Soft, moist, molasses quick bread is perfectly seasoned with ginger and nutmeg. Gingerbread Loaf gives that classic holiday flavor that you love!
I know what you’re thinking……it’s kind of early to post a Christmas recipe. We love sharing Christmas recipes, but usually we wait a little bit longer before we completely dive into those comforting Christmas treats. But trust me, we have a good reason to share this Gingerbread Loaf with you today.
I’ll tell you why.
It took us a full year to finally perfect this recipe. We put a lot of time and ingredients into making this the perfect gingerbread loaf of bread. Both of us, at times, felt like we needed to just give up on this bread. Like when it’s your fifth loaf of the day, you’ve trashed three already, and as you take the bread out of the oven, the unstable middle sinks right down to make a little dip in your bread. Bye bye, perfect gingerbread loaf. But we both also felt like we couldn’t part with the idea of an actual soft, sliceable “gingerbread”. It was too delicious of an idea to give up on.
After ditching recipe after recipe, we dug through all of our old cookbooks to seek out the perfect (or almost perfect, anyway) quick bread loaf to revise into our own Christmas-y version. I couldn’t ever describe how happy I was when mom looked through the oven door and announced, “This looks pretty good!” We had the best gingerbread recipe we could possibly get. And we did it for all of you. 🙂 You are so welcome.
This gingerbread loaf is probably going to be one of my favorite holiday breads, just because of all its familiar spices and it smelling just like gingerbread cookies that I love so much. Since I have braces, I won’t be able to eat real gingerbread cookies because they’re just a little too crispy. But I’m okay with that because this is just as good! There is nothing better on a cold winter morning than a warm buttered piece of gingerbread loaf and a hot drink. Like a warm, smooth, spiced cranberry cider…
We’ve posted many quick bread recipes before, but I’m going to remind you again like my mom always reminds me, you cannot stir this too much. I like to use a rubber spatula to scrape and fold the batter together over and over. Then, as soon as it’s blended all the way, you stop mixing immediately. Trust me, the more you make quick bread, the easier it is to remember and the more natural it becomes. I love mixing ingredients together so I was kind of frustrated I couldn’t overmix, but now I don’t really care. If you’re afraid of getting flour chunks in your bread, you can always sift the flour before adding it in. It really works and gets your flour incorporated well.
Enjoy this recipe a lot, and be thankful that you weren’t the one trying to perfect this recipe over the past year!
- 2 cups all-purpose flour 240 grams
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ginger
- 3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1/2 cup molasses
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk*
- powdered sugar for dusting the top if desired
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
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In a mixing bowl, thoroughly stir together the flour, baking soda, ginger, nutmeg and salt. Set aside.
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In a large mixing bowl, cream together the sugar and butter until well combined. Add the molasses and vanilla. Mix well. Add the eggs, one at a time, until well mixed.
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Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture alternately with the buttermilk, stirring just until blended after each addition.
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Spoon the batter into a greased 9x5 inch loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes.
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Cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
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Remove from the pan and cool.
Thank you for the nice recipe.
Perfect for Autumn! I am sure it makes the whole house smell so good too! What a wonderful gift for friends, family and neighbors!
This is so festive! In my opinion it is never to early for Christmas recipes. Pinned 🙂
Never too early for Christmas recipes! I love a good gingerbread and this looks delicious! 🙂
Perfect!! My boyfriend and I are on a quick bread kick lately. I will give this a try!
This sounds like the perfect holiday breakfast treat!! Yum! I make a dark chocolate gluten free loaf on http://www.behindtheplates.com but will need to add this recipe to my list to try!
Hi! I found your blog on the BlogHer facebook group. Looks great. I like how you gave extra tips on mixing the batter. I’ve been incorporation more cooking tips into my food blog as well. Shared and connected with you on social media.
Thanks so much, Matt! I’m heading over to look you up, too!
Looks amazing! Are you using ginger powder or fresh grated ginger?
Erin, I’m using powdered ginger here. Thanks for clarifying! 🙂
I love ginger bread and will eat it at any time of the year! This looks so yummy!
I’m with you, Kari! I don’t know why I don’t make it other times of the year. It’s the best!
Just writing it down makes me want to try a bite! This nice and easy bread will fill my Italian home of American memories……thanks!
You are so welcome, Elena! Enjoy!
Has anyone tried making these in canning jars? I want to try that for using as gifts and am wondering if anyone else had success.
It sounds like a fun idea, but I’ve not tried it. Let me know if it works! 🙂
We’ve always made them in clean tin cans after labels removed. Use a little circle of waxed paper in bottom and grease/flour sides .Just watch timing and check with a cake tester stick (toothpicks don’t go far enough to middle usually).
This looks great! I am thinking about making tiny loaves (I found a pan that makes like 6 small loaves) for small Christmas gifts this year. do you have any tips on how much batter to make or how long to cook them?
Emily, I think it’s a great idea! It’s hard to say exactly how much batter you’ll need without knowing how big your mini loaf pans are. I have several different sizes of “mini” loaves. And as for the time, I’d start it out at half of the time the recipes calls for, then check the loaves and add time as needed. They’ll be super cute, though!!
Hiya,
Being in the UK I’m not very used to molasses- are you using dry or liquid molasses in this? Gingerbread is my Mum’s favourite and I would love to make this!
Hi there! We use liquid molasses. Enjoy!
Tried this this morning, and it was perfect. Thanks!
Great, Carrie! I’m glad you liked it. Thanks!
Thanks for sharing, Lizzy!
I’m definitely trying this recipe.
I wanted to know if you knew the equivalent if I were to use fresh grated ginger (powdered ginger is not that common here in Perú) and there’s no baking powder needed right?
Thanks again!
I looked this up and I saw one site where it said that 1″ piece of fresh ginger is equal to 1 1/4 teaspoons of powder, but it looks like it varies widely based on where you look. I’ve never baked with fresh ginger, so I can’t say for sure. Sorry!
Love ginger anything! I make a cookie with tiny pieces of candied ginger in them. I’m going to make this today and try adding some to the bread as well. Nice chewy bits of ginger, best part of the cookie, hope it works in the bread too!
Sounds delicious, Karen! Let me know how it turns out!
Thanks so much for this recipe. I made two batches today and they came out really well, I just have a quick question. At step 3 of the instructions I could not get the butter to blend in/go light and fluffy with the molasses, sugar and eggs. Is anyone else having this problem? Both times it had a curdled look. It doesn’t seem to have affected the final cakes as they were lovely, but since it happened twice I thought I’d run it past! Thanks
Hi there! You’re right…the molasses keeps it from getting too fluffy. I’ve changed the wording. I’m glad you enjoyed it!
These turned out great! I used 1 cup wheat flour and 1 cup white flour. I also added 1/2 tsp ground cloves, and next time I think I’ll add cinnamon, too. I baked them in 3 mini loaf pans (5.75 x 3 x 2) for a little over 30 minutes and they are perfect! Thanks for the great recipe.
Thanks for those suggestions, Carley! I love the idea of using partial wheat flour.
Thank you for sharing your recipe 🙂 Made the gingerbread this morning and it was beautiful.
I made this loaf last night and it was just delicious! Very light and fluffy, and had just enough spice. Thank you for the great recipe – I will definitely be making this perfect loaf again! =)
Thanks, Michelle! I never think to make it outside of the holidays, but now I’m craving it!
Hi Lizzy,
Do you use All Purpose Flour, bread flour or another flour mixture? Just wanted to double check. I’m making a loaf for my dad’s birthday!
Hi there! For this recipe I use all-purpose flour. I hope he loves it!
I tried this recipe and it turned out pretty good. As Tara in a previous comment noted though, the butter is not going to fully blend with the molasses mixture(step 3). It’s going to have a separated look- lots of little pieces. I thought I did something wrong because the instructions say to beat until mixed well, but apparently this is as mixed as it will get. Don’t expect a smooth consistency like a traditional cake batter where you cream the butter first. In fact, I used a stand mixer but next time I might just do it by hand. I’ve noticed that most gingerbread recipes are just hand mixed. Go ahead and give this one a try.
Thanks for the review, Desmond!
This is a great gingerbread recipe! I made it last night and it turned out perfect. The flavor is great and it’s moist. Mine was done in less time by about 15 minutes, but maybe my oven runs hot. I’ll make this again. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
You’re so welcome! Thanks for the feedback and I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Going to fix this for Thanksgiving and serve it with Apple ice cream from a local creamery!
I’m guessing it will freeze just fine, but wondering if it would bake up OK in an 8×8 pan.?
Thx
I’ve not tried it in an 8×8 pan. It would bake fine, I’m just not sure how thick it would be. I think it would end up being a thinner cake. That’s such a great idea though. I love the apple ice cream addition!
I’am very glad to recibe our recipe, I like it very much.Thank You.
Hi there! Putting this together now and I’m going to assume that the buttermilk is to be added to the ‘wet’ ingredients although it doesn’t say so in the instructions above. Just thought that I’d point that out. 🙂 Thanks for doing all the experimenting for me.
You add the buttermilk alternately with the flour to the sugar/egg mixture, which is stated above. That’s just to cut down on the amount of mixing that you do. I hope you enjoyed it!
I could not wait to try this recipe and thought I better save a small loaf to try before I gave it as a gift! Unfortunately, my gingerbread was not very moist and I thought it could use a little more flavor, too.
Not sure what happened.?..I have been baking for years.
Hmmm…not sure what happened either. I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy it. You could potentially add more ginger or nutmeg if you’d like more flavor.
I was excited to make this too. But there is no flavor-it lacks sugar and spice. It is the perfect texture and moistness though
If you like more spice you could definitely add more ginger or nutmeg. Did you use the powdered sugar on top? I like it best with this. You could also do a powdered sugar glaze if you’d like it more sweet.
Has anyone made this bread and frozen it? I’d like to make it ahead of time and take it out at Xmas, does it freeze well and if so what did you wrap it in?
Yes! You can freeze this bread. Wrap it in plastic wrap then put it in a Ziploc bag. When you take it out of the freezer be sure to let it defrost completely before taking it out of the packaging.
Can I freeze this gingerbread after its baked? Can’t wait to try it!!
Yes! Wrap it well, then when you take it out of the freezer, let it defrost completely in the packaging before unwrapping it.
I try a new recipe every year for gingerbread..and this is my new favorite! I tweaked just a little..substituting about 1/2 of the white sugar for dark brown, went heavy on the ginger, added a little cinnamon, and some finely chopped crystallized ginger for “pop.” It’s perfect!!! Not too sweet, moist but not gooey, I can’t stpp sneaking pieces. Well done.
Thanks, Joanne! I love the idea of dark brown sugar. Mmmm….I need to make me some! 🙂
I plan on making this recipe for Christmas since its looks delicious. I noticed in the picture you used a metal pan-I plan on using a glass pan since it’s all I have. Will this change the baking time?
I’ve not tried this in a glass pan so I can’t say for sure, but glass does hold heat better than metal. I’ve read that you can reduce the oven temp 25 degrees or possibly bake 10 minutes less.
I made mini loaves with this recipe and they turned out fantastic. The only thing I have to say is that I made the recipe exactly the first time but the second time I creamed the butter and sugar before adding the molasses and the other liquid ingredients. It turned out much better the second time around. Thanks so much for this recipe!!!
Thanks!! I need to change the recipe to reflect this because you are right, it creams together better. Thanks! Heading off to update. 🙂
I ‘happened” upon this recipe–have made 3 –thus far!-in two weeks–gifts,home, and entertainment. Best Recipe Ever!!
Thank you:)
Thank you so much!! I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed it!
Made this recently. Not sure if it’s because I’m not American, but it was a bit disappointing. Strong molasses flavour and not gingery enough even though I put in more than the recipe called for. If I made it again, I would use brown sugar, much more ginger and slightly less molasses. Not bad, but not great either.
I especially like your idea of using brown sugar. I think it could really deepen the flavor!
I made several mini loaves to give away… but I wouldn’t make it again without modifications. I agree that the molasses flavor was really strong and the “ginger” flavor not prevalent enough. if I make it again, I will use half the molasses and double the ginger plus add cinnamon.
I am sooo excited to try your recipe as have not had much success with ginger bread always too solid and dry. Just one question as do not want to go wrong is baking soda the same as baking powder? You do say baking soda but sometimes this means powder! Thank you!
No, baking soda and baking powder are not the same thing. You’ll use baking soda for this recipe. Thank you!
I made this today. It is wonderful. The top of the bread sunk in after cooling. Is that normal or did I do something wrong. The taste is great!! My husband and I loved it!!
Hmmmm….there could be many different reasons….I found this article that may help: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/aug/05/fine-cooking-offers-tips-to-avoid-sunken-quick/ I’m so glad you enjoyed it, though! 🙂
Just made this for Christmas breakfast served with some cream cheese sprinkled with cinnamon – it was amazing, so much flavour and so soft even a couple days later when we polished it off. It’s my mum’s new favourite.
Thanks for the awesome recipe!
I love the idea of cream cheese and cinnamon. Thank you!!
Needs more sugar for taste. I make sweet potato bread and the recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups of sugar but I use 1 1/4 cups. Think I’ll use that in the gingerbread.
Sounds great! I’ve always wanted to try sweet potato bread.
Very moist & flavorful! My Christmas favorite of breads!
Thank you!