This Vegan Spiced Gingerbread Cake is wholesome and festive, packed with winter spices and naturally sweetened. The perfect breakfast, snack, or dessert during the holiday season!
This Vegan Spiced Gingerbread Cake is EXACTLY what I have been looking for this holiday season. I love being able to reach for a healthy, seasonal snack in the middle of the day that I can enjoy with my afternoon coffee. One thing that I try to avoid is eating a lot of unfilling foods as snacks, as they cause me to continue grazing until I find something that will hold me over until my next meal. This Vegan Spiced Gingerbread Cake is full of fiber, protein, and naturally sweetened. It is healthy enough to make you feel full and energized but tasty enough to make you feel like you are indulging! To me, this is the perfect combination.
Almond Flour – my new best friend!
I have been intrigued by almond flour for awhile now. While I always try to make my recipes filling and moist, almond flour seems like the perfect addition. I have made a few experiments that have come out delicious but not at all the right texture or consistency.
First I tried this gingerbread cake with a mix of oat flour and almond flour and it was extremely rich and slightly gummy, not what I was going for with this gingerbread cake.
Then I began more thoroughly researching almond flour, how it works in baked goods, and how it can be used with other flours. After coming across this article by King Arthur, I learned that almond flour can generally be substituted for 25% of the flour in a “non-yeast” recipe such as cookies and cakes. Which is why I decided to try it with a mix of whole wheat, white, and almond flour. The whole wheat flour adds fiber, the almond flour adds protein and moisture, and the regular flour makes it slightly lighter than it would be if it was only made whole wheat and almond flour.
Keep in mind that this is definitely a heavier, filling quick bread. It is on the denser side and moist, which is exactly how I wanted this recipe to be.
Here is what you’ll need:
Flour: I used a combination of whole wheat flour, white flour, and almond flour. It should still work well if you only use whole wheat or white flour with the combination of the almond flour, but the almond flour is key for the moist consistency.
Holiday Spices: I go heavy on the spices with this one because I LOVE a spicy gingerbread. Ground ginger, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and nutmeg. Feel free to adjust according to what you have on hand.
Molasses: The sweetener that gives gingerbread the true gingerbread taste. While in the US this is sold at all major supermakets, in Spain it can be found in health food stores or on Amazon.
Maple Syrup: Maple combined with molasses is just perfection in my eyes! I love the combination for the two for gingerbread, plus it keeps the cake naturally sweetened.
Flax egg: 1 tbs ground flax + 2.5 tbs water. By mixing these two ingredients together and letting them sit for 10 minutes, it forms a gel consistency that helps to hold the cake together.
Neutral-Flavored Oil: I use sunflower seed oil when I make this recipe, but you can use the vegetable oil of your choice. If you choose to use unrefined coconut oil keep in mind that it will result in a slightly “coconutty” taste.
Plant-based milk: It is best to use a “creamier” plant-based milk in this recipe such as almond or soy milk. I have not tried it with another kind of milk, but if you try it please let me know how it turns out in the comments!
Vanilla: A must! It brings out all of the flavors of this cake.
Cranberries: The cranberries really add a nice touch to this recipe. While the cake is packed with spices, the raisins provide pops of tart “Christmassyness” that pair nicely with all of the warm flavors.
Pecan topping: by first sprinkling a layer of coconut sugar or on the top, and then adding a layor of chopped pecans, a sweet crunchy topping is formed that just tops off the cake perfectly! You can also sub brown sugar for coconut sugar here.
Side note, I finally got a “real” camera! These pictures of the Vegan Spiced Gingerbread Cake was the first time that I used it. Woohoo, no more taking tons of food pictures on my phone! I am so excited to learn how to actually learn how to use this thing correctly and hopefully will have some pretty nice looking pictures coming up!
Please let me know how you liked this recipe! I´m sure it will become one of your new holiday favorites!
Vegan Spiced Gingerbread Cake
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
- 3/4 cup white flour
- 1/2 cup almond flour, packed
- 1.5 tsp ground ginger
- 1.5 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp ground allspice
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
Wet Ingredients
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 flax egg (1tbs ground flax + 2.5tbs water)
- 1/4 cup neutral flavored oil (I use sunflower seed oil)
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup soy milk or almond milk
- 1/2 cup cranberries (mix in last)
For the Pecan Topping:
- 1,5 tbs coconut sugar sub brown sugar
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare the flax egg: mix together 1tbs of ground flax and 2.5tbs of water in a small bowl, set aside for at least 10min.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all of the dry ingredients.
- In a seperate bowl, mix together the wet ingredients. Don´t forget to add in the flax egg that you prepared!
- Mix the wet ingredients in with the dry ingredients and mix enough to combine with a wooden spoon. Stir in the cranberries.
- In a prepared loaf pan lined with parchment paper, pour in the batter. Sprinkle the coconut sugar on top first and then sprinkle on the pecans evenly on top.
- Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick comes out clean, 40-50 minutes. Check after 30 minutes and if you notice that the pecans are browning too much, lay a piece of tin foil on top.