Vegan Pumpkin Sheet Cake

A fork being stuck into a pumpkin cake on a plate with a bite missing in front of a blue container filled with slices of cake.

This Vegan Pumpkin Cake recipe is the perfect mix of moist, fluffy, and spiced. Top with vegan cream cheese frosting for the ultimate fall dessert.

Course Dessert, Desserts

Cuisine American, Universal

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 25

Total Time 45

Servings servings

Calories 175

Author Jessica Hylton

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour (240g) or gluten free flour mix
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree (425g)
1 1/2 cups sugar (300g) I use cane sugar, you can use brown sugar or coconut sugar or other kind of granulated sugar
1/2 cup oil (100g) any neutral oil
1/2 cup milk (120mL) any vegan milk works
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C. Prepare a 9x13 sheet pan (with sides) by greasing & flouring or lining with parchment paper.
In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer or with a hand mixer in a larger bowl, add the pumpkin puree, sugar, oil vanilla extract and milk. Mix together for at least 3 minutes on medium speed until all the ingredients are fully incorporated and mixed together.
Add half the dry ingredients in, mixed for about 30 seconds on medium, then add the other half, mixing for another 30 seconds, scraping down the sides as needed. Mix for about no more than 2 more minutes on medium speed until everything is fully incorporated.
Pour the batter into your sheet pan. Using your spatula, smooth out the top, and tap the tap twice on a counter to remove any air bubbles.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until the centre is fully cooked through.
Remove from oven and allow to cool fully in the pan on a wire rack before adding the frosting.
Spread as much or as little vegan cream cheese frosting as you'd like on the full sheet cake. Place in your fridge for the frosting to fully thicken up. Slice, and enjoy!

Video

Notes

Calories are for the cake! The frosting calories are on the frosting recipe.

Expert Tips & FAQ for the best Pumpkin Sheet Cake

Don’t change the pan size. Sometimes I see readers have difficulties with recipes and find out they’ve changed the pan size. Baking times and quantities are done based on specific pans and changing that will affect how long a recipe will take to cook. This could result in a cake that doesn’t cook through, or that cooks too quickly and dries out. If you don’t have this size pan, you can adjust but at your own risk. If you use a wider pan, use less time; and for a smaller pan, it’ll take a similar or longer time.
Don’t change the ingredients. More oil might make this marshy and less will definitely negatively affect the texture. I suggest not making substitutions. If you’re looking for a cake that’s maybe smaller or can handle substitutions I would suggest my pumpkin mug cake. You can of course make this gluten-free!
Let the cake cool fully if you plan to add frosting! It’s so tempting I know, to add it to it warm (which you CAN if you want!) but it’ll melt your frosting, no matter the kind, almost immediately. This tastes INCREDIBLE with my vegan cream cheese frosting!

Nutrition