Soft, spiced, sweet, and EASY. This Vegan Gingerbread Bundt Cake is the perfect Christmas recipe with healthier ingredients and dreamy glaze drizzle on top!
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Mixing. Rolling. Cookie cutter-ing. Decorating. I don’t want to sound Grinch-y, but gingerbread cookies are kind of a lot of work. Which is why this recipe exists – to be your solution to the ever so common I-want-gingerbread-but-I’m-also-lazy problem.
Other problems this cake can solve:
- What to bake at 10pm to bring to that christmas party you forgot was tomorrow?
- What to make instead of your grandma’s gingerbread recipe because there is already enough butter and sugar happening this time of year?
- What to make to satisfy your early December gingerbread muffin craving? (Yep, works in a muffin/cupcake pan too!)
- Where is THAT perfect vegan + gluten-free gingerbread recipe to make every year from now until forever?
This Vegan Gingerbread Bundt Cake is simple. It is perfectly spiced with ginger and cinnamon and cloves. It is soft and the texture of the crumb amazed even me. And best of all the batter is made IN THE BLENDER, so you don’t have to use a single whisk or bowl. We’re getting close to the holidays, I don’t want you working too hard over there.
The key to making batters in the blender is to not over blend. Because yes it is much easier, but also yes it can make your cake turn out gummy (especially if oat flour is involved). I recommend blending all the liquid ingredients first, as high speed and for as long as you like. But once you add the flours you need to calm down, keep the speed on low, and blend until things are just combined. Also using a larger blender container helps too.
I used my Vitamix A3500 here with the 64oz container and kept it on speed 1 or 2. It blended beautifully – never got stuck, no lumps in sight, I didn’t have to stop and scrape down the sides even once. Ready for the oven in less than 10 minutes is my kinda holiday baking.
Let’s talk about the magic of the bundt pan for a minute. Reasons I love it:
- I mean just look at it, all those majestic ridges
- Majestic ridges = perfect glaze collecting vessels
- Bakes more evenly, no squishy middle piece
- Easier to slice and serve and share
But you could bake this cake in a square 9-inch cake pan or cupcake pan instead. The bake time will be similar, maybe reduce by 5 minutes for cupcakes and add 5 for a square cake. I do not recommend using a loaf pan, it is too moist of a cake and won’t bake through properly.
For the snowy glaze drips I simply used softened coconut butter. It’s naturally sweet, hardens like glaze, and is EASY (sensing a theme here?) But for a sweeter option, a mixture of powdered sugar and almond milk works too. Try this recipe.
Cookies might be cute, but they cannot compete with this zero-bowl level of easy. My lazy gingerbread-loving fam, this one is for you!
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Soft, spiced, sweet, and EASY. This Vegan Gingerbread Bundt cake is the perfect Christmas recipe with healthier ingredients and dreamy glaze drizzle on top!
Ingredients
- 1 cup (250g) unsweetened applesauce
- 2 flax eggs (2 tbsp ground flax + 4 tbsp water)
- 2/3 cup (110g) coconut sugar
- 3 tbsp (60g) molasses
- 1/2 cup (120g) non-dairy milk
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups (250g) oat flour
- 1 1/2 cups (165g) almond flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp ginger
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp cloves
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Optional: coconut butter for glazing (or for a sweeter glaze try this recipe)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
- Prepare the flax eggs and set aside to gel.
- Blend the applesauce, flax eggs, coconut sugar, molasses, milk, lemon juice, and vanilla in a Vitamix blender on medium-high speed (5 or 6) Alternately, whisk by hand.
- Add the flours, spices, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Blend on low speed (1 or 2) until JUST combined. Do not over blend or the cake will turn out gummy.
- Pour into a greased bundt pan (8-10 cup capacity is best)*
- Bake for 35-40 minutes at 350ºF.
- Remove from the oven. Cool for 10-15 minutes before flipping onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Top with glaze, slice, and enjoy!
- Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week, or freeze (without glaze) for longer storage.
Notes
*Or you can use a 9″ square pan or cupcake pan. If making cupcakes, reduce bake time to 30 minutes. If making a square cake, the time will be approximately 35 minutes. I do not recommend making this recipe in a loaf pan.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 243
- Sugar: 17g
- Fat: 9g
- Saturated Fat: 1g
- Carbohydrates: 35g
- Fiber: 4g
- Protein: 6g
Keywords: vegan, gluten-free, cupcake, dessert, spiced, christmas, holiday
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This looks amazing – with a huge plus being that its quick and easy. If I were to replace the flax egg with regular egg, would I use one or two?
★★★★★
Haven’t tested it personally, but I would try two!
Did it work with 2 eggs?
I am contemplating trying the same as I cant find flax seed easily /they are expensive.
Bob’s Red Mill brand* offer both whole flax seeds, brown or golden, & flax seed meal- neither of which are greatly expensive. Those same whole flax seeds can also be purchased in bulk in health foodstores or deprs- under2$/#, then grind them yourself in a regular blender. *There probably are other brands as well.
Woah – that overhead shot just made my holidays so much sweeter! I have been craving gingerbread since Thanksgiving but I have been indecisive about a recipe 😉 I can’t wait to let my Vitamix do all the work here! And gosh, I bet this beauty smells heavenly when it’s baking =) And the most fun part is the glazing, of course!
Since thanksgiving and you still haven’t made anything gingerbread yet?!? I mean might as well just make cookies and cake and maybe muffins and possible pancakes too🤗🤗
Haha! I did make cookies and pancakes but an epic gingerbread cake/loaf is a must in December. Thanks for doing the recipe testing for me 😉 And enjoy your vacation!!!
Okay good, I feel much better about your gingerbread consumption now😂😂 And thank you Ashley😘
Can I make this without a blender? Mine is to small for that.
Absolutely! Just whisk together the wet ingredients, stir in the dry, and good to go😊
Would any other gluten free flour other than oat work? My stomach can’t really handle oats!
Hmm maybe try buckwheat or quinoa. Or an all purpose GF blend could work too!
This cake is simply stunning! 🙂
Thanks girl❤️
If I’m not gf, could I use normal all purpose flour or whole wheat pastry flour instead of almond flour?
Since the cake is oil-free the only fat source is the almond flour, without that it will be quite dry so I don’t recommend it. Sorry!
Hi Natalie. I would like to try the cake, but I don’t have (and I prefer not using) molasses. Can it be replaced with something else? Maybe coconut nectar or date syrup? Thanks. 🙂
Yep, either would be fine!
Hi Natalie, your recipes are delicious Thank you for sharing! I was wondering if you can make vegan cinnamon rolls thank you so much bless you and your family😃
★★★★★
Oh I wish! Trust me I have tried many times, they are high on my list too. The gluten-free and oil-free part makes it quite tricky. But thanks for the request Ella and I will keep trying!
Just beautiful Natalie! I can smell this beauty from way over here! It looks just incredible my friend! Moist, fluffy, tender and baked to perfection! I love that you didn’t skimp on the ginger either! You are becoming the bundt cake master, now aren’t ya?? Ha! It looks just amazing and you know how much I love gingerbread! I also love how perfectly thick, creamy and white that drizzle of coconut butter looks down each groove of the cake. Picture perfect for sure. The ingredient list is all lovey happy ingredients I love too. It’s 10:30 at night here and I’ve baked like a mad woman lately and your post is tempting me to get up and make gingerbread now, lol. Such a beautiful cake and every picture looks so beautiful. I love that you shared this, I definitely need to add it to my must-make list!
Oooh Bundt Cake Master…yeah I can roll with that😂 Haha I bet you have some delicious gingerbread leftovers in your house by this time of the month too, can’t wait to see all the fun things you are working on!
Hi! I just made this recipe tonight! It came out awesome! The flavor and texture are just right. I have tried many recipes with almond flour and oat flour and they never seem to come out right.
This was delicious! Thank you so much! I can’t wait to make more from your website!
Rachael
★★★★★
Rachael! This is amazing feedback, I am SO happy you liked it and thanks for sharing🤗❤️
I made this last night for our gym’s Christmas party and it was a huge hit! It was so moist and so easy to make! I loved it! Can not wait to make this again!
★★★★★
YAY!! I am so happy everyone liked it🤗 Thanks for the feedback Angela and happy holidays!
Is it possible to replace the oat flour with another kind?
Sure! Buckwheat, quinoa, spelt, gf all purpose, all of those would work instead. What did you have in mind?
Can’t have almond flour, what can I substitute it with? No nuts allowed.
This one really needs the nut flour to make it moist without oil, maybe try this recipe instead: https://www.feastingonfruit.com/gingerbread-loaf/
Thanks, I might try that recipe. I found some Sunflower flour, would that work?
Hmm never seen that or worked with it so you’d have to experiment, but certainly sounds intriguing!
Thoughts on substituting Rum for 1/2 of the milk?
Hmm never baked with rum myself so idk really, but you could certainly give it a try!
Looks delicious! You don’t have to grease the pan?
I tried this wonderful recipe twice and didn’t grease the pan the first time. It was a bit of work to get it to release from the non-stick pan. The 2nd time, I greased it with a little bit of coconut oil and it released beautifully. My other tip is I opted to mix by hand instead of using my blender. It was a pain trying to scrape all of the batter out of the blender and with my older Vitamix it was easier to overmix.
★★★★★
You do!! Definitely yes, especially if using a bundt pan 🙂
Hi, I only have a 10″ bundt pan, do you think this would still work?
Yes absolutely! That’s what size mine is 🙂
I like big bundts and I cannot lie! It felt like I was committing all kinds of culinary blasphemy here by making a traditionally Christmas cake at Easter but I went ahead and did it, and I am soooooo glad I did! It was the perfect family Easter cake and everyone wolfed it down! With applesauce-based cakes I am in perpetual fear of gumminess BUT this had the perfect crumb! Fluffy yet moist enough to stay on my fork the necessary time from bowl to mouth! I took heed of your Do Not Over Blend warning and so now I’ve learned something AND ate a great cake! Winning! I used a bag of ‘mystery spices’ (all sweet thankfully – no cumin or paprika surprises!) instead of the ginger/cinnamon/cloves so technically it wasn’t at all Christmassy – right?! I need to get me some of that coconut butter you recommended for the drizzle though – mine just sort of shrivelled indignantly when I warmed it up. I need another excuse to re-make this!
★★★★★
Bahahaha!! Dying at that opener, but I could not agree more😂😂 This cake is one of my faves, so I am so glad you threw the time of year traditions out the window and made it anyways too! Applesauce can definitely be guilty of making cakes gummy, but I think it’s the almond flour that keeps the crumb so nice here and the not over mixing too. So happy it was a success, and hope you had a wonderful easter💜
Wow Natalie, looks stunning! :)))
Can’t wait to try it, gingerbread is definitely my favorite flavour!!
I wonder if it would work baking in two 8 inch round pans instead of the bundt pan?
TKS!
My favorite too❤️ And yes it works fine in round pans, although I’m not sure this is quite enough batter to completely fill two 8″ pans (although probably too much for 1). You can try it, they just might be shorter/thinner than a normal cake. And reduce the bake time to around 30-35 minutes Hope that helps!
Hi,
Can I replace the almond flour with coconut flour and adjust the liquid? If so how do I do that?
I do not recommend it. Coconut flour is very different and will make the cake really dry/crumbly even if you add more liquid😬
Yay for the gingerbread season! This recipe was so easy and quickly came together and it was oh so yummy! I keep coming back to your blog for sweets because I know I will probably have all the ingredients already in my pantry. And the end result being the most important, your recipes are always healthy and so delicious… I used your coconut butter glaze (1/4 cup coconut butter,
1 tbsp maple syrup, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 2-3 tbsp non-dairy milk) and the combination was perfection! I also listened your warning about not to over mix, and the resulting cake was airy and dreamy. Thank you! Happy holidays.
★★★★★
I am so happy to hear it was a fluffy holiday-spiced success🤗🎄 One of my personal favorite flavors and recipes too. I hope you had a delicious and happy christmas!
Hello! I am so excited to try this recipe (and you may have just given me the push I needed to get a Vitamix). I read through the comments about the importance of the almond flour. Ihave issues with almonds and was wondering if hazelnut meal would work in its place. What are your thoughts? Thanks 🙂
Hazelnut meal should work just fine and be delicious! Just make sure you grind it as finely as possible 🙂