This easy Paleo Coffee Cake has the perfect texture, a sweet cinnamon sugar filling, and a delicious crumb topping. Made gluten free, dairy free, and nut free, everyone will enjoy this healthy cinnamon coffee cake!
I'm going to confess something, I had never eaten coffee cake in my life before making this. I always thought coffee cake had actual coffee in it (which it doesn't, in case you also didn't know) and I absolutely despise coffee, so I never touched coffee cake. I didn't realize the name was just a reflection of the fact that it is supposed to be eaten WITH coffee. As a tea drinker, I should just call it a tea cake.
I finally realized what coffee cake really is and it sounded delicious because I love all things cinnamon and crumbles. So, I had to make my own version! Despite the fact that I had never had coffee cake before, I've made a lot of crumble based desserts and both gluten and grain free cakes (see my Berry Crumble Cake or Paleo Fruit Crumble for example), so I felt confident in developing a paleo coffee cake recipe once I realized it's true nature.
I tweaked this paleo cinnamon coffee cake to be a little bit unique by adding shredded coconut to the mix for a different flavor. If you're not a coconut fan, don't worry, I provide substitutions in the recipe below. Anyway, this healthy cake turned out fantastic and is delicious with coffee, tea, or ice cream ;).
What Makes This Gluten Free Coffee Cake Recipe Different?
- It's allergy friendly: this paleo coffee cake loaf is grain free, gluten free, dairy free, nut free, corn free, and refined sugar free (phew!). That was a mouthful, but since my goal is always to create allergy friendly recipes that everyone can enjoy, I wanted to make sure you knew what wasn't in this cake so you can share it with others who have food allergies/restrictions! The only thing this cake isn't free of is eggs, so although it fits the paleo diet, it won't work for the full AIP diet.
- It's healthier: this recipe is made with a fraction of the sugar in traditional coffee cake recipes, only uses unrefined sweeteners, and substitutes half the fat for applesauce for a lower fat, lower calorie treat. For the fat, we do use heartt healthy fats including olive and coconut oil in this recipe. We use healthy ingredients you can feel good about, making this paleo cake actually worthy of part of breakfast or snack.
- Easy to make: coffee cake isn't that hard to make in the first place, but I made this one in a loaf pan for easy pouring and easy slicing.
Paleo Coffee Cake Ingredients
- Cassava flour: we use a mix of grain free flours in this recipe for the perfect texture and that starts with cassava flour which provides a light texture.
- Tigernut flour: this is my favorite nut free alternative to almond flour. Tigernuts are a tuber (not a nut, despite their name) and have a similar earthy, sweet, nutty flavor as almond flour. Of course, if you tolerate nuts, you can use almond flour.
- Tapioca starch: adding some starch to gluten free and grain free baking helps lighten the texture so baked goods don't taste dense.
- Maple Syrup: be sure to use pure maple syrup and not pancake syrup.
- Olive oil and coconut oil: we use heart healthy olive oil as the main fat in this recipe. Coconut oil is used to hold the crumb topping together.
- Applesauce: applesauce is a great substitute for part of the fat in baking as it acts similarly and adds moisture without any strong apple flavor.
- Eggs: 2 large eggs add moisture and help with rise.
- Coconut sugar: you can't make coffee cake without a delicious cinnamon-sugar swirl and we keep that refined sugar free by using coconut sugar.
- Shredded coconut: I added shredded coconut for a bit of a twist on a traditional coffee cake recipe. It also adds a bit of crunch to the crumble topping.
- Baking powder, cinnamon, salt, vanilla extract
How to Make Paleo Coffee Cake
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a small bowl, mix the cinnamon-sugar filling and set aside.
- In another medium bowl, mix together the topping ingredients with a fork until they hold together, but are slightly crumbly.
- Whisk all the dry ingredients for the loaf in a medium bowl.
- Beat all wet ingredients together in a large bowl. Add the dry to wet and beat until just combined.
- Pour half the cake batter into the loaf pan- spread in an even layer along the bottom. Sprinkle the filling evenly over the top of the batter then pour the other half of the batter on top. Crumble the cinnamon crumb topping on top.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes. until a toothpick comes out clean and top is golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool 10 minutes in the pan before lifting the loaf out with the parchment paper and setting on a wire rack to completely cool.
Substitutions and Variations:
- Flour: you can use almond flour instead of tigernut flour and arrowroot flour instead of the tapioca flour.
- Oils: using olive oil in the cake helps with the light texture, but melted coconut oil or butter should work too (I have not specifically tested this though!). Butter or dairy free butter will work in substitution for the coconut oil in the crumbly topping.
- Coconut: if you are not a coconut fan or are avoiding coconut, substitute it with coconut sugar in the filling. You can use cassava flour instead for the topping.
- Coconut sugar: you can substitute this for maple sugar (another natural sweetener option) or with brown sugar (which is not refined sugar free).
- Add a glaze: if your a fan of coffee cake with a sweet glaze on top, feel free to use the same glaze from my Paleo Cinnamon Roll Muffins. You can even add ¼-1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon to the glaze for lots of cinnamon flavor!
- Make the crumb topping your own: take this cinnamon cake up a notch by adding chopped walnuts or pecans to the topping. Maybe even some chocolate chips. Or double the streusel topping for extra crunchy crumble on top of this gluten free cake!
Serving and Storage
Serve this gluten free coffee cake at breakfast with a mug of coffee, as a snack with a cup of tea, or for dessert with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Store any leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the fridge for up to a week. Coffee cake freezes okay, just slice and individually wrap each piece then freeze for up to 3 months.
FAQ
I have not tested an egg free coffee cake version. If you try it with an egg substitute or flax eggs, please leave a comment and let me know how it went.
Looking for More Cozy Crumble Recipes? Try These
Gluten Free Coffee Cake Cookies
Gluten Free Walnut Crumble Banana Bread
Paleo Coffee Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
Filling
- 1 tablespoon shredded coconut
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon coconut sugar
Crumble Topping
- 3 tablespoon shredded coconut
- ¼ cup Tigernut flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoon melted coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
Loaf
- 1 cup tigernut flour sifted
- ½ cup cassava flour
- ¼ cup tapioca starch
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- ¼ cup olive oil*
- 2 eggs
- ¼ cup applesauce
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a small bowl mix the filling ingredients and set aside.
- In another small bowl, mix together the topping ingredients with a fork until they hold together, but are slightly crumbly.
- Whisk all dry ingredients for the loaf in a medium bowl.
- Beat all wet ingredients together in a large bowl. Add the dry to wet and beat until just combined.
- Pour half the batter into the loaf pan, spreading evenly along the bottom. Sprinkle the filling evenly over the batter and then top with the other half of the batter. Crumble topping on top.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean (I have had this bake as quickly as 25-27 minutes in a different oven and altitude, so check it!). Remove from the oven and let cool 10 minutes in the pan before lifting the loaf out with the parchment paper and setting on a wire rack to completely cool.
- Slice once the loaf is cooled. Enjoy!
Steven says
Hello, I read a little about how you were dealing with Lyme back in 2012. How are you feeling now? Are you still taking any medications? What’s worked best for you?
Lemons 'n Lyme says
My Lyme seems to be in remission and I am not actively treating it anymore. I am still dealing with autoimmune issues, chronic fatigue, and GI symptoms though. There wasn't one thing that helped, it was a combo of everything I tried from herbs to ozone to abx to IVIG to diet and detox. It's about finding the right doctor and treatment for you. I wish there was an easy answer!