Grain-Free Paleo Blueberry Cake made dairy-free and refined sugar-free. This delicious blueberry delight couldn’t be easier to make and is a lovely breakfast for sharing.
Imagine this:
Classic yellow birthday cake and the BEST blueberry muffin give each other a very special hug.
That’s precisely what this cake tastes like! Incredibly moist, soft, fluffy, and a beautiful marriage of everyone’s favorite yellow birthday cake and blueberry muffins!
Just a slice of heaven, childhood memories, and chasing dreams 😉
If you’ve been around this site for a number of years, you may remember my Paleo Blueberry Coffee Cake and/or my Grain-Free Almond Strawberry Breakfast Cake.
Using fresh berries to liven up an already fluffy display of deliciousness gives it an otherworldly freshness, making you feel as though you’re doing something kind for your body.
Cake for breakfast anyone?!
Truly, this grain-free blueberry cake is suitable for breakfast in my book!
It’s grain-free, refined sugar-free, dairy-free, and is perfectly sweet but not over the top loaded with sweetener.
Let’s discuss the wholesome ingredients for this blueberry cake with almond flour.
Almond Flour Blueberry Cake Ingredients:
Eggs: Used to both fluff the cake and keep it held together nicely, eggs give that magic to a baked treat in the way of rising.
Avocado Oil: For moisture, we add avocado oil which has a neutral flavor so that the rest of the ingredients shine through. You can also use olive oil or melted coconut oil.
Pure Maple Syrup: The sweetener! I use pure maple syrup in this cake to bring that enticing sweetness. Because this cake isn’t meant to be overly sweet, we only need ½ cup. If you follow a low-carb diet, follow the instructions below for a sugar-free version.
Almond Flour: The flour portion of this cake, I use naturally grain-free almond flour which produces a lovely texture that’s difficult to describe. It’s light, yet dense. You’ll have to try it and tell me how you would describe it!
Almond flour has a naturally sweet and (you guessed it) almond flavor which I find to be so appealing, especially in breakfast treats.
Almond Extract: While the almond extract is optional, I find it adds an amazing flavor to the cake that pairs so nicely with blueberries and leaves you with an overall warm vibe. If you don’t like almond extract or if you don’t have it on hand, simply leave it out.
Vanilla Extract: That magic ingredient that does a lot of heavy lifting behind the scenes, vanilla extract brings warmth and delightful flavor to any baked good. If you don’t have any on hand, don’t panic…you can still make the cake without it 🙂
Baking Powder, Sea Salt: Baking powder is used to leaven the cake, and sea salt enhances all of the flavors.
Blueberries: Fresh blueberries give that scintillating pop of flavor and texture that we all love in a blueberry treat! I haven’t tested the recipe using frozen blueberries but I imagine it would work. Just note that frozen blueberries tend to leach more liquid while they’re baking than fresh blueberries, which could affect the texture.
Make it a Lemon Blueberry Cake by adding 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon zest! You can also toss in poppy seeds or chocolate chips or chopped nuts.
How to Make Healthy Blueberry Cake:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line an 8-inch spring form pan with parchment paper.
Add all of the ingredients except for the blueberries to a blender and blend until well-combined. Note: if you prefer using a mixing bowl, you can absolutely go that route! Simply combine the wet ingredients, followed by the dry, then fold in the blueberries.
Toss the blueberries in 1 teaspoon of tapioca flour or arrowroot starch if you have it to ensure the blueberries are evenly distributed throughout the cake. If you don’t have a different type of flour or starch, no worries…proceed! Gently stir in the blueberries.
Note: if you don’t have a high-powered blender that you trust to make cake batter, feel free to use your cake preparation method of choice – a mixing bowl by hand or electric mixer works great!
Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan and bake on the center rack of the oven for 45 to 55 minutes, or until it tests clean.
Allow the cake to cool completely before releasing it from the spring form pan and slicing.
If you’d like, you can dust the cake with powdered sugar or sugar-free confectioners sweetener.
Savor!
Low-Carb Blueberry Cake:
If you follow a low-carb diet, and/or if you’re watching your sugar intake, you can easily make this cake low-carb. Here’s what you do: Omit the pure maple syrup and add ⅓ cup of canned coconut milk or more avocado oil, plus ⅓ cup of your favorite sugar-free sweetener.
If it appears as though the batter is too thin, you can always add more almond flour. Start with ⅓ cup at a time.
There you have it! Your gateway to a yummy cake that leaves you feeling refreshed!
More Healthy Cake Recipes:
- Paleo Carrot Cake
- Gluten-Free Chocolate Fig Cake
- Paleo Chocolate Banana Breakfast Cake
- Healthy Pumpkin Cake
- Chocolate Beet Cake
- Paleo Clementine Cake
Enjoy this moist and fluffy paleo blueberry cake for special occasions or everyday enjoyment!
Almond Flour Blueberry Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs
- ¼ cup avocado oil
- ½ cup pure maple syrup*
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- ½ tsp almond extract
- 2 ½ cups almond flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 1 cup fresh blueberries + more for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line an 8-inch spring form pan with parchment paper.
- Add all of the ingredients except for the blueberries to a blender and blend until well-combined. Gently stir in the blueberries.
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan and top with more blueberries if desired. Bake on the center rack of the oven for 45 to 55 minutes, or until the top is golden-brown and the cake tests clean.
- Allow the cake to cool completely before releasing it from the spring form pan and slicing.
- If you’d like, you can dust the cake with powdered sugar or sugar-free confectioners sweetener.
- Savor!
Notes
Nutrition
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Amazing recipe! Have you ever baked it in a loaf pan? If so, for how long? Yummmmm! Love this recipe.
Hi Maggie! I’ve made a similar recipe in loaf form, which can be found here: https://www.theroastedroot.net/almond-flour-blueberry-bread/ It is very similar with only a couple miner differences 🙂 Happy baking and thank you for the sweet note!
Making this today! Yummm! If you were going to bake this in individual ramekins- how would you divide it up?
And… I honestly can’t live without maple syrup in my baked goods… but, you have me intrigued with adding coconut milk!
Hi Maggie! I love the idea of baking the cake in individual portions! How fun! I would try 350 for 20-30 minutes. A great way of telling whether or not a baked good is cooked through is by taking the internal temperature (similar to meat!). If you have a digital thermometer, you can stick it in one of the cakes after 20-ish minutes to see where it’s at. The goal is for the temperature to be around 190-205 degrees F, which is when cakes have the best texture. Happy baking!
I will try it tomorrow and let you know how they turn out. I love individual cakes for breakfast!
I’ll probably top it with ground flax before eating it? Makes it seem less dessert and more
breakfast- ha haaaaa
You have me convinced I need to be eating this for breakfast too! Love the idea of adding ground flax, especially if doing so is justification for breakfast cake 😉 Thanks, Maggie!
Would a 7 inch pan work for this recipe? Would I just need to bake it longer? Thanks!
Hi Laura! I haven’t tested the recipe myself using a 7-inch pan, but I think it would work great! It would probably take 5 to 8 minutes longer. I would check the internal temperature of the cake once it’s out of the oven using a digital thermometer. If it is 190 or higher, the cake is done! Hope you enjoy! xo
Can I use all purpose flour if I don’t have almond flour ?
Hi Dorothy! I would try it with less all-purpose flour to start (1 2/3 cups is what I would try) and add more if the cake batter seems much too thin. I haven’t tested the recipe myself with all-purpose flour but I find it can be more absorbent than almond flour.
Would this recipe work with g.f flour? My daughter’s kindy won’t allow nuts
Hi Jay! I haven’t tested the recipe using gluten-free flour yet, but I imagine it would work. I would start by using slightly less flour (I’d try 1/2 cup less to start out), as gluten-free flour blends are more absorbent than almond flour. You can always add more until the batter resembles a regular cake batter. Hope that helps! xo
Is it ok to use frozen berries and if so do I thaw them or use frozen?
Thank you!
That’s a great question! I haven’t tried it myself yet, but I believe using frozen berries would work just fine. I would think you could just leave them frozen if you add a little additional almond flour (say 1/2 cup or so).
Can you use Cary’s sugar free syrup instead of the maple syrup?
Hi Sue! I haven’t tried that substitution myself, but I bet it would work great! Hope you enjoy the cake! 😀
This is the first almond flour recipe that has actually worked for me… It tastes amazing and actually bakes like you expect it should. Thank you! I will try adding a little lemon to the next one I make
I’m so happy you like the cake, Maura! It’s one of my all-time favorites…I make it with different berries regularly! xoxoxo
I love this cake… I can’t get enough of it! I’ve been topping it with a tiny bit of Harmless Harvest’s plain and simple coconut yogurt (cleanest and lowest saturated fat option I can find) fresh blueberries, and ground flax- it’s really wonderful. If you’re not watching saturated fats, definitely top with Culina Blueberry or Cocojune plain- it’s absolutely delicious! I’ve tried both! And, don’t forget the ground flax to make it even more breakfast appropriate- ha ha.
Julia, on another subject- a neighbor asked what each serving should weigh? You mentioned your nutritional info is based on 1/8th- but, she is looking for more details. Do you have that info? She asked for it In grams or ounces…
And- we made the blueberry muffins- so adorable and so delicious! For some reason, this cake feels more “breakfasty” to me? But, the muffins looked store bought and tasted great. Lemon zest is strong! Delicious treat!
What should we bake next? 💗
Hi Maggie! I’m happy you enjoy the cake! In order to get the exact measurement per slice, I would need to bake the cake again then weigh the slices. I totally understand the desire for precision but I think when it comes to food, doing the best you can to cut the cake into 8 equal sizes should be good enough to give her an accurate idea of the macros per slice. The nutrition facts for each slice might be slightly off but not enough to create waves in her nutrition. I hope that helps! I can definitely update you the next time I make the cake 🙂
If you enjoy strawberries, I recommend my almond flour strawberry bread next!: https://www.theroastedroot.net/almond-flour-strawberry-bread/ It’s a very similar concept to this cake xo
Do you think you would be able to substitute coconut oil for avocado oil?
Hi Kate! Absolutely! I’ve used avocado oil in this recipe before and it turns out great! Hope you enjoy! xoxo
Hello! I made the Keto version of this cake and it was delicious!! It got the thumbs up from both my hisband and my 16 year old – that is high praise. Thanks for the great recipe.
I’m so thrilled to hear it, Cindy! Thanks so much for reporting back! I’m happy your family enjoys it! 😀 xoxoxo
You mentioned lemon juice in your write up. I see where you added lemon zest for lemon flavor as an option. I do not see where lemon juice is added though. If it is, how much?
Hi Renee, my apologies for the confusion! I tested the cake using baking soda and lemon juice for leavening and baking powder. I found baking powder yielded a fluffier result and like that it cuts the need for lemon juice, so that’s how I ended up writing the recipe (baking powder v. baking soda). So in that sense, no lemon juice is needed!
If you did want to make a lemon blueberry cake, add a ton of lemon zest – I’d go with at least 1 tablespoon of zest for light lemon flavor, up to 2 tablespoons for unmistakable lemon flavor. You still don’t need lemon juice if you go this route, as the pronounced lemon flavor comes from zest 🙂 Hope you enjoy! xoxoxo