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My almond flour coffee cake recipe features a moist and tender cinnamon-spiced cake topped with a brown sugar oat crumble and glistening vanilla glaze. It’s naturally gluten-free!
Love baking with almond flour? Try my almond flour cake, almond flour muffins, almond flour brownies, or almond flour sugar cookies next.
I’m a firm believer that cake should be enjoyed for every meal of the day. In the morning, when the coffee is flowing, I’m all about coffee cake!
Inspired by my vegan coffee cake, I figured, what would happen if I combined the spiced flavors of coffee cake with the natural sweetness and tender crumb you get with almond flour? Well, friends, let’s just say it’s been a resounding success!
Table of Contents
Why I love this recipe
- The perfect texture. Coffee cake is supposed to be soft but a bit crumbly, which honestly, is what almond flour is best at.
- Dessert for breakfast. They don’t call it ‘coffee cake’ for nothing!
- Naturally gluten-free. Since we’re using almond flour, I can make this recipe for my gluten-intolerant friends, and my other friends won’t be any the wiser.
- Layers of the flavor. There’s the coffee cake, a brown sugar-oat crumb topping, and a shiny vanilla glaze as a bonus.
Ingredients needed
- Almond flour. My #1 tip when baking with almond flour is to use blanched almond flour, NOT almond meal. Almond meal is made with the skins on, resulting in a dense and overly crumbly dessert.
- Tapioca flour. A little helps thicken the batter and yield a tender crumb.
- Light brown sugar. To sweeten the cake and add moisture. Coconut sugar can also be used.
- Baking powder. Helps the cake rise.
- Ground cinnamon. A must for coffee cake!
- Eggs. Preferably room temperature eggs.
- Butter. Opt for melted and unsalted butter so it’s not overly salty.
- Milk. I used unsweetened almond milk, but any milk works.
- Vanilla extract. For subtle vanilla flavor.
For the streusel topping:
- Oat flour. AKA rolled oats ground into a flour consistency. Save money and make my homemade oat flour.
- Butter. Softened to room temperature.
- Light brown sugar. For extra brown sugar flavor.
- Cinnamon. For a warming spiced flavor.
For the glaze:
- Powdered sugar. Also known as confectioners’ sugar.
- Water or milk. I tested both, and my family couldn’t tell the difference, so use whichever you prefer.
How to make almond flour coffee cake
I’ve included step-by-step photos below to make this recipe easy to follow at home. For the full printable recipe instructions and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Step 1- Prep. Preheat the oven and line an 8-inch baking dish with parchment paper.
Step 2- Make the coffee cake batter. In a medium mixing bowl, mix the dry ingredients, then whisk in the wet ingredients. In a small bowl, combine the crumb topping.
Step 3- Bake. Pour the batter into the pan, sprinkle the topping, and bake until golden.
Step 4- Glaze. Let the cake cool completely, then drizzle the glaze on top.
Arman’s recipe tips
- Don’t substitute other flours. Almond flour is very particular and should not be swapped with regular flour or alternative flour. If you’d prefer to use a mix of almond flour and coconut flour, try my keto coffee cake.
- Add some crunch to the crumb topping. Reserve some of the oats to mix in whole, or fold in a handful of crushed pecans or walnuts.
- The cake is done when a toothpick inserted comes out with just a few moist crumbs.
Variations
- Vegan. Replace the eggs with flax eggs (3 tablespoons of water with 1 tablespoon of flax seed per egg) and use dairy-free milk and butter–or coconut oil.
- Sugar-free. Use my brown sugar substitute and sugar-free confectioners’ sugar for the glaze.
- Grain-free. Swap the oat flour for coconut flour or almond flour (almond meal works).
- Blueberry coffee cake. Fold 1/2 cup of fresh or frozen blueberries into the batter.
- Apple coffee cake. Replace half the butter with unsweetened applesauce and fold in one finely diced apple.
- Pumpkin coffee cake. Replace half the butter with pumpkin puree and switch the cinnamon with pumpkin pie spice.
Storage instructions
To store: The leftovers will stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days. Alternatively, store it in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
To freeze: Place the cake in a freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 6 months.
Frequently asked questions
Traditional cakes typically have frosting or an icing on top. We can eat coffee cakes fresh from the oven and often have a streusel or crumble topping instead.
Some coffee cakes sometimes contain coffee (in the form of espresso powder or instant coffee), but most don’t. It’s designed to enjoy with coffee (this took me a long time to learn).
More breakfast-worthy cake recipes
Almond Flour Coffee Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups almond flour
- 1/4 cup tapioca flour
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar * See notes
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 large eggs
- 1/4 cup butter melted
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the crumb topping
- 1 cup oat flour
- 2 tablespoons butter softened
- 3 tablespoons light brown sugar * See notes
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
For the glaze
- 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Grease an 8 x 8-inch pan and set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the almond flour, tapioca flour, light brown sugar, baking powder, and cinnamon. Add the eggs, melted butter, milk and vanilla extract and until combined. In a separate bowl, whisk together the crumb topping- oat flour, butter, light brown sugar, and cinnamon.
- Transfer the cake mixture into the greased pan and sprinkle the crumb topping on top.
- Bake the coffee cake for 35 minutes, or until golden on top and a toothpick comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and let cool completely, before drizzling with a glaze.
Seriously the most delicious coffee cake I’ve made in a long time!