What’s Inside: Just because you’re eating clean doesn’t mean you have to forego your favorite desserts. This Paleo Coffee Cake is AIP-friendly, vegan, and features the signature nutty, cinnamon cake bottom and crumbly, crunchy topping everyone loves about coffee cake.
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Have Your Paleo Coffee Cake and Eat It, Too
My love for coffee cake runs SO deep… as in I loved it before I even tried coffee. (Did anyone else love those Drakes Coffee Cakes as a kid?) Well, I had quite the craving for it recently, so here we go!
I was mildly nervous because, with AIP cake recipes, it can be rough without the eggs. However, the mix of Tigernut and Cassava flours really do not disappoint! And I so wanted to try an egg-free version, so that makes this a vegan coffee cake, too.
It took only two tries to perfect this recipe. And WOW, am I stoked with the outcome. You will absolutely love the moist cake bottom and crumbly, slightly crunch topping.
And for once, this was sweet enough (but not overly so, because homie don’t play that!) for my sweet-toothed hubby. He’s as obsessed with this Paleo coffee cake as I am!
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Paleo Coffee Cake Pairs Perfectly with Your Favorite Cold Weather Drink
Since I’m laying off coffee these days (looking out for those adrenals, especially during pregnancy), I decided to serve it with some Rasa Coffee (an herbal coffee/replacement). But you can serve this Paleo coffee cake with any cold weather drink you prefer, like legit coffee, tea, or perhaps one of my mushroom lattes.
The bitter and earthy taste from the Rasa was lovely with the cinnamon spice of this killer gluten-free coffee cake. I will definitely try it with some white tea next time I have a slice.
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You Just Can’t Beat That Crumb Topping
I’m a sucker for desserts with crumb toppings. Not only is it easier than more intricate toppings like a lattice pie top, but there’s something so homey and comforting about it. The maple syrup and solid coconut oil make for a sticky topping when raw, but it comes out soft with a little crunch on the exterior after it’s baked. It just stays put right on top of your coffee cake.
Plus, I have a new trick, y’all. Instead of dusting powdered sugar on top (which I never have on hand), I just sprinkled cassava flour for the sheer look of it. And trust me, you won’t even taste it at all. It just looks extra pretty this way!
So, who’s making some Paleo coffee cake for their next tea date?
How To Make the Best Paleo Coffee Cake
Paleo Coffee Cake (AIP, Vegan, Gluten-Free, Grain-Free)
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients:
- 1 cup Tigernut Flour
- 1/3 cup Cassava Flour
- 1/3 cup coconut sugar*
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- Pinch salt
Wet Ingredients:
- 3 Tbsp coconut oil melted
- 1/4 cup applesauce unsweetened
- 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract vanilla powder for AIP or omit
- 2 Tbsp coconut milk*
Crumb topping:
- 1/4 cup coconut flour
- 1/4 cup shredded coconut unsweetened
- 1 Tbsp cinnamon
- 1/4 cup maple syrup or honey
- 1/4 cup coconut oil solid
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F and grease a square baking dish or a large loaf pan. (I used a 6×8.) Set aside.
- Add the dry ingredients to a mixing bowl and give it a whisk to get out any clumps.
- Separately, to another bowl, mix coconut oil, applesauce, vinegar, and vanilla.
- Add wet mixture into the dry and mix well into a dough. Pour milk in as you are mixing.
- Spread the batter into your prepared cake tin evenly with a spatula. Set aside.
- Make the topping: In a small bowl by hand (this way you don’t over-do it), whisk together all ingredients into a crumbly mixture with a fork or small whisk to get bigger crumbles.
- Sprinkle the crumb mixture over the top of the cake batter with your hands, leaving the crumbs intact as you can.
- Bake for 25 minutes, allow to cool and then serve! Optionally sprinkle your cake with sifted cassava flour (very lightly!!) for the look of powdered sugar.
- Store in a closed container for a few days on the countertop or refrigerate if you want it to last longer (though it won’t be as moist).
Notes
- If you want to use a liquid sweetener in the cake instead of coconut sugar, simply add the same amount to the wet ingredients and omit the 2 Tbsp of milk.
- I haven’t tried a different topping, this one is my tried-and-true, but if you don’t have coconut flour, you can probably feel good about just replacing it with more tigernut flour!
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More Recipes To Try
If you like this Paleo coffee cake, you’ll love these recipes:
- Flourless Pumpkin Muffins (Paleo, Refined Sugar-Free)
- Paleo Tigernut Waffles (AIP, Vegan)
- Paleo Pumpkin Banana Bread (Gluten-free, Grain-free, Sugar-Free)
- Grain-free Strawberry Tigernut Muffins (Vegan, Gluten-free, Paleo, No Added Sugar)
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Wow! I made this last night using Ceylon cinnamon (cooled it on the counter through the night with only a tea towel) and served it as an afternoon treat for guests after lunch today and it was fantastically delicious! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe….I really love cakes too and dearly miss them being on the AIP…but not anymore! 🙂
Aww!! yay! Absolutely love hearing that, you are so welcome – I’m pretty obsessed with this cake myself.
I have mine in the oven now, can’t wait to try it with a cup of tea tonight. I am wondering if it would also work with some finely chopped apple between the layers.
That sounds like an amazing idea!!
The coconut milk .. is that canned or refrigerated coconut milk?
Either works, any milk you like.
So, would oatmilk work?
from a cooking perspective, it should work just fine but from a diet perspective, oats are not paleo or AIP if that’s of importance to you.
Hey really want to try this! looks so good! Do you think it would work with chickpea flour and maybe some millet flour?
Those flours are vastly different, so I don’t know how it would go to swap them. If you try, let me know!
By chance can almond flour be used.
I haven’t tried but it should work!
[…] Paleo Coffee Cake (AIP,Vegan, Egg-Free, Nut-Free, Dairy-Free) […]
If we wanted to use egg what could we replace?
I designed the recipe to specifically exclude eggs, so I haven’t tried, however, you could replace the applesauce with 1 egg to test that out! Hope that helps.
Can you substitute tiger flour with gluten free flour?
Hi Ellen! I wouldn’t but you can sub TN flour for Almond and it should work well!
This is so good, I think it’s better than regular coffee cake. Making this again today! 🙂
ahh! fabulous! and I agree 🙂 thanks for the sweet words.
I just made this and was wondering if the batter was supposed to be so dry and crumbly while the mix for the topping came out to be way more wet like a paste? Am I doing something wrong? Is it okay I added more oil and apple sauce to the cake mix/batter to made it more like a wet batter/paste?
How did this turn out for you, Yang?
[…] 35. Paleo Coffee Cake (AIP, Vegan), Food By Mars […]
I do not have Tigernut Flour. Would I be able to just sub for more Cassava Flour? May make it more dense, but wanted to get your thoughts on this if you have insights to the difference it would make in how this turns out. Thank you!
I don’t think it will behave the same, maybe more dense and gummy. If you’re doing nuts/seeds, a nut or seed flour could work but I’m not sure about anything else!
Hello, This looks really delicious! I am wondering if you have any ideas for substituting the coconut in the topping. I think I can figure out how to replace it with other things in the wet and dry ingredients, but I’m not sure how to replace it with the topping. Thanks!
You could use more tigernut or any other nut/seed flour (if not AIP)!
I recently brought a bag of tigernut flour for my gluten free recipes and have a bit to spare. I haven’t combined cassava with tigernut flour so this will be a new and exciting challenge for me.
Looks like my weekend mornings are looking brighter! This is the perfect companion to my coffee. Love it!
Heck yes, Jen!
I’m so impressed with the creative tweaks you used to make this decadent indulgence available to people who are eating clean and following vegan, paleo and aip regimens. Even more impressive that it only took two tries for you guys to be in love with it! It’s tricky converting beloved indulgences into diet regimens like those – but so awesome for EVERYONE to be able to enjoy coffee cake! Well done!!
Aww thanks so much, Shelley!
Coffee Cake is the best! Love that this is paleo and has a delicious coconut topping. YUM!
I’ve never baked with tigernut or cassava flour, so this will be an adventure for me ~ love the rich color!
They’re delish! Hope you enjoy!
The crumble on top definitely makes this a great dessert. It satisfies my sweet tooth for sure.
Love a good crumble, it reminds me of old school Entenmann’s cakes hahah
This recipe looks great! Can’t wait to make it on the weekend for our guests.
YAY! Enjoy it in good health, Abi!
I”m so excited to try this cake. It looks amazing.
I hope you love it!!
My daughter is going to love this recipe! I can’t wait to give this a try! Looks so delicious and yummy!
This looks so good and I want to try. Where is the best place to get the flour you mentioned in the recipe.