One-Bowl Vegan Gingerbread Cake - Imagelicious (2024)

Published: November 20, 2019 | Last updated: November 20, 2019 37 Comments

This Vegan Gingerbread Cake is perfect to have for breakfast with a mug of coffee or an afternoon snack with a cup of tea. It’s deliciously spicy and soft and light. Easy one-bowl dessert that can be made even during the busiest holiday season.

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This post first appeared on the blog on November 26, 2016 and is now updated with more information.

The aroma of this Vegan Ginger Cake permeated the air in my kitchen for a few days. Every time I’d go downstairs to get a cup of coffee or tea I could smell the wonderful spicy ginger and warming cinnamon.

I made this cake many times over the past few years and it is now part of my holiday baking tradition.

My husband isn’t into sweets too much and he’s not a huge fan of gingerbread spices either. So, I usually end up eating most of those cakes on my own. I feel a little bit guilty, but not really as the cake is delicious and makes me feel very happy and festive.

Whether you call this Gingerbread Loaf, Gingerbread Bread (is it even a thing?), Gingerbread Snack Cake, or simply Gingerbread Cake, it doesn’t matter. It will be delicious anyway!

More gingerbread recipes:

• Gingerbread truffles (vegan)
• Instant Pot Gingerbread Cheesecake (not vegan)

Gingerbread flavour wasn’t popular in Russia during holiday season when I was little. We had our own version of Gingerbread but it was more peppery than gingery. It was also eaten all throughout the year, not just during winter.

December for me smelled like mandarin oranges. Back when I was little, when Russia was still Soviet Union and store shelves were bare, those small orange jewels were a wonderful holiday treat – rare and precious. We even hung clementines on the Christmas tree as decorations.

Cinnamon was primerily a fall spice and ginger was foreign and unfamiliar.

Now that I’ve lived in Canada for over two decades, gingerbread means holidays. I started listening to Christmas music last week and we are about to put up our Christmas tree and this Vegan Gingerbread Cake will be the perfect accompaniment to the songs and twinkle lights.

Ingredients to make Vegan Gingerbread Cake

The only unconventional ingredient in this Vegan Gingerbread Cake Recipe is applesauce. I use it in place of extra oil. If you don’t want to use applesauce, you could use extra oil.

• Flour
• Brown sugar
• Salt
• Baking powder
• Gingerbread spices (I make my own with ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves)
• Canola oil (or any other flavourless oil like vegetable oil or grapeseed oil)
• Fancy molasses
• Applesauce
• Water

How to make Vegan Gingerbread Cake

This Vegan Gingerbread Cake is super easy to make – just mix everything in a bowl and pour into an oiled and floured cake pan. It totally goes onto my Mom-recipe list.

1. Combine all the dry ingredients thoroughly in a large bowl.
2. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix just until the flour disappears. Do not overmix!!!
3. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake!

So easy!

I use unsweetened apple sauce instead of eggs and some oil; it also adds some sweetness. Brown sugar and molasses add a distinct punch of flavour and colour. Ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves mingle together in the batter and make the kitchen smell like home and childhood and magic.

Vegan Gingerbread Cake isdeliciously spicy, soft and light. It’s perfect for an afternoon snack or morning cup of coffee!

More vegan cake recipes:

• Vegan Banana Cake
• Vegan Pumpkin Cake
• Vegan Chocolate-Prune Cake

I started making vegan cakes a few years ago and I haven’t looked back. I really don’t miss butter or eggs or milk in them – if made properly they are moist and soft and absolutely delicious!

Don’t forget to watch the video to see how easy it is to make this one-bowl vegan gingerbre