Gingerbread Loaf

Why This Recipe Works

The perfect holiday loaf: If you, like me, love to make bread for the holidays then you need to try this gingerbread loaf. Sure, pumpkin is great, and so is banana bread of course but gingerbread is so unexpected, yet delicious and so full of holiday flavor. Plus, baking this makes your whole house smell AMAZING.

Easy: Now, just because it’s slightly different doesn’t mean it’s hard. In fact, quite the opposite. Mix the wet ingredients, mix the dry, combine and bake. Make a simple cream cheese frosting and dig in! 

Simple ingredients: Start with flour and end with a cream cheese topping. In between are common spices, sugars, milk, butter, and a little applesauce. You can make this gingerbread loaf today! 

Perfect for gift-giving: Sure, store-bought gifts are fun but (as you can probably guess) I like to bring a home baked item for hostess gifts and to parties. Wrap up this loaf in a pretty package and top with a bow for the perfect party addition. 

Ingredients

• Flour — Because what bread starts without flour? All-purpose is fine. 
• Ground Cinnamon, Cloves, and Ginger — All essential gingerbread spices, any brand is good. Although I do think the name-brand spices have a bit more flavor to them.
• Salt — Regular table salt or sea salt is good in this gingerbread loaf recipe 
• Baking Soda — Baking soda helps the loaf rise and keeps it from being too dense. 
• Butter — I use unsalted butter in both the bread and the icing. 
• Sugar — You need that sweetness in this bread. Regular white sugar is good, or brown sugar is amazing too!
• Unsweetened Applesauce — Unsweetened applesauce gives the loaf some moisture, a little (natural) sweetness and just a hint of apple flavor which complements the ginger, cinnamon, and cloves so well. 
• Powdered Sugar — Powdered sugar makes that icing come to life!
• Cream Cheese — I use full-fat cream cheese but you can use reduced fat. 
• Vanilla — A pinch of vanilla for flavoring to the icing. I like to use real vanilla flavoring instead of imitation. 
• Milk — Use whatever milk you have in your fridge or even heavy cream. You use milk as your thinning agent for the icing.

Here’s How You Make It

You’re just a few steps away from the best holiday gingerbread loaf ever.

1. Line a 9×5 inch bread pan with nonstick foil and spray with nonstick spray, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. (not pictured)
2. Get out a medium-sized bowl and add the dry ingredients together (flour, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, salt, and baking soda) and whisk. (photos 1-2)
3. In another, large bowl, cream together the wet ingredients (butter, sugar, and applesauce). (photos 3-4)
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in the larger bowl and mix it all together until blended well. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and put it in the oven to bake for 45-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow the gingerbread loaf to cool on a cooling rack. (photos 5-8)
5. Next, make the frosting while the loaf cools. In a clean, medium-sized bowl, cream together the butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk until smooth and spreadable. (not pictured)
6. Spread the icing over the cooled gingerbread loaf and allow it to set up for 1 hour. (photos 9-10)

Note: If you can’t wait, serve it immediately. However, I think it tastes best when the frosting has a chance to set up a bit!. Store in an airtight container.

How to Keep Icing from Sticking

I mentioned before how wonderful it is to take this gingerbread loaf as a hostess gift or to a potluck, but I know when I do that, I always run into one very annoying issue: the icing sticking to the plastic wrap or foil and coming right off when it’s time to eat it. I have a few solutions for this problem:

1. If you’re just wrapping in plastic wrap, you can add toothpicks to the top of the loaf. Make sure to only stick them in about halfway. Then place the plastic wrap on top of the toothpicks. They will keep the plastic wrap from touching the icing directly. 
2. You can use foil as well, just spray the foil lightly with cooking spray first to keep it from sticking. Do not wrap tightly. 
3. Put the gingerbread cake in a cake box with a lid that has enough space to clear the top of the icing by about ½ an inch.

Expert Tips & Tricks

• This gingerbread loaf will keep in an airtight container on the counter for up to three days. After that, refrigerate for another two days. After that, you should definitely eat it! 
• This loaf will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months in an airtight container or Ziplock bag. Freeze it un-iced and make the icing and add it when you’re ready to eat it. 
• A fun way to top the icing is to sprinkle a small amount of cinnamon/sugar mixture over the top of the icing while it’s still wet. Or you could even use a bit of finely crushed, crystalized ginger.