Our copycat Starbucks gingerbread loaf recipe tastes just like the one that has been discontinued! A great Christmas dessert to bring to parties or treat yourself. If you loved our cake mix gingerbread cookies but want to start from scratch this is it!
Ok I am obsessed with gingerbread everything during the holidays but wanted to find a way to make my favorites at home!! When the red cups arrive for years I used to enjoy a slice of this at Starbucks with my favorite drink until……
Did Starbucks discontinue Gingerbread Loaf?
Last year I couldn’t find it anywhere! It literally has been my favorite treat to enjoy during the holiday months. The following year I did get it once but most locations said it was discontinued so I am unsure if they will ever bring it back, but now you can make it yourself with this homemade copycat recipe!
One thing I especially love about this gingerbread loaf recipe is I substituted applesauce for oil. In some recipes it doesn’t work too well but in this one it makes it even moister than others I’ve made. This, our gingerbread dump cake and my Grandmothers recipe for Lebkuchen are musts to make every year.
Ingredient Notes
You will add the wet ingredients like room temperature butter and sugar together and blend until smooth. Incorporate the applesauce and set that aside. In another bowl add your dry ingredients together like all purpose flour, baking soda and spices like ginger cinnamon cloves and nutmeg or gingerbread spice can achieve a bolder flavor. Then you incorporate together to create the batter you will bake.
I based this off of a recipe my sister in law shared with me out of a magazine, but used ready made frosting and added orange zest to the top for the classic look and flavor they use. Alternatively you could mix powdered sugar with a bit of milk or water to make a glaze too
I used a hand mixer to cream batter and beat the cream cheese frosting in another bowl so neither was lumpy. A regular 9×5 loaf pan will work well lined with a piece of parchment paper before pouring in batter so you can slide it out at the end. I do the same thing when making our chocolate gingerbread cake, which serves more. Yes non stick spray works too but not as well.
If you want to know how to half a recipe to make less, read this post. Tip: Spray your pan with non stick spray to clean a pot.
Cupcake Baking Time
For a fast method you can follow our cake mix gingerbread cupcakes recipe but if you want homemade, just make the same batter. The bake time will be quicker at 11 minutes for mini sizes or 18 for regular in a muffin tin. A faster treat but will have the same flavors. Follow the recipe below Use muffin liners, Christmas muffin cups are fun Bake for about 18-22 minutes or until middle springs back when touched lightly
They come out so soft and moist and have a great spice cake or gingerbread flavor that is not overpowering, they really do taste very much like Starbucks gingerbread loaf!! ** Update – fast forward to today and every single location I visit says they haven’t been sent any of this to sell.
Seriously makes me so sad!!! But since I have these instructions I can now make it at home. Just makes the holidays complete with every bite.
I put frosting in the fridge before I want to use it, spoon it into a ziploc bag. Cut it at the corner and squeeze it on to look pretty. I use the same technique to make our Starbucks pumpkin scone recipe too.
Starbucks Gingerbread Loaf Recipe
Equipment
- 1 9×5 pan line with parchment paper to lift out easily
- 2 bowls
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp ginger, ground
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tsp orange extract, or squeeze of orange
- 1 tsp orange zest
- 1 cup applesauce
Instructions
- Add flour, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda and cloves in 1 bowl. Mix
- In another bowl beat the softened butter and white sugar in with the orange extract. Add applesauce and blend.
- Mix dry mixture into the sugar mix slowly until combined. Line pan with parchment paper and pour in batter.
- Bake at 350 degrees for about 40-50 minutes in a loaf pan or until toothpick in middle comes out mostly clean with moist crumbs attached, muffins take about 18-20 minutes or until middle springs back when touched gently
- Allow to cool on rack and then pipe frosting on to the top, add bits of orange zest to stick to top, slice and serve.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This is great to serve with air fryer egg bites at the holidays or give as gifts. I made mini loaves as well as cupcakes with the same batter. Smaller pieces are great for gifting during the holidays for sure. If you and your neighbors exchange treats around Christmas time I would definitely share this one with them.
There is usually some left in the piping bag or freezer bag. Leave that on a plate on the side so if you want to squeeze a bit more on to your serving you can easily. If you want to keep that overnight just slide into a sandwich bag so the end doesn’t dry out and on the counter, not the fridge.
How to save leftovers
You want to keep it moist. Best way to do that is to allow them to cool first of course. Then you want to keep the air out from around it. A freezer bag is sometimes the best way unless you have a container that is small enough.
If you have frosted the top you don’t want to overlap the pieces. Another tip for cake or a loaf is to only slice what you are serving right then and there. Leave the rest whole because it will maintain the moisture that way. Remember, air is the enemy. Bag the baggie with frosting in it and keep them both on your counter.
It will save well for a good 4 days or so before the texture will begin to change, not in a good way. Ideally 24 hours after is the best time to enjoy it again. If you put 1 slice in the microwave for about 45 seconds it will warm and then add a dollop of cream cheese frosting to the top so it can warm and melt a little into the crevices.
What does Starbucks gingerbread loaf taste like?
If you have had their pumpkin bread the consistency is like that but with the flavors of a gingersnap cookie!! They pair it with some cream cheese frosting on top with orange zest pieces to add a bit of zing to every bite. It is best eaten with a little bit of each thing in every bite.
Where do you add the orange zest? Or, use zest & squeeze of orange instead of the extract?
step 2 lists the extract, or you can leave that out and just put the zest on the top with the frosting as the picture shows
I wanted to try this out before Christmas rolls around and so I made it for my kids as an after school treat and they loved it!
This recipe is going on the repeat-make list not that I can skip the Starbucks line and make one of my favorite holiday treats right at home.
Gave this a try for an afternoon treat, and it does not disappoint! Saving me a trip through the drive-thru, indeed! This was such a delicious copycat recipe!
HI,
Ummm where’s the ginger in the recipe other than in the mixing directions? Is it fresh ginger, candied ginger, ground dry ginger and how much?