Pumpkin Apple Gingerbread made with canned pumpkin and shredded apple. All of your favorite fall flavors in one delicious gingerbread recipe!
I really love the flavor of gingerbread, but when you add apple and pumpkin, it’s even more amazing! And because this gingerbread recipe is made in a Bundt pan, it looks really fancy and can pass as a gourmet cake-like dessert. Or if you want to be able to eat more of it, call it bread and eat it whenever you want!
Pumpkin Apple Gingerbread is made with molasses and ginger to create the traditional gingerbread flavor, but then you add pumpkin and apple to take the whole dessert up a couple of notches! Both the apple and pumpkin provide so much moisture and the consistency ends up being absolutely perfect. I like to make this recipe in a Bundt pan and serve it for dessert, but you can make it in a 9X13 pan or turn it into muffins, or even divide the batter into 2 loaf pans and cook it that way.
The Pumpkin Apple Gingerbread has so much flavor that you really don’t need any type of frosting or glaze on top. I do like to sprinkle some powdered sugar on top for a little extra sweetness (and because it looks prettier that way)!
Ingredients in Pumpkin Apple Gingerbread
Flour – All-purpose flour works the best, but you can use cake flour too.
Baking powder and baking soda – You’ll need a whole tablespoon of baking powder and just a half teaspoon of baking soda for this recipe. These are the leavening agents in the gingerbread, so for best results, make sure they aren’t old or expired!
Ground ginger – This provides that delicious gingerbread taste (and smell!) so it’s important!
Salt – Just a little bit of salt helps all of the other flavors to pop!
Pumpkin pie spice – A delicious blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves. Easy to make your own if you don’t have any, but this spice is an absolute staple at my house in the fall – it seems like I use it in almost every recipe I make!
Butter – Use 2 sticks of real butter for best results. Make sure the butter is softened (not melted) before adding to the batter.
Sugar and brown sugar – Can’t have cake without sugar! You’ll want to make sure that your brown sugar isn’t dried out or hard.
Eggs – 4 large eggs will bind everything together and give you the perfect consistency for your gingerbread.
Pumpkin – You’ll need one 15 ounce can of pumpkin. Make sure it’s just plain pumpkin puree, NOT pumpkin pie filling!
Apple – You will need one large apple that is peeled and shredded. The best varieties of apples for baking are ones that are crisp and tart. Granny Smith, Fuji or Honeycrisp apples all work really well in this recipe.
Molasses – Helps to give the gingerbread it’s distinctive flavor.
How to make Pumpkin Apple Gingerbread
Preheat oven to 350°.
Combine flour, baking powder, ginger, baking soda, salt and pumpkin spice in a large bowl.
In another bowl, beat butter, sugar and brown sugar for about 3-4 minutes. Add eggs and beat well. Add pumpkin, apple and molasses and mix until well combined. Pour in the flour mixture and mix until combined.
Spoon batter into a greased and floured Bundt pan and bake for about 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan for about 15-20 minutes and then remove from pan. Dust with powdered sugar. Great with ice cream!
Pumpkin Apple Gingerbread
Ingredients
- 3 ½ cups flour
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 2 ½ tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 cup butter softened to room temp
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 4 eggs
- 15 oz can pumpkin
- 1 apple peeled and shredded
- ½ cup molasses
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Combine flour, baking powder, ginger, baking soda, salt and pumpkin spice in a large bowl.
- In another bowl, beat butter, sugar and brown sugar for about 3-4 minutes. Add eggs and beat well. Add pumpkin, apple and molasses and mix until well combined. Add in the flour mixture and mix until combined.
- Spoon batter into a greased and floured Bundt pan and bake for about 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan for about 15-20 minutes and then remove from pan. Dust with powdered sugar. Great with ice cream!
Nutrition
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CAN I MAKE THIS RECIPE GLUTEN FREE?
This recipe has only been tested with all-purpose flour, however, having much experience using gluten-free flour blends, I believe this recipe would still have great results using a good brand such as Bob’s Red Mill.If you do use a gluten-free flour blend, you may notice that your baking time may increase. This is normal, just be sure to check the doneness using a toothpick before removing it from the oven.
CONVERTING A BUNDT CAKE INTO A REGULAR CAKE
You can use a regular 9X13 cake pan but I like to use a Bundt pan when making cake recipes because the presentation is a little bit fancier and you can make a cake look prettier without really having to decorate it at all. If you use a regular 9X13, make sure to reduce the cooking time to about 30-35 minutes.
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PUMPKIN PUREE AND PUMPKIN PIE FILLING?
Pumpkin puree is exactly that, just the pureed “meat” of the pumpkin and nothing else. Pumpkin pie filling has added seasonings and liquids added to it so that it’s ready to turn into a pie with less work. If you grabbed the canned pie filling instead of the puree, you’ll notice that the batter ends up over flavored and too wet to turn out well.
TIPS FOR MAKING A CAKE IN A BUNDT PAN (AND GETTING THE BUNDT CAKE OUT OF THE PAN TOO!)
There is nothing worse than making a delicious bundt cake and then having it get stuck when you are trying to get it out of the pan! It may take a little bit of trial and error depending on which kind of Bundt pan you are using, but over the years I have learned a few tips that help make sure your cake comes out successfully!
–Use a quality non-stick pan like this one. They aren’t very expensive and the investment will be worth it when your cakes come out beautifully every time!
–Grease your pan! I know. You are wondering why you need to grease a non-stick pan because usually you don’t! In fact, most of your non-stick pans will tell you not to use cooking spray at all because it will build up on the pan and make it less effective over time. That is true, but you still need to grease the pan somehow or it will likely stick. I have a very nice non-stick Bundt pan and I was excited to try it out because I was told that nothing would stick to it and that it didn’t need to be greased at all. The cake was totally stuck in the pan when it was done baking!!!
How to grease a Bundt pan
- If you have a non-stick pan, grease it with melted shortening. I have had better luck with shortening than with butter. Just melt a little bit of shortening and then apply to the entire inside of the Bundt pan with a pastry brush.
- If you don’t have a non-stick pan, you can use this type of cooking spray – it works miraculously because there is flour mixed in with the spray. I have an older pan that is not non-stick and when I use this spray, my Bundt cakes come out perfectly every single time. If your pan is really old and the inside is really scratched up and your cakes keep sticking, it may be time to get a new pan!
- Also, make sure to grease your pan right before pouring the batter in. If you grease the pan too far ahead of time, the oil may drip down to the bottom of the pan, leaving the sides less coated.
-Let the cake cool before trying to get it out! If you try to get the cake out immediately after pulling it out of the oven, it will probably fall apart. You don’t want to let it cool completely either, but letting the cake rest for about 10 minutes should allow the cake to be cool enough to come out of the Bundt pan easily.
-Loosen up the edges of the cake with a knife. If you turn your Bundt pan upside down and wait a couple of minutes and it still isn’t coming out, try to identify which part of the cake is stuck. Often, there is just one or two parts that are stuck and you can very gently slide a butter knife in between the cake and the side of the pan to get it unstuck.
CHECK OUT MORE GINGERBREAD RECIPES:
- Gingerbread Cookie Bites
- Pumpkin Cream Cheese Gingerbread
- Frosted Gingerbread Loaf
- Gingerbread Whoopie Pies
- White Chocolate Gingerbread Chex Mix
- Gingerbread Cookie Bites
- Gingerbread Truffles
- Honey Gingerbread Cake
- Gingerbread Waffles
Pumpkin Apple Gingerbread made with canned pumpkin and shredded apple. All of your favorite fall flavors in one delicious gingerbread recipe!
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