses and hot water in a liquid measuring cup or small bowl. Stir until well-mixed and set aside to cool.
- Dry ingredients: Add the gluten-free flour, baking soda, salt, and gingerbread spices to a large mixing bowl and whisk together thoroughly to combine.
- Wet ingredients: Add the milk and vinegar mixture, molasses and water mixture, eggs, oil, sugar, and vanilla extract to a medium mixing bowl and whisk together thoroughly to combine. Make sure the molasses has cooled to lukewarm before adding to the mixture so it does not prematurely cook the egg.
- Make the batter: Add the wet ingredients to the bowl of dry ingredients. Whisk or stir until just combined. There should be no dry pockets of flour, but there will be small blueberry or pea-sized flour lumps, when mixed to the best consistency.
- Bake: Pour the batter into the lined loaf pan and bake on a middle oven rack for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted at a diagonal into the center of the cake comes out clean or with a dry crumb. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire cooling rack for 10 minutes before gently removing the cake from the pan using the parchment paper. Allow to cool completely on the rack before icing.
Icing (optional)
- Add dairy-free butter, coconut cream or cream cheese, and vanilla extract to a medium mixing bowl. Beat on low speed using an electric mixer until smooth.
- Add half of the powdered sugar and mix at low speed. Then add the rest of the sugar and beat until smooth. If needed, add dairy-free milk in small amounts to thin. Refrigerate briefly to thicken or add more powdered sugar in small amounts.
Joey L Sundvall says
I am a gluten lover but made this for someone who is Celiac. This bread is very, very good! My oven maybe bakes a bit hot because it was quite done at 47 minutes. The top had lots of deep browning (not burnt tho). I was happy that I hadn't ruined it!. Thanks for the great recipe!
David says
This is so soft and will make the best Christmas dessert when I make it again.
Terry says
I made this gingerbread loaf cake today. It turned out well but was not as spicy as I had anticipated. My husband, who is not GF, loved it so I guess I’ll be making it again. I’ll just add some more spice to it. Thank you!
Jamie says
Thanks so much for the review Terry! Adding a little more ground clove and some allspice will definitely make it a bit spicier. We did some recipe trials with both of those and our crew agreed on the final recipe as listed, but some definitely had a slight preference for the spicier version. Very glad you enjoyed it!
Anita says
This cake is so light and fluffy! I haven’t had anything like it since pre Gluten Free. I made the dairy free version and my kids thought I brought it home from a bakery! We’ll be making this again for Christmas Day!
Jamie says
I'm so glad you enjoyed it, Anita!