This old-fashioned Copycat Gingerbread Loaf is perfectly spiced and moist. Perfect for breakfast, a snack, or dessert for the holidays. It tastes just like Starbucks Gingerbread Loaf!

I love sweet treats and baked goods over the holidays! Try my Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread for Thanksgiving, or my Cranberry Orange Bread or Orange Chocolate Chip Biscotti for Christmas this year!

gingerbread loaf sliced on a white plate with serrated knife

Ingredients for Gingerbread Loaf Recipe

  • Flour, baking soda, and eggs: The foundation of all great bread and cake recipes starts with these ingredients right here!
  • Buttermilk: This helps to bind everything together, add moisture, and a little bit of tartness to complement the sweetness.
  • Butter: Butter gives this gingerbread loaf recipe extra richness and moisture.
  • Spices: Gingerbread needs to be full of warm spicy flavor! I added ginger, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves. It really tastes just like Christmas!
  • Molasses: Molasses is a sweet, sticky, dark syrup that gives this gingerbread loaf an amazing depth. There is nothing quite like molasses!
  • Brown sugar: Brown sugar is used instead of white to give sweetness and an extra caramel flavor.

How do you make gingerbread from scratch?

  • Mix the dry ingredients. Firstly, start by combining flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves, and salt, set aside.
dry ingredients in large clear bowl
  1. Cream butter & sugar. Secondly, in a stand with the paddle attachment cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add in molasses and vanilla.
butter and brown sugar in stand mixer
  1. Add the eggs. Next, one at a time add the eggs and scrape down the sides of the bowl.
  2. Mix it together carefully. Add in the dry ingredients to the stand mixer alternately with the buttermilk, stirring just until blended after each addition, however, it’s very important not to over mix this bread. The more it’s mixed the tougher it gets.
adding dry ingredients to wet ingredients in stand mixer
  1. Transfer and bake. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45-50 minutes.
pouring gingerbread batter into greased loaf pan
  1. Cool. Finally, cool the gingerbread loaf cake in the pan for 15 minutes before removing from the loaf pan to a cooling rack to cool completely.
slicing gingerbread loaf on white cutting board

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you store this Loaf?

Store this sticky gingerbread loaf in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. You can also wrap it in plastic wrap if that’s easier!

What is the difference between gingerbread and ginger cake?

Gingerbread can refer to both the gingersnap cookie and a gingerbread loaf cake, but ginger cake specifically refers to just the soft, moist loaf version, like this one.

I can’t find molasses. What can I use instead?

Many countries don’t sell molasses in supermarkets, however they may have a similar dark, sweet, sticky syrup called treacle. Treacle is a great substitute for molasses in this Gingerbread loaf recipe.

Easy Gingerbread Loaf on white cutting board

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    A loaf of pumpkin bread on a white cutting board, with three slices cut and fanned out. Reminiscent of a classic Gingerbread Loaf, the warm, spiced aroma fills the air as a serrated knife rests beside the board.
    Recipe

    Gingerbread Loaf

    4.70 from 10 votes
    The best homemade gingerbread recipe. Perfectly spiced and moist this bread is the perfect breakfast or dessert for the holidays. It tastes just like Starbucks!
    Author: Kelley Simmons
    Prep Time: 15 minutes
    Cook Time: 50 minutes
    Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
    Serves 8
    Rate Print

    Ingredients 

    • 2 cups all purpose flour
    • 1 teaspoon baking soda
    • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
    • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
    • 1/4 teaspoon allspice
    • 1/4 teaspoon cloves
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
    • 1/4 cup light brown sugar
    • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
    • 1/2 cup molasses
    • 2 teaspoons vanilla
    • 2 large eggs, room temperature
    • 1 cup buttermilk, room temperature

    Instructions

    • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 5 loaf pan with non stick cooking spray.
      In a large bowl combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves and salt, set aside.
      A clear glass bowl filled with white flour and a layer of brown spices, likely cinnamon and nutmeg, sits ready for making a delicious Gingerbread Loaf. The bowl is set against a white background.
    • In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.
      Butter and brown sugar in a glass mixing bowl of a stand mixer, ready to be combined for baking a delicious Gingerbread Loaf.
    • Add in the molasses and vanilla. One at a time add the eggs and scrape down the sides of the bowl.
      Add the dry ingredients to the stand mixer alternately with the buttermilk, stirring just until blended after each addition.
      A mixing bowl containing flour and brown sugar, seen from above, attached to a stand mixer as the first steps of a Gingerbread Loaf come together. Some ingredients are smeared on the sides of the glass bowl.
    • Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45-50 minutes.
      Thick brown gingerbread loaf batter being poured into a metal loaf pan, ready for baking.
    • Cool in the pan for 15 minutes then remove from the loaf pan to a cooling rack to cool completely.
      A gingerbread loaf of brown bread with a knife slicing off a piece, sitting on a white surface. Crumbs are scattered near the sliced end.

    Notes

    Adapted from Taste of Lizzy

    Nutrition Information

    Calories: 341kcalCarbohydrates: 48gProtein: 6gFat: 14gSaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 75mgSodium: 341mgPotassium: 407mgFiber: 1gSugar: 24gVitamin A: 465IUCalcium: 100mgIron: 2.7mg
    A loaf of pumpkin bread on a white cutting board, with three slices cut and fanned out. Reminiscent of a classic Gingerbread Loaf, the warm, spiced aroma fills the air as a serrated knife rests beside the board.

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