Spiced Gingerbread Loaf &hearts

Soft, moist, and intensely flavored, this gingerbread loaf is packed with molasses, ginger, and cozy winter spices, then finished with a sweet orange icing.

I originally published this recipe in 2016 and have since added new photos and helpful success tips.

Today’s richly spiced gingerbread loaf is breakfast, bread, snack, and dessert all rolled into one. It’s wonderfully versatile: You can make the loaf as muffins (see recipe Notes) to enjoy in the morning with a cup of coffee, or serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for a simple homestyle dessert. Savor a slice with tea in the afternoon, or top with homemade whipped cream and sugared cranberries for a beautiful finale to your holiday meal.

Here’s Why You’ll Love This Gingerbread Loaf

One of the many things I love about this recipe is the smell as it bakes: between the busy days of the season, this recipe fills your kitchen with something invitingly warm, cozy, and unmistakably gingerbread. We love it.

If you need even more convincing, it’s:

Ingredients You Need & Why

These are all pantry basics that you may already have on hand:

Expect a Semi-Thin Batter

The batter comes together with a mixer. Be sure to mix the molasses with hot water to break it down and thin it out, then incorporate it into the wet ingredients alternating with the dry ingredients. The batter is slightly thin.

Use an 8×4-inch or 9×5-inch loaf pan. The loaf pan in these photos is 8.5×4.5 inches and that size works as well! The bake time will vary by a few minutes depending which size you choose.

Optional Icing

This is a very simple, quick orange icing for drizzling on top. The gingerbread itself is moist, deeply spiced, and not overly sweet, so the loaf is just as delicious plain. That said, I highly suggest the citrus icing because it adds a light, fragrant contrast to the molasses and warm spices. The icing is made with just 2 ingredients: orange juice and confectioners’ sugar. If you prefer, you can top with vanilla icing instead.

And if you’d like to dress it up with a little holiday sparkle, top the gingerbread loaf with sugared cranberries. It’s also delicious with a spiced cream cheese frosting, like we use on this (very similar!) gingerbread cake.