I decided to make apple muffins…. then I thought cranberry bread would be a better idea.
I wanted pumpkin pecan pancakes…. then I thought that plain old cinnamon toast would be the best idea ever.
Instead… I just combined every possible holiday flavor into this vegan quick bread.
I did that, and I’m glad I did.
This bread has everything:
warm and comforting pumpkin and spice, tangy fresh cranberries, baked apples, toasted pecans and cinnamon sugar.
I mean… if we’re going to go with something holiday-y… why not go all the way?
I’m going to make this about fourteen more times before the year is done.
Now… because this recipe is vegan and doesn’t have any eggs to help bind the gluten… it’s a little crumbly. ย It’s important to let the loaf cool completely before slicing. And! ย Slice into thick generous slices. ย Pro tips.
Vegan Pumpkin Cranberry Apple Pecan Bread
makes two 9x4x3-inch loaves (and it freezes well!)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups light brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree, or just under two cups
1 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup water
1 cup chopped pecans plus 8 pecan halves
1 heaping cup fresh cranberries
1 medium Granny Smith apple, peeled and cored and cut into small pieces
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. ย Place a rack in the center of the oven. ย Grease and flour two loaf pans (mine are 9x4x3) and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together flours, sugars, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices.
In a medium bowl, carefully whisk together pumpkin puree, oil, maple syrup and water.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and use a spatula to fold all of the ingredients together. ย Make sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl well, finding any stray flour bits to mix in. ย Fold in most of the chopped pecans, cranberries and apple chunks.
Divide the dough between the two greased pans and arrange pecan halves on top of each loaf. ย Sprinkle loaf with cinnamon and granulated sugar if you’d like. ย Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. ย Remove from the oven. ย Let rest in the pans for 20 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack.
Cool completely before slicing. ย Slice into thick pieces and serve. ย Maybe even wrap one loaf up in plastic wrap and store in the freezer for future munching.
176 Responses
I made this last week (and added raisins and dried apricots). Ah-may-zing! :)
Amazing recipe, and amazingly flexible! Couldn’t find cranberries so I added chopped dry mango and dry papaya instead… and swapped the canned pumpkin with baked pieces of butternut squash- I believe it helps in binding the ingredients more (it takes on the role of the missing egg). Now I have the best breakfast for a week :)!
I absolutely love all these flavours but I never would have thought of combining them all! Looks amazing. I’ll be trying soon!
I just discovered this recipe and it’s insanely addictive, in a good way ???? I have already made it twice in the last two weeks. I did make a couple changes: one, I cut way down on the sugar. I made half the recipe and used 1/3 cup Truvia plus 1/4 cup maple syrup. This was plenty sweet for our palates, even the kids didn’t complain!
Second, I didn’t have whole we at flour, so I used unbleached organic white and 1/4 cup of flax meal. I counted the flax meal towards the required flour quantity. Also, skipped the pecans in batter and replaced with hemp seeds, shelled. Plus, no fresh cranberries, so I soaked some dried.
Well, I guess that’s more than a couple changes, but boy was it good!! The flax made it all moist, so no crumbly texture. Making it again tomorrow to take to a potluck!
This looks like an awesome recipe, and the ingredients have just been added to my shopping list! Just curious though, it says “Fold in most of the chopped pecans, cranberries and apple chunks.”
What do you do with the rest? Or is it only “most” because you have been snacking on the pieces as you cook? ;-)
How well does this recipe freeze? Can I make it ahead and freeze it?
The recipe freezes well if you freeze it after it’s baked
The bread is delicious! Made two loaves today using buckwheat and cassava flour. Also used pumpkin spice, applesauce, coconut oil, and walnuts. I cranberries and pumpkin and decided I had to make this right now. Thank you for a very flavorful recipe! Have a blessed day!
Excellent! Thank you for this wonderful recipe! I made some change first time based on other comments. Halved the sugar and it was sweet enough. I added 1/3 cup of chopped dates so that added some sweetness. Used 2/3 cup of coconut oil and 1/2 cup applesauce. Added a flax egg (5tbs water, 2tbs flax) and didn’t add the 1/3 cup water. Used spelt flour instead of whole wheat (didn’t have whole wheat). Texture was great and flavour was really good. Only slightly too much cloves for my taste so I will leave out the extra 1/2 tsp of cloves next time since cloves are prominent in the allspice. May also add another 1/2 a chopped apple next time