Cleaner Starbucks Gingerbread Loaf

Every year I make this Gingerbread recipe. 

When I worked at starbucks after highschool I grew to love a few too many of their pastries.  Luckily they have changed the recipes and seemingly reduced the quality and yumminess of their products so they are now much less tempting for me.  But their Gingerbread loaf and Cranberry bliss bars used to be very tasty! 

It was my mom who made a copycat Starbucks gingerbread loaf recipe a couple years ago and I decided to try to clean it up as much as possible.  The loaf itself it very clean, using whole wheat flour, coconut oil and just honey to sweeten it. However there is icing on this bad boy so overall it's not exactly a healthy snack if you have the icing.  BUT compared to many of the treats that will show up at your next Holiday gathering, I'm sure this one would be a winner! 

PLUS it's cheaper to make a whole loaf than to buy one or two pieces at starbucks, not to mention healthier!

Check out the huge list of ingredients in the Starbucks version of Gingerbread Loaf.

Starbucks Gingerbread Loaf Ingredients:

sugar, enriched flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), apple sauce (apples, water, ascorbic acid), egg, unsalted butter (pasteurized cream), powdered sugar (sugar, cornstarch), ginger (ginger, sugar), enriched flour (wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), water, orange juice (water, orange juice concentrate), orange peel (orange peel, invert sugar, citric acid), corn syrup, orange flavedo (orange peel, sugar and orange oil), salt, spice, natural flavor, food starch-modified, baking soda, guar gum, ground mustard, baking powder (cornstarch,sodium bicarbonate, anhydrous sodium aluminum sulfate and monocalcium phosphate), titanium dioxide, soy lecithin.

                                          ^^^^^^^^ Like what is half that stuff??? ^^^^^^^^

Well with out delay here is my Copycat Starbucks Gingerbread Recipe minus all the extra junk in the ingredients that your body doesn't want or need!

Ingredients:

For the loaf:

1 1/2 cups whole Wheat flour

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ground cloves

2 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup coconut oil

3/4 cup honey 

1 teaspoon orange extract, or 1/4 teaspoon orange oil

1 egg at room temperature

1 cup applesauce

1 teaspoon baking soda

For the frosting:

1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla paste

1/2 teaspoon orange extract or 1/8 teaspoon orange oil (I used Pure Citrus Orange Oil)

1 Tbsp milk

2 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar

chopped candied ginger for garnish

Directions

Make the loaf:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease and flour a 9"x5" bread pan or use baking spray.  You can also use two pieces of decorative 7"x2.5" disposable bakeware, as pictured.  These do not have to be greased or sprayed.  Set them on a small cookie sheet to bake, and turn them around half way through the baking cycle.  These are perfect for gift giving!

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and salt.  Set aside.

In the large bowl of a stand mixer, cream coconut oil and honey. Stir in orange extract.  Add egg, and mix well.

Mix the baking soda into the applesauce.   Stir into creamed butter mixture.  Add the flour mixture and mix until smooth.

Scoop the batter into prepared loaf pan(s).

Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of cake comes out clean.  If baking the 2 smaller loaves, bake for 30 to 40 minutes.

Make the frosting:

Beat the cream cheese until fluffy.  Add vanilla and orange extract.  Slowly beat in confectioner's sugar and milk. 

Once the cake has cooled, evenly spread the frosting on top.  Garnish with chopped candied ginger if desired.

Once frosting has set, loosely cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Adapted with changes from The Restaurant Recipe Blog.

Beautiful.