Gingerbread Loaf Cake with Peppermint Cream Cheese Frosting is a holiday treat you and yours will absolutely LOVE this season! It makes a beautiful holiday food gift, and tasty morning, noon, and night snack.
Winter calls for bundling up and cozying up to yummy desserts. We love baking this time of year because all of those lovely holiday spices – gingerbread, cinnamon, nutmeg, all spice – make your house smell amazing while the holiday cakes, cookies, and pies bake in the oven!
Gingerbread is a classic winter holiday and Christmas flavor that we love to bake with in the house. From our annual cookie exchanges with Soft Gingerbread Cutout Cookies and Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies, to gingerbread cakes like Gingerbread Swiss Roll and Mini Gingerbread Bundt Cakes.
This Gingerbread Loaf Cake recipe is one of the favorites, and we make it a LOT. We hope you love it as much as we do!
❤️ Why you'll love this family favorite recipe!
This holiday bread has all of the amazing seasonal spices rolled into one tasty treat that you could enjoy morning, noon, and night (and definitely late night too!).
- There's only about 15 minutes of hands-on prep time. The rest of the time it's baking in the oven!
- It's a rich, decadent gingerbread loaf with molasses and holiday spices.
- You can bake mini loaves and give them as holiday gifts.
- This gingerbread loaf cake is tasty on its own, but is even more festive with the peppermint cream cheese frosting!
🍫 Ingredient notes
In addition to classic loaf cake ingredients, you'll also need:
- Holiday spices – Ginger, cinnamon, all spice, and cloves.
- Peppermint – A little bit of peppermint extract goes a long way!
- Candy cane – Then We crushed a couple of candy canes and sprinkled the crushed canes over the top for added flavor and crunch.
✅ Step-by-step baking instructions
To make the Gingerbread Loaf
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees farenheit.
- Prep loaf pan by greasing it lightly with butter and then lining the bottom and sides with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, spices, salt.
- In a separate medium bowl, whisk together melted butter and molasses until well blended. Beat in the eggs and then add the buttermilk and vanilla. Then slowly add the butter and egg mixture (the wet ingredients) to the dry ingredients, mixing until well-combined.
- Pour batter into loaf pan. Bake for about 50-55 minutes. Do the toothpick test and if the toothpick comes out clean after sticking it gently through the middle of the loaf, then it's done.
- Cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes. Gently lift out of the pan and place on a cooling rack until it has cooled to room temperature.
- Once the loaf is completely cool, spread Peppermint Cream Cheese Frosting evenly over the top of the entire loaf, and then sprinkle crushed candy canes on top.
To make the Peppermint Cream Cheese Frosting
- In a stand mixer, cream together the butter cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, peppermint extract and milk until smooth.
🍽 Serving ideas
When you make this gingerbread loaf cake with peppermint cream cheese frosting, your house will smell AMAZING!
This is a great baked treat to give as holiday gifts to teachers, neighbors, and friends. It's also a tasty dish to bring to holiday parties.
If serving this on a Christmas dessert table, serve it along with gingerbread truffles and almond Christmas sprinkle cookies.
Or simply enjoy a slice or two of this gingerbread loaf with a warm cup of coffee, peppermint hot chocolate, or tea by the fireplace. It makes for a hearty afternoon snack on a cold winter day.
👩🏻🍳 Baking FAQs
How far in advance can We make this loaf cake?You can make this a day or two ahead of the time you intend to serve it. Simply keep it unfrosted until you are ready to serve.
How do We store this gingerbread loaf?Store the unfrosted loaf in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two or three days, or in the refrigerator for up to one week.
Can We freeze gingerbread?Yes! Wrap unfrosted gingerbread loaf cake with plastic wrap, then store in a freezer safe resealable plastic bag or in a freezer-safe container in the freezer for up to one month. Thaw at room temperature before serving.
⏲ Kitchen tools and equipment
Ready to make this Christmas dessert? Here's what you'll need:
- Stand mixer
- Loaf pan
Did you make this recipe? Don't forget to leave a 5-Star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card, and if you truly loved it, please leave a comment further down on the page. Thank you!
Gingerbread Loaf with Peppermint Cream Cheese Frosting
By Marlynn Schotland Prep Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 50 mins Total Time: 1 hr 5 mins Servings: 6 This Gingerbread Loaf with Peppermint Cream Cheese Frosting is a tasty treat to serve at holiday meals or to enjoy with a cup of coffee or tea any time of the year.Equipment
- 1 Loaf Pan
Ingredients
Gingerbread Loaf
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
- ¾ cup molasses
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 cup buttermilk*, see notes for dairy-free option
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Cream Cheese Frosting
- ¼ cup butter, softened to room temperature
- 2 ounces cream cheese
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 4 tablespoons almond milk
- ½ teaspoon peppermint extract
- 2 small candy canes, crushed
Instructions
To make the Gingerbread Loaf
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees farenheit.
- Prep loaf pan by greasing it lightly with butter and then lining the bottom and sides with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, spices, salt.
- In a separate medium bowl, whisk together melted butter and molasses until well blended. Beat in the eggs and then add the buttermilk and vanilla. Then slowly add the butter and egg mixture (the wet ingredients) to the dry ingredients, mixing until well-combined.
- Pour batter into loaf pan. Bake for about 50-55 minutes. Do the toothpick test and if the toothpick comes out clean after sticking it gently through the middle of the loaf, then it's done.
- Cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes. Gently lift out of the pan and place on a cooling rack until it has cooled to room temperature.
- Once the loaf is completely cool, spread Peppermint Cream Cheese Frosting evenly over the top of the entire loaf, and then sprinkle crushed candy canes on top.
To make the Peppermint Cream Cheese Frosting
- In a stand mixer, cream together the butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, peppermint extract and milk until smooth.
Notes
Makes approximately 6 servings Storage: Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 or 4 days. Ingredient notes:- We make dairy-free buttermilk by pouring a cup of almond milk into a glass measuring cup, then adding 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Allow to sit for 5 minutes, then mix and use as buttermilk in the directions.
- To make this dairy-free, use the buttermilk substitution above, then substitute vegan butter for regular butter and vegan cream cheese for regular cream cheese.
Nutrition
Calories: 371 kcal, Carbohydrates: 76 g, Protein: 7 g, Fat: 17 g, Saturated Fat: 7 g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1 g, Monounsaturated Fat: 2 g, Trans Fat: 0.5 g, Cholesterol: 75 mg, Sodium: 301 mg, Potassium: 403 mg, Fiber: 1 g, Sugar: 57 g, Vitamin A: 503 IU, Vitamin C: 0.1 mg, Calcium: 140 mg, Iron: 3 mgNutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
