Everyone will enjoy this easy vegan Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cake.
Whether you are vegan or not, it’s always good to have recipes on hand that don’t require eggs and dairy.
Besides the fact that this Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cake is darn tasty, it’s also cheap and easy make (especially when you get pumpkin on sale).
And for those of facing the specter of a long winter season, having a solid recipe for something that doesn’t require a last minute dash to the store is a relief during inclement weather.
The cake itself is based on the ever-popular depression era cakes that use vinegar and baking soda as the key leavening agents. I’ve also added a bit of chickpea flour (also known as ‘besan’ or ‘gram flour’) as it gives extra lift. It is generally easier to find these days in most grocery stores, but if you can’t get your hands on it just replace it with regular flour for this cake.
A snickerdoodle is a crackly sugar cookie with its origins in the 1800s made by rolling dough in cinnamon sugar before baking. There are endless variations, but traditionally the dough contained some cream of tartar.
The cake gets it snickerdoodliness from the sprinkle of cinnamon sugar on top. Like the cookies, it develops a bit of a distinctive craggy top.
This Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cake doesn’t contain cream of tartar in the ingredient list, but it’s covered by the addition of baking powder (which contains cream of tartar).
I bake this in an 8×8 inch / 20×20 cm pan, but it would also work in a 9×5 inch / 23×13 cm loaf pan.
There are so many possible variations:
- Add additional spices like ginger, cloves and cardamom (and a touch of ground pepper).
- Toss in some chopped dried cranberries and pumpkin seeds.
- Fold in finely minced candied ginger.
The basic batter will support a range of additions. It’s a good place to start for developing holiday loaves.
If you like this recipe, try the Vegan Apple Spice Cake from the Ketchup With That archives.
You can bake this in a square or loaf pan. Double the recipe for a 9x13 inch / 23x33 cm cake. Refrigerate any leftover pumpkin puree in the fridge for up to three days or freeze for later use. You can vary this recipe by adding up to 1 cup / 250 ml of add-ins: chopped cranberries, nuts, pumpkin seeds, candied ginger... You can also change the spices and top with a glaze or frosting instead of the cinnamon sugar.
- 1½ cups / 375 ml all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup / 60 ml chickpea flour (or add additional all-purpose flour)
- 1 teaspoon / 5 ml cinnamon
- ½ cup / 125 ml white sugar
- ½ cup / 125 ml brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon / 5 ml baking powder
- 1 teaspoon / 5 ml baking soda
- ½ teaspoon / 2.5 ml salt
- 1 cup / 250 ml pumpkin puree
- ⅓ cup / 80 ml vegetable oil
- ⅔ cup / 160 ml water
- 2 teaspoons / 10 ml vanilla
- 1 tablespoon / 15 ml vinegar (I use apple cider vinegar, but white vinegar will do)
- 1 tablespoon / 15 ml white sugar
- 1 teaspoon / 5 ml cinnamon
-
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F / 177 degrees C. Lightly grease an 8x8 inch / 20x20 cm or 9x5 inch / 23x13 cm pan.
-
In medium mixing bowl, stir together all-purpose flour, chickpea flour (or additional all-purpose flour), white and brown sugars, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
-
In separate bowl, beat pumpkin puree, oil, water, vanilla and vinegar.
-
In small bowl, stir together the one tablespoon of sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. Set aside.
-
Add the pumpkin mixture to the dry ingredients and stir gently until thoroughly mixed. The batter will be stiff so make sure to bring the dry ingredients up from the bottom of the bowl so that they will be mixed in. Do not overmix the batter.
-
Spread the cake batter in the prepared pan and sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar.
-
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until an toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool cake in pan and serve.
Leave a Reply