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This Gluten-Free Pumpkin Bread is the perfect fall baking project. It’s a one-bowl recipe that results in moist, perfectly spiced pumpkin bread!
Easy Pumpkin Bread Recipe
Pumpkin season is coming in hot! With our tutorials on making Homemade Pumpkin Puree and Pumpkin Butter, it only seems fitting to make up a pumpkin bread to utilize both.
Pumpkin bread is basically a fall right of passage. You can’t go through the whole season without making it at least once. This pumpkin bread recipe is the perfect one! It’s made in one bowl and it’s gluten-free, nut-free, dairy-free, and refined sugar-free. It’s also perfectly spiced, moist, and so tender!
Ingredients Needed:
- Eggs: binds everything together so the pumpkin bread can hold its shape.
- Avocado Oil: avocado oil is a great way to add moisture with a neutral flavor.
- Pumpkin Puree: homemade or canned is great.
- Coconut Sugar: adds the perfect warm sweetness.
- Vanilla: gives the bread some extra flavor depth.
- Flour: our gluten-free flour blend is a combination of coconut flour and tapioca flour.
- Pumpkin Pie Spice: you can use store-bought pumpkin pie spice or make your own with just a few basic seasonings.
- Baking Soda and Baking Powder: keeps the pumpkin bread light and fluffy.
- Cinnamon: we’re already using pumpkin pie spice, but I like to add a little extra sweet spicy flavor with a sprinkle of cinnamon.
- Sea Salt: cuts the sweetness and enhances the flavors in the bread.
Optional Add-In Ideas
We love to keep it simple with plain pumpkin bread, but there is lots of room to add additional flavors and textures here. Here are a few mix-in ideas.
- Nuts: try chopped pecans, walnuts, almonds, or even pistachios.
- Dried Fruit: a scoop of raisins or dried cranberries would be delicious.
- Baking Chips: add chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, you name it.
You could also mix and match a couple different mix-ins. You can add ½ cup total for one batch of this gluten-free pumpkin bread. Don’t add more than that or it will affect the texture of the bread.
How to Make Pumpkin Bread
This perfect pumpkin bread recipe is made in just one bowl and takes a quick 10 minutes to prep!
- Make the batter: In a bowl, whisk together eggs, oil, pumpkin, sugar, and vanilla. Add the flours, spices, and leavening agents, then whisk until fully combined.
- Bake: Transfer the batter to a loaf pan lined with parchment paper, then bake at 350ºF until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool and serve: Let the bread cool slightly, then slice and serve as desired.
Why is My Pumpkin Bread Gummy?
There are a couple of reasons your pumpkin bread isn’t quite right.
- The proportions are off. Make sure you measure everything just right. If the ratio of wet and dry ingredients is off, then the texture can be gummy.
- It’s undercooked. If the bread is still gummy in the middle, then it likely needs more time in the oven. If the middle isn’t cooked through, but you notice the bread getting too browned on the top, cover the pan with foil and continue baking.
What Can I Use Instead of Oil in Pumpkin Bread
Oil is part of what makes the pumpkin bread nice and moist. If you really are opposed to oil, you could try replacing it with an equal amount of applesauce.
Keep in mind that not following the recipe may not yield the same results!
Tips and Notes
- Check the pumpkin. If you’re using canned pumpkin, make sure you grab pumpkin puree; NOT pumpkin pie filling. They are not the same!
- Don’t swap flours. Gluten-free flours absorb moisture differently. This recipe is designed for the exact amounts of coconut and tapioca flour. Don’t adjust them!
- Sift the flour. If your coconut flour is clumpy, sift it into the batter to make sure you don’t have clumps in your bread.
- Test for doneness. To check that your bread is done, insert a toothpick into the center. If it comes out clean, it’s good to go!
- Serve with pumpkin butter. A slice of gluten-free pumpkin bread slathered with pumpkin butter is so good!
How to Store
Leftover pumpkin bread will last in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days, in the fridge for up to 1 week, or wrapped tightly in the freezer for up to 2 months.
To serve again, thaw in the fridge or microwave individual slices to warm!
More Pumpkin Recipes You’ll Love
- Sea Salt Pumpkin Butter Cups
- Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie (Nut-Free, Too!)
- Pumpkin Smash Cocktail
- Easy Pumpkin Spice Coffee
Watch the video:
Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread
Ingredients
- 4 large eggs
- ¼ cup avocado oil
- 1 cup pumpkin puree homemade or canned
- ¾ cup coconut sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 cup 56 grams coconut flour
- 1/2 cup 60 grams tapioca flour
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1-1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- Pinch fine sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF and line a 8" x 5" loaf pan with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl whisk together eggs, oil, pumpkin puree, coconut sugar and vanilla until combined. Add to the bowl coconut flour, tapioca flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt and whisk until fully combined.
- Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and smooth over the top.
- Bake in preheated oven for 45-50 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Let cool slightly before serving. Serve with butter or pumpkin butter.
Thank you once again for another FABULOUS recipe! I’ve been anxious to try this so this morning I made a loaf. It’s delicious! I’m most impressed with the texture – sometimes Paleo baked items have a weird almost pudding-ish texture. This bread is just like the real thing! And tastes fabulous! Thank you for your posts and for providing such delicious food for all of us to incorporate into our meals!!!
Lovedddd this recipe and so did my coworkers! I subbed coconut oil for the avocado oil and it came out perfectly- so glad I made a double batch! Thanks for another wonderful recipe!
YES!!! So happy.
This pumpkin bread is game changer !! It’s easy to make, moist and so delicious! I made the pumpkin pure instead of buying a pre made one and it was super easy and worth it!
Definitely going to keep making this all through out the season!
Do you think you could make these into muffins? I need to find a healthy treat for my children’s class for Halloween, I thought this recipe in muffin form with your marshmallow fluff would be festive, delicious and on the heather side of things . . . .
Hi Leslie! I bet you could! I actually made these into a layer cake over the weekend and it was so delicious! My guess is that the batter might not make 12 muffins, but maybe closer to 9? Try baking for 20 minutes and testing the batter then. Let us know how it goes?
Hi Lexi! For some reason whenever I try to make a gluten free loaf, it doesn’t rise and ends up the same height as I put it in and pretty dense. Any suggestions? I’m following the directions to a T so I’m not sure what’s happening! Thank you!
Hi Nicole. Sorry I want to make sure I understand your question: are you saying that this pumpkin bread didn’t rise for you? If yes, sounds like something was wrong with your leavening agent.
What would you suggest to substitute for tapioca flour? I am not focused on paleo for the audience I am baking for this time…
Soooo good! I need to hide from my husband because I made it yesterday and there is barely any left! Delicious! I added chocolate chips to mine!
This pumpkin bread is delicious! And so easy to make 😀 my husband who doesn’t eat bread, ate half of it in less than 12 hours. Next time I’m baking 2 so I can get enough. Thanks Lexi, this is now our favorite pumpkin bread, by far!
Is there anything we can substitute for tapioca flour?
We haven’t tested any substitutions for that. If you do, let us know how it works out!
Sometimes arrowroot flour works in place of tapioca, but as Kelli said, we haven’t tested it with another flour so cannot promise the same results!
This pumpkin bread is by far the best I have tried in 10+ years of being gluten free. The texture is so legit your family and friends will have no idea it is gluten free. I also appreciate the fact that it has no almond flour as my daughter can’t eat almonds. I highly recommend adding the chocolate chips!?Thank you!
Another winner from Lexi! I made the recipe as directed but multiplied all quantities by 1.5 which for me used exactly one can of pumpkin. I divided the extra batter between two mini loaf pans, and the small loaves were done in about 35 minutes. Thank you for so many recipes like this one that are as good as or even better than the receipts we enjoyed before cutting out gluten and refined sugar.
I just wanted to give you a shout on your pumpkin bread recipe!! My son has EOE and is very limited on what he can eat. This bread is sooooo dang good! It is so moist with the perfect blend of pumpkin and cinnamon. Thank you for the work that you do to make my job as a mom easier with finding recipes that him and the rest of our family can enjoy together.
This made my entire day!
This bread is DELICIOUS!! I have recently started a gluten free diet and this recipe is the best!! Perfect spice and super moist. Thank you !!?
I am SO happy you loved it Debbie!
Could you use egg whites and almond flour?
Hi Marcie. Unfortunately we can’t recommend those substitutes as we didn’t test them. And based on my baking knowledge, my best guess is they will not produce similar results. If you do experiment, let us know how it goes!
Loved this bread so much!! I have an egg allergy, so I used bobs red mill egg substitute for the eggs! I also didn’t have tapioca flour, so I subbed Trader Joe’s gluten free flour for that! And lastly, ran out of coconut sugar so used 1/3 cup of honey! Added in a few choc chips and this baby was DELISH!
Hi! Do you think flax eggs would work as a substitute for the large if I wanted to make it vegan? Thank you!
Hi Christina! Somebody commented above that they used Bobs Red Mill egg substitute for the eggs, but we haven’t tested this egg-free so can’t make any promises it will be the same. If you try it with a sub, let us know how it goes!
Cooks not cools!
Any suggestions to make sure the middle of the loaf cools through? I find this to be such a problem with gf baking – especially baking with pumpkin. I recently tried using a bunt pan but that seemed to dry it out. Thanks – making this today! ?
Hi Blythe! I can’t vouch for other gluten free recipes, but this GF pumpkin bread should have no problem baking up properly! You can test that it’s baked through the same way you would a normal pumpkin bread: insert a toothpick and moist crumbs stuck to the toothpick should indicate it’s properly cooked. If there is any batter left on it, let it cook a few more minutes. Let us know if you have any specific questions about the instructions! Happy baking!
This bread is SO. GOOD! I had all the ingredients in my pantry and fridge, and it was super easy to whip up. I added some chocolate chips, and oh my, this is probably one of the best pumpkin breads I’ve had! Super moist and so flavorful. Run, don’t walk, to make this!!
YESSS! So glad! Thanks for letting us know 🙂
Question
Is there another oil I could use instead of avocado oil?
Hi Gwyneth. It’s our oil of choice, but feel free to substitute any oil that you typically use that is liquid at room temperature.