Almond Flour Coffee Cake that is perfectly moist and fluffy with amazing cinnamon pecan topping. This delicious healthy coffee cake recipe is paleo, grain-free, dairy-free, and refined sugar-free.
Well, this is long overdue!
If you’ve been following my site for a few years, you know I have about 17 million coffee cake recipes.
All requiring different funky add-ins to make each very unique and special. But every single coffee cake recipe is made with coconut flour.
This is our first foray into almond flour coffee cake, and I really must say….I’m obsessed.
This paleo coffee cake turns out tasting plenty cinnamony and is perfectly sweet.
In my mind, coffee cake shouldn’t be as sweet as a standard cake…subtly sweet but not in a dessert-like way.
It is nice and moist and has a buttery flavor to it in spite of the fact that it contains no butter.
It’s the perfect healthy treat for anyone to enjoy as breakfast or snack.
PLUS, if you have family or guests around that have dietary restrictions, this is a marvelous recipe that fits multiple restrictions.
First things first, let’s talk about the simple ingredients for grain-free coffee cake.
Ingredients for Almond Flour Coffee Cake:
Almond Flour: Super fine almond flour makes up the majority of this coffee cake recipe and is the base of the cake.
Since it is finely ground and combined with tapioca flour, eggs, and oil, the end result is a grain-free cake you’d never guess is grain-free! Almond flour contains healthy fats as well as fiber.
Tapioca Flour: Tapioca flour (or tapioca starch) is a very fine and light starchy flour. It works wonders for keeping grain-free recipes held together. If you don’t have it on hand, you can omit it and add more almond flour, or you can substitute it for arrowroot starch.
Sea Salt & Cinnamon: Sea salt and cinnamon and crucial in this coffee cake for adding and enhancing flavor! They give the cake an ultra inviting aura.
Baking Powder: Our leavening agent! Don’t skip it or else the coffee cake won’t turn out quite right.
Eggs: Eggs are used to make this cake ultra fluffy and therefore palate-pleasing! I haven’t developed a vegan coffee cake recipe yet, so at the moment I don’t have a good replacement suggestion for eggs for those of you who can’t use them.
Coconut Oil: That element that makes this coffee cake nice and moist and tantalizing. If you don’t do coconut oil, you can replace it with melted butter or avocado oil.
Pure Maple Syrup: Used to sweeten the cake, we use pure maple syrup for just the right amount of subtle sweetness. Pure maple syrup is a natural sweetener that is less refined than cane sugar, which is why it is one of my preferences over processed sugar.
For coffee cake recipes like this, and many of my paleo dessert recipes, pure maple syrup is my go-to sweetener.
Vanilla Extract: While it is not mandatory, vanilla extract adds nice warm flavor to the coffee cake. If you don’t have it on hand, you can skip it! Add 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract if you enjoy it in your baked goods, as it adds warm nuance as well.
For the topping: Raw pecans, coconut oil, ground cinnamon, and coconut sugar. This combination makes the most amazing crumb topping!
Use sliced almonds instead of pecans or brown sugar instead of coconut sugar if you prefer.
Is There Coffee in Coffee Cake?
In a word, no. Traditional coffee cake is simply a buttery cinnamony flavored cake with a streusel/crumble topping.
Coffee cake is named so because it is traditionally a lovely treat that was designed to go alongside a mug of coffee.
You can certainly take creative liberties and add instant coffee granules or instant expresso to coffee cake to give it coffee flavor, but the original treat does not include either.
How to Make Almond Flour Coffee Cake:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. and line an 8-inch square pan or 9-inch square baking pan with parchment paper.
In a mixing bowl, Whisk together the eggs, coconut oil, pure maple syrup, and vanilla extract (wet ingredients).
In a separate mixing bowl, stir together the almond flour, tapioca flour, ground cinnamon, baking powder, and sea salt (dry ingredients).
Add the flour mixture to the mixing bowl with the wet mixture and mix until completely combined.
Stir together the ingredients for the pecan streusel topping in a small bowl until well combined.
Pour half of the coffee cake batter into the parchment-lined baking pan and smooth into an even layer.
Add half of the cinnamon pecan topping mixture on top of the batter.
Pour the remaining coffee cake batter into the square pan and smooth into an even layer, followed by the rest of the topping mixture.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until cake has set up and the edges appear golden brown.
I bake for 30 minutes, then turn off the oven and leave the cake in the still warm oven for an additional 5 to 8 minutes.
You can test the cake for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of the cake and seeing if it comes back clean.
Allow cake to cool completely before slicing and serving.
If you don’t live in a very humid environment, you can simply cover the baking dish with plastic wrap and leave the coffee cake on the counter for up to 3 days.
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in a zip lock bag in the freezer for up to 3 months.
I suggest serving warm with melted butter (if you do dairy!).
And that’s it! Everything you need for the most delicious coffee cake to enjoy alongside your morning coffee.
Try my Gluten-Free Blueberry Coffee Cake, which uses a gluten-free flour blend for an amazing gluten-free coffee cake recipe.
For more paleo coffee cake recipes, check out my Paleo Apple Coffee Cake, Paleo Strawberry Coffee Cake, and my Paleo Peach Coffee Cake.
In addition, if you follow a low carb or keto diet, make my Dairy-Free Keto Coffee Cake recipe for a sugar-free version.
If you love delicious sweet breakfast recipes, also check out these gems.
More Healthy Sweet Breakfast Recipes:
- Paleo Morning Glory Quick Bread
- Healthy Apple Muffins
- Strawberry Overnight Oats
- Easy Baked Oatmeal
- The BEST Gluten-Free Banana Bread Recipe
- Healthy Oatmeal Zucchini Banana Bread
Almond Flour Coffee Cake for breakfast, lunch, dinner… 😉
If you make this recipe, please feel free to share a photo and tag @The.Roasted.Root on Instagram!
Almond Flour Coffee Cake
Ingredients
For the Coffee Cake:
- 4 large eggs
- 1/3 cup coconut oil melted and cooled
- 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups super fine almond flour leveled
- 1/2 cup tapioca flour leveled
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp sea salt
For the Topping:
- 1 cup raw pecans chopped
- 2 Tbsp coconut sugar or raw cane sugar
- 3 Tbsp coconut oil
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 pinch sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. and line an 8”x8” or 9” x 9” baking pan with parchment paper.
- In a mixing bowl, Whisk together the eggs, coconut oil, pure maple syrup, and vanilla extract.
- In a separate mixing bowl, stir together the almond flour, tapioca flour, ground cinnamon, baking powder, and sea salt.
- Add the flour mixture to the mixing bowl with the wet mixture and mix until completely combined.
- Stir together the ingredients for the pecan topping in a small bowl until well combined.
- Pour half of the coffee cake batter into the parchment-lined baking pan and smooth into an even layer. Add half of the cinnamon pecan topping mixture and swirl around. Add the remaining coffee cake batter and smooth into an even layer, followed by the rest of the topping mixture.
- Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 10-15 minutes, or until the cake has set up and appears golden-brown.
- Allow cake to cool completely before slicing and serving.
Notes
Nutrition
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Hi! Can I use avocado oil or evoo instead of coconut oil?
Hi Maggie! I haven’t tested the recipe with either one. I imagine avocado oil will work, although you’d be able to taste the EVOO so I’d say stick with avocado oil. Melted butter works too! Hope you enjoy!
This recipe was great! It’s not the same as the coffee cake I grew up with using white flour and sugar, but for one who has to avoid gluten and excess starch, this recipe was fabulous and the family inhaled it – to the last crumb. Thank you!
I’m so happy you enjoy it, Jennie! I agree, it’s tough to get an identical match for regular all-purpose flour, but I love the texture of the almond flour version too 🙂
I substituted pecan flour for almond, and cornstarch for tapioca flour straight across. I also baked it in a casserole dish. This cake is delicious!!!
Sounds amazing, Sara! Now I’m inspired to bake with pecan flour! xo
This looks so delicious and I would love to try it, but I have searched HIGH AND LOW for baking powder that is grain free. EVERY single one I have found has corn starch listed as the first ingredient. Corn is a grain and I must be grain free so I can’t use it. Do you know of a baking powder that is indeed truly grain free and doesn’t have corn starch in it? Thank you
Hi Deb, I just googled it and it looks like baking powder can be replaced with a combination of baking soda, cream of tartar and arrowroot flour. I’ve also found you can just replace it with half the amount of baking soda and the recipe typically turns out great! Nevertheless, if you’d like to make your own grain-free baking powder, try this recipe: https://www.wickedspatula.com/grain-free-paleo-baking-powder-recipe/
Fantastic recipe! I must confess…I modified a bit, but only because as I started to make it, I realized I was very low on ingredients. I used Bob’s 1-1 GF flour in place of tapioca. I only had 3 eggs, so to make up for the moisture, I subbed 1 tbs of organic sheep yogurt and a splash of almond milk. I used organic butter replacement for coconut oil…and had no nuts for the topping so just made traditional streusel topping. It turned out AMAZING. Even my very fussy husband loved it. Thank you so much. I have been craving coffee cake like I grew up on and now will be making this regularly! 🙂
Sounds like you made your own amazing coffee cake recipe! I love it! Sounds very tasty. I’m impressed at how clever and innovative you were with the replacements…this is so helpful for folks who may want to try the same changes! Many thanks for reporting back!! xoxox
First time making any kind of coffee cake, absolute bonus that its a healthier version too 🤗Didn’t realize there wouldn’t actually be any coffee in it either 🤭Really enjoyed it with my mid-morning snack, really light & fluffy ….. yum 😋
Isn’t it such a great snack?! I love how satisfying it is…always brings a smile to my face 🙂
This was absolutely delicious! It did not rise quite as high as yours did. I used an 8×8 square pan. I did find the batter to be very thick, maybe because I only used almond flour. It didn’t matter because it tasted delicious. Will definitely make again. Thank you!
@Joanne, did you use 2 or 2.5 cups of almond flour?
I like the lower carbs in this coffee cake.. Looks yummy!
It’s so inviting! You’d never guess it’s a healthier option!