Dairy Free Pumpkin Bread (with walnuts)

This original recipe for this Dairy Free Pumpkin Bread is another that I found in my mother-in-law's collection after she passed away. It's an easy quick bread recipe made with simple ingredients, made with walnuts, and canned pumpkin puree, and uses vegetable shortening instead of butter. The walnuts balance the texture perfectly, making it a scrumptious dairy-free breakfast, snack, or dessert, and is perfect for packing in the lunch bag!

It's fall and if that signals one thing, it's that it's pumpkin season and time to eat and drink pumpkin everything! And you'll want to put this Dairy free Pumpkin Bread at the top of your baking list! 

Jump to:

• 🥘 Ingredients
• 📖Variations & Substitutions
• 🔪 Instructions
• 🍽 Equipment
•  🌡️Storage
• 💭 Top Tip
• 👪 Serving Size
• 🎃Leftover Pumpkin
• 📋 Dairy free Pumpkin Bread Recipe
• 🍞More Quick Bread Recipes!

So, you're probably wondering why the internet needs yet another pumpkin loaf recipe. Well, the reason is... I had tried several other pumpkin breads before this, but they never quite made the cut. This one is super satisfying, easy, moist, not too spicy, and delicious and the walnuts give it the perfect texture. And now that my daughter is lactose intolerant, I try to make as many lactose free/dairy free treats as possible for her!

🥘 Ingredients

This quick and easy Pumpkin Walnut bread is a quick bread made with walnuts, and canned pumpkin puree and uses vegetable shortening instead of butter. It makes a great breakfast, snack, or dessert and is perfect for packing in the lunch bag.

For this pumpkin walnut bread, you'll need:

• white sugar
• vegetable shortening * I use Crisco
• eggs
• pumpkin puree * you can use canned if you don't have fresh pumpkin but do NOT use pumpkin pie filling
• all-purpose flour
• baking powder
• ground cloves
• baking soda
• cinnamon
• salt
• water
• chopped walnuts * you could substitute pecans

*see recipe card for quantities

📖Variations & Substitutions

• Nuts - you can substitute pecans for the walnuts
• Add-ins - add in chocolate chips, if you desire. There are dairy-free brands available at the grocery store
• Spices - you can use pumpkin spice or pumpkin pie spice mix instead of cloves and cinnamon
• Pumpkin muffins- you can use this recipe to make pumpkin muffins - just bake for ½ the time (25 minutes) or until a cake tester comes out clean.
• Pumpkin - you can use homemade pumpkin puree or canned pumpkin puree (shown below)

*NOTE: If you use canned pumpkin the color of the bread will be a little more orange.

I don't have a ton of dairy-free recipes on the blog, but that will likely change now that my daughter has developed a lactose intolerance. I also have a Dairy-free and Gluten-free Meatloaf (shown below),  Dairy-Free Orange Creamsicle Pie,  Corn Chowder Soup (Weight Watchers friendly), Saskatoon Berry Muffins (Dairy-free),   Egg Roll in a Bowl, and of course my Vegan recipes.

But she is 14 now so she is able to make a lot of her own substitutions and she also just takes the hit sometimes (if she feels it's worth it) and uses her Lactaid. Apparently, you can develop a lactose intolerance at any age, as it's not a true allergy. You can read more about developing a lactose intolerance HERE.

🔪 Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F/175 degrees C then spray a 9X5 loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray. Beat sugar and shortening until fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Stir in pumpkin.
2. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, cloves, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
3. Add dry ingredients alternately with the water to the wet ingredients.
4. Repeat.
5. Stir in nuts.
6. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 50-60 minutes or until cake tester or toothpick comes out clean. Cool loaf for 5 minutes, then remove from pan and cool on cooling rack. Sprinkle on nuts as a garnish on the top of the bread, if desired.

For this dairy-free pumpkin bread recipe, you'll need mixing bowls, spoons, an electric mixer, a wire rack for cooling and a 9x5 loaf pan (affiliate links). I like the ones that come with lids because you can simply put the lid on and pop them right into the fridge or freezer, once they are completely cooled! However, you can use a glass, ceramic, or metal loaf pan.

🍽 Equipment

 🌡️Storage

• Fridge: The dairy free pumpkin loaf can be stored in an airtight container or freezer Ziplock bag for up to 3 days in the fridge. 
• Freezer: This recipe freezes well for up to 3 months. You can leave it in the loaf pan to freeze, if you prefer (I do this sometimes). Simply cover the loaf with Glad Press n' Seal (affiliate link) and slide the entire loaf into an extra-large Ziplock freezer bag. Or you can use a loaf pan that comes with a lid (see equipment above). I would still put that into a Ziplock bag, just to ensure it stays as fresh as possible.

👪 Serving Size

This dairy free pumpkin loaf recipe makes 10 individual slices. However, you can double or triple this recipe by adjusting the serving size on the recipe card. Just click on the serving size (it's highlighted in blue) and select the number of servings you’d like. You'll need extra loaf pans. *You can freeze the extra loaves (see storage, above). 

As I said, there is just something about fall that screams, "It's time to eat pumpkin!" If you also love pumpkin, then you'll also want to check out my Healthy Pumpkin Soup (no cream) It's also dairy-free if you leave off the feta cheese topping.

🎃Leftover Pumpkin

Whenever I make my Pumpkin Pie for Thanksgiving, I always have exactly a cup of leftover pumpkin puree from the 796 ml/28 oz can, which is perfect for making this pumpkin bread recipe!

If you want to make this pumpkin pie dairy-free or lactose-free, just replace the milk with non-dairy milk. Coconut whipped cream (spray bottle) is a delicious alternative to regular whipped cream!

And for even more pumpkin recipes, check out Recipe Lion's 39 Easy Pumpkin Recipes!

I am also a little crazy about quick bread in general. They are fast, delicious and don't take a lot of effort. And you can make them in so many flavors. Check out my other quick bread recipes below the recipe card! But first, you're going to want to make this delicious Dairy-free Pumpkin Bread, whether or not you care whether it's dairy-free!

So if you are a pumpkin lover or have one among you and are looking for easy recipes for pumpkin bread, you'll love this one! It's perfect as a snack, dessert, or with your morning cup of coffee!

🍞More Quick Bread Recipes!