This easy almond flour coffee cake recipe is gluten-free and grain-free. It makes a moist and tender cake that paleo eaters and others love!
My love of coffee cake started years before I tasted a sip of coffee. My mom made a Bisquik coffee cake often during my childhood. We never ate it for breakfast; it was always an after-dinner treat. This recipe, with its sweet cinnamon flavor, makes a nice breakfast or dessert–coffee optional! This grain-free recipe is a love letter to the coffee cakes of my childhood.
Why You’ll Love This Grain-Free Coffee Cake
- Delicate and tender
- Not too sweet
- Easy-to-make
- Dairy-Free (with an option to use butter if that works for you.)
- Freezes well
Key Ingredients for Almond Flour Coffee Cake
- Finely ground almond flour. This is the backbone “flour” for this recipe. It adds wonderful flavor, texture, and richness. Please do not replace the almond with traditional gluten-free flour or additional coconut flour.
- Coconut flour. There are only three tablespoons of coconut flour in this cake. It provides the cake-like texture we all know and love in coffee cake. As with the almond flour, it can’t be replaced with either gluten-free flour or almond flour or it will adversely affect the texture of the cake.
- Coconut Oil. Some brands of coconut oil taste strongly of coconut. Others do not. For this recipe, I prefer mild coconut oil; I find the coconut flour adds enough coconut flour without overwhelming the flavors of the almond flour and cinnamon. If you use a strongly flavored coconut oil, this coffee cake has more of an almond/coconut flavor.
How to Make Almond Flour Coffee Cake: Keys for Success
- Use parchment paper. Grease the cake pan with oil and then line the bottom with a piece of parchment paper. Why? Cakes made with coconut flour tend to stick to the pan. Parchment paper prevents this.
- Soften the coconut oil. You want the coconut oil soft, not hard and brittle, and not melted.
- Use a large balloon whisk. Thanks to the coconut flour in the recipe, the dough is thick. If you notice it’s sticking inside your whisk, switch to a larger whisk or use an electric (handheld or stand) mixer.
Note: This recipe is dedicated to Julia who loves to bake and to her mom, Kendall, who so beautifully introduced her daughter to the kitchen.
Almond Flour Coffee Cake (Gluten-Free & Grain-Free)
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups finely ground almond flour (7 ounces; 198 grams)
- 3 tablespoons coconut flour (¾ ounce; 21 grams)
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder, homemade or store-bought (grain-free)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup coconut oil, solid or unsalted butter, softened (2 ounces; 58 grams)
- 4 large eggs (about 8 ounces; 225 grams out of shell.)
- ⅓ cup maple syrup (3 ½ ounces; 100 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Streusel Topping
- 2 tablespoons granulated maple sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
Instructions
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Heat the oven and prepare the pan. Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 350℉. Grease an 8-inch round cake pan with nonstick cooking spray or brush lightly with coconut oil. Place a parchment paper round in the bottom of the pan.
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Prepare the batter. Whisk the almond flour, coconut flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium mixing bowl. Cut in coconut oil until no large pieces of coconut oil remain. I like to use my fingers for this. If you don’t want to use your fingers, use a pastry cutter. Remove two tablespoons of dry mixture for the streusel and place in a small mixing bowl. Set aside.
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Add the eggs, one at a time, to the remaining dry ingredients. Allow each egg to incorporate before you add the next. After you add the final egg, whisk in the maple syrup and vanilla extract. Spread batter into prepared pan.
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Prepare the streusel. Stir together the reserved almond flour mixture, maple sugar, and cinnamon. Sprinkle the mixture evenly over the top of the cake.
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Bake the cake. Bake until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 30 minutes.
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Remove pan from the oven and place on a wire rack. Allow cake to cool completely in the pan.
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Store, wrapped tightly, on the counter for up to three days.
Megan says
This was so delicious! I could not believe how moist and tasty it was! I made the recipe as is, except I used granulated sugar for the streusel because I was out of maple sugar. I’m the only gluten/dairy free, but my whole family loved it. Highly recommend!
Andrea says
Hi…why I can’t find any coffee in your ingredients list ?
Elizabeth says
Hi Andrea,
Coffee cake is a bit of a misnomer. In the United States, it’s traditionally a cake served with coffee. It does not contain coffee.
Bubbly Ahluwalia says
Where is the coffee in the cake
Elizabeth says
As answered above, in the United States “coffee cake” refers to a cake enjoyed with coffee. The cake itself does not contain cofee.
Luisa says
Hi!! I want to make this delicious cake but I’m not sure about the pan size, do you think that I can use a 9″?
Elizabeth says
You can use a 9-inch round pan. The cake won’t be as thick and it might bake a little faster. So I’d check it after 25 minutes.
Enjoy!
Reiksie says
What can i use instead of eggs
Elizabeth says
Hello! I haven’t tested this recipe with an egg replacement. Sorry!
Carolyn says
I make this for almost every work gathering – by request of my entire office. We have one gluten-free co-worker and one dairy-free co-worker, but EVERYONE loves this coffee cake! It comes out moist and delicious every single time. I’ve also substituted honey when out of maple syrup and it works fine – my dairy-free co-worker got the recipe from me to make as a honey cake for Rosh Hashanah. He says it works out great. Highly recommended!
Wei Ping Chew says
This is meant to be a coffee cake but coffee is not part of the ingredient list.
Elizabeth says
That’s correct. In the United States, a “Coffee Cake” is a cake served with coffee. It does not include coffee in the ingredients. The cake is traditionally a yellow cake with a cinnamon streusel topping.
Amy Rodelo says
Could you substitute a different kind of flour for the coconut flour?
Elizabeth says
Not for this recipe, sorry. If you want to use a grain-based flour my gluten-free coffee cake would be great! Here’s the recipe: Gluten-free coffee cake recipe.
Linda says
I used coconut sugar and added another egg. I made the recipe into muffins and they were so good.
Maria Casal says
We love it! Only things I changed and it worked great are, just almond flour (I do not have coconut flour). Instead of Marple sugar I used coconut sugar. Thanks