Soft, moist, molasses quick bread is perfectly seasoned with ginger and nutmeg. Gingerbread Loaf gives that classic holiday flavor that you love!
Gingerbread Loaf Recipe
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…
Soft Gingerbread Quick Bread
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!
Gingerbread Loaf
Ingredients
- 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
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In a mixing bowl, thoroughly stir together the flour, baking soda, ginger, nutmeg and salt. Set aside.
- 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.
- Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture alternately with the buttermilk, stirring just until blended after each addition.
- Spoon the batter into a greased 9x5 inch loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes.
- Cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
- Remove from the pan and cool.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Valerie Avella says
I wish I would have read some of the comments before making. While my loaf was moist, it lacked serious flavor, and that was despite me adding 1/2 tsp Allspice, 1/4 tsp Cloves and a dash of cinnamon. I like lower sugar recipes, but this bread is not sweet and lacks flavor. It needs more sugar, maybe 1/2 cup instead of 1/4, and a lot more spice to be gingerbread.
Josh says
How well does this work as a mini loaf? Also have you ever made French toast out of this bread the next day? Banana bread French toast is fantastic I imagine this would be great.
Julie Clark says
I bet it would be amazing as french toast! I’m not sure on baking times for a mini loaf, but it sounds like a great gift idea!
Cynthia Willard says
My pan was smaller than required so I made 2 large cupcakes, baked 40 minutes Perfect. So light and moist!
Loaf bread could have used 10 more min in an 8×4 pan. Recipe calls for 9″ loaf!. VERY TASTY!
Amy says
Can this be successfully made with gluten free all purpose flour? (Rice, tapioca, potato, almond blend)
Julie Clark says
I think it would but I haven’t tried it.
Caitlin says
i just took it out of the oven. my house is filled with smells of warm spices and baked goods. I tweaked the recipe a little. instead of using sugar, I used 1/2 c maple syrup. In place of buttermilk I used eggnog. I also added dates and walnuts.
Anonymous says
Did it change the texture by adding 1/2 cup maple syrup vs 1/4 cup sugar? I like the eggnog substitute!
Ashley D says
I made this recipe to give away at Christmas. Be sure to cream to sugar and butter together, or you are a loaf will fall. I accidentally put the sugar in with the dry mixture the first time around. Despite the molasses, the bread is not very sweet. If you are wanting a sweet bread, add more sugar. I personally liked it the way that it was! It was delicious and not overly spicy.
VICKIE BUCKNER says
LOVE THE HOW YOU MAKE IT VERY WONDERFUL THANK YOU VICKIE BUCKNER
Trish says
Really like this recipe although I altered it slightly. I increased the brown sugar to a half cup instead of a fourth and added additional spices.
Jewlie Kinnan says
Tasted great and easy to make. I did use brown sugar instead of regular sugar.
Marilee says
Delicious. Read the comments and increased the 1/4 C sugar to 1/2 C br sugar. Used generous measurements for spices plus added pumpkin pie spice.
Topped the loaf before baking with a sprinkle of coarse turbinado sugar.
Michelle says
Very moist, but too much spice for me. I will modify next time. Less ginger next time. I will add brown sugar and honey next time.