Gluten Free Gingerbread Loaf (vegan, paleo, AIP)

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This Gluten Free Gingerbread Loaf is the perfect holiday treat. It is deliciously soft and moist. Fabulous for holiday baking with the kids!

a slice of gingerbread loaf on a plate with a fork cutting a piece, a cup of tea and a pot in the background

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⭐ Why you'll love this recipe
📖 Ingredient notes
💭 Substitutions
🥣Step by step instructions
👩🏻‍🍳Top tip
💬 Recipe FAQs
🍪Other recipes you might like
📋 Recipe / Recette
Comments / Commentaires

If you are craving a spicy treat but don't have time to make Crispy gingerbread cut out cookies (paleo, AIP, vegan) this gingerbread loaf is your answer. Another good option for a seasonal treat are my extremely popular Gluten Free Pumpkin Muffins (paleo, AIP, vegan) or my Pumpkin pie without evaporated milk or my Tigernut Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies. All of these are great gluten free holiday recipes.

⭐ Why you'll love this recipe

This gluten free gingerbread loaf is super easy to make.
Just a few very simple steps.
An allergy friendly holiday treat.
Perfect for family baking time.
This gluten free gingerbread loaf is also paleo, vegan, AIP compliant, coconut free and cassava free. But I can assure you that nobody will even notice.

📖 Ingredient notes

Pumpkin purée. You can either use canned pumpkin purée or homemade pumpkin purée. I just take unseasoned cooked pumpkin or butternut squash and put it in the blender with the other liquid ingredients from the recipe. If you are not familiar with butternut squash, you can read my complete guide to butternut squash to find out everything about it.
Arrowroot. It is a starch. See below for substitutions.
Spices. This gluten free gingerbread loaf recipe uses a combination of cinnamon, cloves and ginger. Feel free to adjust the spice quantities to your own taste and omit if you are intolerant.
Tigernut flour (or almond flour for those who are not on AIP nor nut free). If you don't know what tigernut flour is and want to learn all about it, you can read my post What is tigernut flour.

If you are on AIP and still in the elimination phase, you have to use tigernut flour (because almond flour is not AIP compliant). Those who are not on AIP nor allergic to nuts can use almond flour instead of tigernut flour.

Icing (optional)

If you want, you can ice your gingerbread loaf. Here are 2 different options to do so :

you can use coconut butter
or, if you are coconut free, you can use a vanilla frosting

💭 Substitutions

Blackstrap molasses. If you can't or won't use blackstrap molasses, I suggest replacing it with the same quantity of maple syrup.
Extra virgin olive oil. If you can't have extra virgin olive oil, you can use any other oil of your choice to replace it.
Maple syrup. If you want to reduce the maple syrup quantity in this recipe, I suggest replacing it by same quantity of oil or coconut milk. On the contrary, if you want to add some sweetness to your gingerbread, you can add more maple syrup. To do that, reduce the quantity of extra virgin olive oil of the same amount. For example, you want to add 1 tablespoon of maple syrup. In that case you will have to reduce the olive oil quantity by 1 tablespoon. In other words, you need to keep the same amount of liquid.
Arrowroot. If you are not cassava intolerant, you can substitute it with tapioca starch (also called tapioca flour). Both arrowroot and tapioca starch are paleo and AIP compliant. Other possible substitutions, only if you are not on AIP nor Paleo diets: you can use potato starch or corn starch instead of arrowroot.

🥣Step by step instructions

Preheat oven to 360° F (180° C)
In a blender (I'm using my favorite Vitamix) combine the pumpkin purée, maple syrup, blackstrap mollases, olive oil, lemon juice (or ACV) and vanilla. Blend until well combined.

All the wet ingredients blended together in a blender

In a large bowl, combine the tigernut flour, arrow root, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and sea salt. Stir.

All the dry ingredients mixed together in a bowl

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until well combined.

All the ingredients for the gingerbread loaf mixed together in a bowl to make the batter

Line or lightly oil a rectangular 4 x 8 inches (10 x 20 cm) baking tin and transfer the batter into the tin. Or choose a muffin pan if you want to make muffins instead of a loaf.

gingerbread loaf batter in a rectangular tin

Bake for about 35 minutes for the loaf (or for about 25 minutes for the muffins). To make sure that it is cooked, insert a thin bladed knife into the centre of the gingerbread loaf, the knife should come out clean. Wait for it to cool down completely before removing from the tin.

Optional :

If you want, you can ice your gingerbread loaf. For that, spread the icing on, using a knife. Chill until frosting is set. Voilà!

👩🏻‍🍳Top tip

Never open the oven door before the end of the baking time (unless, of course, in case of a danger or problem with your oven). If you open the oven door during the baking time, just to "check how it looks", your gingerbread loaf will fall down or won't rise.

💬 Recipe FAQs

Can I make this gluten free gingerbread loaf without oil?

If you want to make this recipe oil free, I suggest replacing the oil with same quantity of coconut milk.

Can I make muffins instead of a loaf?

Yes! If you prefer muffins, you can make this as muffins instead of a loaf. Cook them a little less longer (about 20-25 minutes).

Can I freeze this gingerbread loaf?

Yes you can. Although I recommend freezing it without icing. Personally, I like to slice it before freezing it. That way, I can just take whatever quantity I want. Then pop the slices in the toaster and done!
To thaw this gingerbread loaf, you can also just take it out of the freezer a few hours ahead of time of pop it in the oven for a few minutes.

I have a nut allergy, how can I make these muffins?

Good news if you have a nut allergy and need a nut-free version, you can make these muffins with tigernut flour. Because tigernut is not a nut!

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