Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread

Cheryl Malik Posted: 10/15/26

Why This Is The Best Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread

This bread is far from dry! Three words: Oil, butter, AND sour cream. Oil helps the loaf stay soft after cooling, butter adds flavor, and sour cream brings moisture and richness.
It’s not insanely sweet. That sour cream I just mentioned adds a subtle tang that complements the pumpkin and brown sugar, so all the tastes are balanced!
It’s classic pumpkin bread flavor, but gluten-free. You or a family member might have an intolerance, or maybe you dislike the heaviness of typical flour. A 1:1 baking blend provides structure, while the other ingredients deliver those cozy fall flavors you expect from a traditional loaf.

Cheryl’s Tested Notes & Tips

I measure the flour carefully. Fluff it, spoon it into your measuring cup, and level the top with butter knife. Scooping directly from the bag can pack in extra flour and leave you with a heavier loaf.
Use a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan, if possible. I fill it no more than about three-quarters full. If I have excess batter, I just bake it separately in muffin cups and check those earlier—which are so yummy for breakfast!
Do the toothpick method. A browned top can be deceiving, and doesn’t mean it’s fully baked. Check at about 60 minutes, and look at your toothpick for a few moist crumbs but no wet batter. If it’s not quite done, you can cover loosely with foil and keep baking until the center is ready.

Ingredient Notes

Gluten-free 1:1 baking flour – this is vital, choose a blend intended to replace all-purpose flour in cakes and quick breads, with the xanthan gum already included. Definitely don’t add extra gum, and while it’s tempting, almond flour, coconut flour, and plain rice flour won’t work substitutes.

Pumpkin puree – people make this mistake a lot, buy plain canned pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling. While you could try to make homemade puree, canned puree is the best for consistent moisture.

Oil – we want a neutral oil, so I typically use vegetable oil or canola. But grapseed and sunflower/safflower works, too! If you plan to use avocado oil, make sure it’s refined.

Sour cream – full-fat sour cream adds that richness we want, so keep low-fat out of this!

Sugar – granulated sugar adds sweetness, while brown sugar brings a little molasses flavor and that classic flavor.

Pumpkin pie spice – plus cinnamon gives the loaf its comfort food energy I love so much.

Serving Suggestions

Salted butter. The old-school way to eat this, but it’s oh-so-good. And tastes amazing with tea or coffee. You could also go double-butter, and spread this Texas Roadhouse cinnamon honey butter on a slice!
Cream cheese. The tang of Philly cream cheese tastes amazing with the brown sugar and cinnamon.
A scoop of ice cream. You could go full dessert mode and add a scoop of vanilla ice cream and serve it like this after dinner.
Jams and jellies. Usually citrus-based jams taste the best (well, I think so), but you could also go for berry jams or spiced fruit butters. Try it with my Crockpot apple butter recipe.

Storage & Make-Ahead

Refrigerator: You can keep this bread about a week (like, 5 days). When I want to eat a slice, I just bring it to room temperature or reheat gently.
Freezing: It’s best to freeze individual slices and then put in a sealed bag. This can be frozen for about 1 month, which works well during the fall time!
Make ahead: When I have a gathering happening, I bake the loaf a day before serving, and slice right before serving to help retain moisture. One thing: mix the batter just before baking and don’t store overnight, because leaving baking powder can mess with the loaf’s rise and leave you with dense pumpkin bread (think rock hard, eep).

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