This is truly the best ever vegan gluten-free pumpkin cake! Not only that, but it is oil-free and the texture is perfection! It is also only 8 ingredients and topped with a delicious vanilla buttercream frosting with fresh pumpkin spices!
VEGAN GLUTEN FREE PUMPKIN CAKE
I am not kidding when I say this is one of my best cake recipes I’ve written over the years. It is impossible to detect it is both gluten-free and oil-free. It is that good! I sent half the cake to my parents and they both said how amazing it was and couldn’t wait for me to post the recipe!
This recipe was a labor of love. I posted this Best Vegan Pumpkin Cake before and it is phenomenal, but I received so many messages continually come through ever since posting it, for a gluten-free version. Since I always aim to make my gluten-free versions as delicious as the regular wheat ones, I tested it over and over and over. I’m happy to say the wait is worth it!
The texture is unbelievable. It is so light, soft, fluffy and not dense or mushy at all like so many gluten-free vegan baked cakes can be. I changed a couple of techniques that I hadn’t done before on my cakes and it was part of this magical vegan gluten-free pumpkin cake success.
I topped it with my vegan vanilla buttercream frosting, freshly grated nutmeg and freshly ground cinnamon and it was just divine! The frosting just makes it the perfect crowd-pleaser and extra fancy, but if you want to skip the frosting, a dusting of powdered sugar, fresh nutmeg and cinnamon will still be just as delicious!
INGREDIENTS NEEDED
(Only 8 main ingredients needed. Full details and measurements on the recipe card below.)
- Oat flour: This flour makes this cake gluten-free and what makes this cake so soft. It needs to be finely ground so that the cake is nice and fluffy and not dense. This is why I always buy my oat flour, since it’s never as fine by grinding it at home. I use the Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free oat flour.
- Cornstarch: Cornstarch works with the oat flour to make the cake so fluffy. Using all oat flour results in a very dense cake and nobody wants that. The cornstarch replaces the eggs and gluten and works beautifully here.
- Baking powder
- Pure maple syrup: This keeps the cake refined sugar-free.
- Pumpkin
- Pumpkin spices: I use my homemade pumpkin spice blend, but have also provided a short throw together blend on the recipe card below if you don’t already have a batch of my blend made up.
- Lite coconut milk: This is basically the ONLY fat in this cake, so since the cake is oil-free, this milk is very crucial to the moisture and texture being light and fluffy. You do not want to use low-fat milks or thin milks like almond, cashew, rice or soy. This cake is made with oat flour, which can be dense and chewy, so using soy milk, which is high protein, would make this cake excessively chewy. If you are allergic to coconut, I would suggest trying a homemade cashew milk instead, as store-bought cashew milk is mostly fillers and will NOT yield the same results. To make homemade cashew milk, see recipe card below. Please note, I have not trialed this personally, but suspect it will work very well, similar to the coconut milk. FYI, you do NOT taste any coconut milk in the cake. This is why I use the canned lite milk, as it’s very creamy, but doesn’t taste like coconut in the finished product, like full-fat would. I use the Sprouts brand “lite coconut milk”, but another brand that works well is the Thai Kitchen lite. Please do not use the Polar brand, it is fillers and very little actual coconut and will ruin the texture of the cake.
- Molasses: This is another magical ingredient in this cake for both depth of flavor and moisture. I use regular molasses, not blackstrap, as regular is sweeter and milder in flavor. You can find regular molasses at most grocery stores, even Walmart and Target. You do not want to use the blackstrap, as it’s very bitter and much darker.
HOW TO MAKE VEGAN GLUTEN FREE PUMPKIN CAKE
Step 1: Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl and whisk well.
Step 2: In a separate medium bowl, combine the wet ingredients until smooth.
Step 3: Pour over the dry ingredients and whisk gently just until smooth and combined. Do not overmix. It should be smooth and pourable.
Step 4: Pour the batter into an 8×8 baking dish (I used stone) that has been sprayed with nonstick spray.
Step 5: Bake at 400° for just 23 minutes or until a toothpick is clean from the center. A couple of dry crumbs are ok, but there should be no batter. Cool 1 hour before frosting (if using) or decorating with powdered sugar/spices. Slice and serve. Gluten-free cakes need to be completely cooled so that they finish cooking, or they can have an unbaked texture if sliced too early.
MORE VEGAN CAKE RECIPES
- Vegan Lemon Cake
- Vanilla Sheet Cake
- Vegan Gingerbread Cake
- Gluten-free Vegan Funfetti Cake
- Vegan Chocolate Chip Cake
- Almond Butter Cake
- Vegan Gluten-free Vanilla Cake
Vegan Gluten-free Pumpkin Cake (Oil-free!)
Ingredients
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons (144g) superfine oat flour (See notes why this is important)
- 6 tablespoons (48g) cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin spice (I use my homemade blend, see notes for easy quick mix)
- scant 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon (135g) canned lite coconut milk (See notes!) shaken well first
- 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon (180g) pure maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons (40g) regular molasses, not blackstrap (see post info)
- 1/2 cup (120g) pumpkin puree
- Optional: Vegan vanilla buttercream frosting, freshly ground nutmeg and cinnamon (ONLY DO A HALF RECIPE)
NOTE
- I always recommend to use a scale for accuracy when baking, following MY gram weights listed, since we all measure differently. This greatly improves your chance for success and lessons room for error. You never need cups or to compare them to the weights, just use the scale and bowl and make sure to hit zero before adding each ingredient. My recipes are 100% tested specifically using my exact weights and your results will turn out as mine this way.
- I use this scale.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (204°C). Yes, this cake is different and is baked at 400°F instead of the traditional 350°F. It makes a difference!
- Lightly spray an 8x8 baking dish (I used stone) with nonstick spray. The cake releases easily and beautifully this way. Otherwise, the cake will stick badly without it.
- To a large bowl, add the oat flour, cornstarch, baking powder, pumpkin spice and salt. Whisk well.
- In a separate medium bowl, combine the milk, syrup, molasses and pumpkin until completely smooth. Pour over the dry ingredients and whisk gently just until smooth and combined. Do not overmix. Oat-based batters can cause dense results if they are overmixed.
- Pour the batter into the dish and give it a good shake side to side to even out the top.
- Bake for just 23 minutes or until a toothpick is clean from the center. Each cake I tested was perfect at this time. A couple of dry crumbs are ok, but there should be no wet batter.
- Cool 1 hour before frosting (if using) or decorating with powdered sugar/spices. Slice and serve. Gluten-free cakes need to be completely cooled so that they finish cooking, or they can have an unbaked texture if sliced too early. So be patient!
- To decorate the cake to make it extra fancy, I topped it with my vegan vanilla buttercream frosting, freshly grated nutmeg and freshly ground cinnamon and it was just divine! But if you want to skip the frosting, a good dusting of powdered sugar, fresh nutmeg and cinnamon is still just as delicious! Or you could add my simple cream cheese glaze! Store this cake at room temperature sealed well, so it stays moist. It keeps well for up to 3 days.
Notes
The Vegan 8 is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please see my full disclosure policy here.
I made this and the gluten-free version for a bake-off/taste test. Both were moist and turned out perfectly.
The pumpkin spice combo you list in this recipe doesn’t include the black pepper that’s in your spice blend recipe and on the other pumpkin cake recipe so I added that in the appropriate proportion. The other cake’s spicing was too strong for me and I really like a lot of these kinds of spices. This recipe uses different proportions with less of each spice and it was still pretty strong. I’d make this again, but I’d reduce the seasonings.
Thank you Barb, happy to hear the cake turned out perfectly! Yes, I love a lot of spice and flavor because that’s how my mom baked pumpkin cake growing up, but it sounds like you prefer milder flavors, so just reduce next time.
I LOVE this cake, my whole family LOVES this cake, my children LOVE this cake more than ice cream, now thats saying something!
Woohoo, that is so amazing to hear Dorret! I feel just as strongly about this cake, haha!
Made this recipe exactly as written and it was excellent!! My husband is GF and my son is allergic to nuts, this recipe was good for both dietary needs. None of us are vegan and we all loved this recipe!
So very happy to hear this Charlene!
Made this yesterday and shared with a friend. Gone! So now I’m making another one!! So freakin good. And I love the texture. It reminds me of a moist muffin so we started calling it a “sheet muffin spice cake”. Lol. I think I’m gonna try adding a little chopped apple that’s been cooked down. Maybe some nuts too? May even try making it in a muffin tin. Thank you!!!
Brandi this cake is delicious. I know you advised to let it cool completely, but the smell was so irresistible that we cut into it after half an hour when it was still quite warm and fabulous I will say! No icing was necessary although I can see this being an excellent holiday cake with vanilla cream icing and possibly adding some candied ginger and walnuts to the batter. I ground my own oatmeal as finely as I could, didn’t use a scale, but followed the recipe as you wrote it. The cake rose beautifully in the pan and the texture was spot on. Thanks for the recipe.
I made this cake today and it is delicious. I didn’t bother frosting it, because we found it to be tasty and sweet enough plain. Definitely will make again.
Now I need to make your gluten free pumpkin bread. But I don’t have a ceramic or glass loaf pan. Do you think it will work in a silicone loaf pan?
So glad to hear it Rosalie! You can try silicone! It may change the texture a bit though.
After making this cake and loving it, I made it again to bring to a pot luck dinner. I didn’t Friday it this time either, but since I wanted to add something, I brought 2 little containers with strawberry preserves and apricot preserves so people could spread it on if desired. I had already tested that and liked it. I cut the cake into squares and had them on a pretty plate. But, before I had a chance to explain anything to the guests (re: gluten free pumpkin cake) one of the guests had already put a square in his bowl of chili. He said it was delicious!!
That sounds so amazing Rosalie!
Sorry for the typo,Brandi. Auto-correct changed the word frost to Friday. I didn’t realize it until I read this online.
I cannot have molasses, can I leave it out or replace it with something else?
I want to make 2 cakes, can I use sweet potato instead of pumpkin for one of the cakes?
Hi! The molasses provides a lot of moisture and flavor so it’s going to be quite different without it. You can’t just leave it out or it’ll be very dry. You can try date syrup (the kind you buy) since it’s similar consistency. But I cannot vouch for the result. No I wouldn’t do sweet potato here unless it’s the super wet kind like from a can because it’s much more starchy and will make the cake dense. Recipe is written based on using wet pumpkin.
Another home run recipe! A previous reviewer asked about using potato starch, so I, in fact, tried it. Brandi stated she thought it might be chewy, but it was almost imperceptively so. I wouldn’t hesitate to use potato starch again. I also baked it in a cast iron skillet and it was wonderful! My family ate it in two days! That’s a winner in my book.
So happy it was a hit! No I was saying tapioca starch would make it chewy. Not potato starch. Glad it worked out!!
The pumpkin cake with buttercream icing is absolutely amazing! So moist, fluffy and flavorful! I highly recommend this recipe!
Thank you so much for this recipe
Defiantly a keeper !
So moist and flavorful.
My family absolutely loves this recipe! I’ve made it for the past few years now multiple times. I was wondering, would it be possible to swap out the cornstarch for arrowroot? Trying to avoid GMO products when possible…
Yay! So happy to hear that! I am not sure arrowroot would work as well. It tends to make things gooey in baking. My best suggestion would be to do half and half of each potato starch and tapioca starch. (24g each) All tapioca would make the cake too dense/chewy and all potato starch would make it too dry and more crumbly. This is why I suggest trying a combo of each.
I was wondering this myself as hubby can’t have corn based products
Question, my husband is diabetic so instead of Pure Maple Syrup thoughts of using Sugar Free Syrup ? Also not sure about the Molasses. Any suggestions would be great.
I’ve never used sugar free syrup so I don’t know how it’ll taste and the molasses provides a lot of moisture and flavor, so not sure about that!
Hi! I was wondering if I can make this recipe in a foil pan or will it get messed up? Thanks so much!
It will stick really badly, you will need to line it with parchment paper.
This was absolutely outstanding! My non-vegan husband got the first taste and said, “This is freaking amazing!” My 12 year old snagged 2 pieces and said that this was one of the best things I’ve ever baked (and I bake a LOT). I suspect most people would not be able to tell that this has no gluten, no eggs, and no oil. I would have given 10 stars if I could have!
I am thrilled to hear this Farm Gal! Thank you for the review!
Really, I can’t believe this is vegan! No eggs! Wow, you’ve produced a recipe that rivals those that use eggs! My family loved it, daughter said, ‘don’t make any changes to it Mom!’ after tasting it.
I did use coconut kefir in place of the coconut milk. I guess I’ll have to do that from now on! Thanks for a lovely recipe Brandi! <3
Yay thank you so much Lorraine!!