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One of my favorite parts of summer is when fresh peaches start filling the produce aisles. They’re sweet, juicy, and just begging to be baked into something special but I wanted to create a recipe using them that went beyond a basic pie or cobbler. Those are both amazing but I love fruit fritters and usually choose one when on the menu (and made vegan) at a donut shop. I thought about capturing that nostalgic flavor of an old-fashioned peach fritter in an easy bakery-style loaf cake and went to work. Instead of frying dough, my loaf bakes up with a tender, buttery crumb studded with fresh peaches and pockets of cinnamon sugar that melt into every slice. Once cooled, it’s generously coated in a glaze that dries with that signature crackly finish you’d expect from an old-fashioned donut. It’s amazing and hits all the right notes.

Whether you’re enjoying a slice for breakfast, brunch, dessert, or alongside your afternoon coffee, it’s a delicious way to make the most of peach season while it lasts.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Bakery-style texture with a soft, tender crumb
Made with fresh peaches
Layers of cinnamon brown sugar throughout
Crackly donut-style glaze
No dairy or eggs
Perfect for breakfast, brunch or dessert
Freezes beautifully

Tips for Success

Use firm but ripe peaches rather than overly soft ones.
Leave the peach skins on as they’ll soften beautifully while baking and add color.
Fresh peaches are best. Frozen might work in a pinch, but resist the urge to use canned as they’ll just get mushy when baked.
Line the baking pan with parchment for ease of removal.
Let the glaze set completely before slicing for the nicest presentation and best to use a serrated knife.
Store covered at room temperature for up to 3 days, refrigerate for up to 5 days or freeze individual slices for up to 3 months.

Frequently Asked Questions

No! Peach skins will become very tender while baking and add beautiful color to each slice so no need to peel.

Yes! Divide and layer the batter between 12 muffin cups and bake at 350°F for approximately 20–25 minutes before glazing.

Absolutely. It’s optional, but it subtly enhances the peach flavor without making the loaf taste like almonds.

I haven’t tested a gluten-free version of this recipe yet, so I can’t guarantee the results. Because this loaf gets its tender, bakery-style texture from the combination of all-purpose flour and cornstarch, simply swapping in a gluten-free flour blend may change the crumb and baking time but you can try using a 1:1 blend.

Unlike a traditional creaming method, reverse creaming coats the flour with fat before the liquid ingredients are fully incorporated. It’s the opposite of adding liquid to fat then the dry and it slows gluten development, which results in a finer, more tender crumb that’s less likely to become tough. It’s one of my favorite techniques for baking cakes because it’s basically foolproof and I use it a lot in my recipes.

More Vegan Loaf Cake Recipes You’ll Love

My Vegan Old Fashioned Peach Fritter Loaf brings together everything that makes peach season worth the wait in my opinion. Tender cinnamon spiced crumbs, juicy fresh peaches in every bite, and a crackly glaze finish that channels a classic fritter. It’s an easy bake that holds up well for busy mornings or as a simple dessert with coffee. Give it a try while peaches are at their best and let me know how yours turns out!

Vegan Old-Fashioned Peach Fritter Loaf

Recipe by Kreg Sterns

5.0 from 1 vote

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

hour

Total time

hour

minutes

This Vegan Old-Fashioned Peach Fritter Loaf is a bakery-style loaf cake filled with fresh peaches and cinnamon brown sugar swirls, then finished with a crackly donut-style glaze.

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Ingredients

Peach Filling
1 1/2 cups fresh firm peaches, diced into 1/2 inch pieces (about two large peaches)
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
Cinnamon Fritter Filling
1/3 cup light brown sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons melted vegan butter
Loaf Batter
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 cup neutral oil
3/4 cup plain vegan yogurt
1/2 cup unsweetened plant milk
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract (optional but highly recommended)
Crackly Glaze
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1-2 tablespoons plant milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F and grease and line an 8-9 inch loaf pan with a parchment “sling”. You only need to do the center section of the pan then grease the parchment again and set aside.
Prepare the peaches. Combine the peaches, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, vanilla and lemon juice in a bowl and set aside.
Make the fritter filling. Stir together the brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Add the melted vegan butter and stir just until small clumps form.
Mix the batter (reverse creaming method). Whisk together all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the oil and vegan yogurt, and mix on medium speed with a hand or stand mixer until well mixed and all the flour is coated with no dry streaks remaining. It will be thick and may clump together which is fine. Add the lemon juice to the plant milk and mix together and let it sit for a minute to thicken. Add that and the extracts to the bowl and mix well to combine. At this point, we’ve pretty much protected the batter from forming gluten so it will be hard to over-mix but beat until combined scraping down the sides of the bowl at least once.
To assemble, spread about one-third of the batter into the prepared pan then sprinkle with half of the cinnamon fritter filling. Scatter half of the peaches evenly over the top (leave most of the accumulated juice behind in the bowl). Add another one-third of the batter. Repeat with the remaining fritter filling and peaches. Top with the remaining batter spreading to the edges to cover the peaches as best you can.
Bake for 55–65 minutes, tenting loosely with foil after about 35 minutes if the top browns too quickly. The loaf is done when a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center comes out with only a few moist crumbs (not coated with liquid batter). Cool in the pan for 15 minutes before lifting out of the pan with your parchment sling and transfer to a wire rack.
Make the glaze. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. You want the texture to be more loose than stiff so that the glaze dissolves back into the bowl in a pool when dropped from a spoon. You may need more or less milk so always start with less as you can add but can’t take away. If it becomes too loose then add more powdered sugar a tablespoon at a time until you get the desired consistency. When the loaf is still slightly warm (not hot), spoon or brush the glaze generously over the top letting it drip slightly down the sides. I place my rack over the piece of parchment from the sling I used for baking it to catch any large drips. Allow the glaze to fully set before slicing.

Notes

See tips for success in the main post.
Use a vegan yogurt you’d like to eat. Plain unsweetened is best but you can use a vanilla flavored variety if need be.
I prefer soy milk but I would avoid a thinner vegan plant milk like almond. Oat would be a good substitute for soy.