Gluten-Free Almond Coffee Cake Recipe

Gluten-free baking can be tricky — without the right recipe, you can end up with a cake with the wrong texture, flavor, and structure. Nobody wants a cake that is so crumbly it falls apart, or too oily and dense to be enjoyable, but just swapping out all-purpose flour for gluten-free flour doesn't always solve these problems. Luckily, with this gluten-free almond coffee cake recipe from developer Jessica Morone, you don't have to worry about figuring anything out yourself. 

"This is the perfect recipe for those who want a delicious coffee cake but can't have gluten," Morone tells us of her inspiration. With this recipe you get a light, fluffy, moist cake, which comes from a trick of combining almond and coconut flours. Then the cake is topped with a streusel that is buttery, sweet, and crunchy thanks to the addition of sliced almonds. Whether you're looking for a breakfast option to go with your morning coffee, a satisfying afternoon snack, or a dessert after dinner, this gluten-free almond coffee cake is sure to delight you. 

The first thing you need to do is gather all the ingredients you will need for this cake. For the cake layer, you will need almond flour, coconut flour, baking powder, salt, butter, sour cream, sugar, eggs, and almond extract. For the crumble topping you will need more butter, sugar, cinnamon, almond flour, coconut flour, and sliced almonds. "You can swap in slivered almonds instead of sliced almonds if you prefer to use almonds without the skin still on them," Morone notes.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Grease an 8x8-inch square pan with cooking spray or butter.

Whisk together 1 cup almond flour, ½ cup coconut flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.

Add the melted butter, sour cream, sugar, eggs, and almond extract to a separate bowl.

Whisk together until smooth.

Add the wet ingredients to the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.

Add the cubed butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, ½ cup almond flour, ½ cup coconut flour, and sliced almonds to the bowl of a food processor.

Pulse until large crumbs form.

Spoon topping over the batter in the pan, pressing it gently into the batter.

Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes, until golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Let cool, then cut and serve.

This recipe calls for using not one but two types of flour — almond and coconut — which is a pretty common flour mixture in gluten-free baked goods. So why isn't just one or the other used? "Almond flour by itself has an amazing nutty flavor, which is delicious, but it tends to result in baked goods that are too moist and fall apart because of its high fat content," Morone explains. "Coconut flour, on the other hand, is drier and too crumbly by itself." So in an effort to balance these out, combining them achieves the perfect texture for this cake. 

The almond flour adds richness and tenderness, while the coconut flour helps absorb excess moisture and provides structure to the cake. The flavors also complement each other well, as the mild nutty flavor of almond flour combined with the subtle hint of coconut makes it a more complex and interesting flavor than just using one type of flour.

Sour cream serves several purposes in this cake. The first is adding additional moisture since gluten-free recipes require more liquid. "Since gluten-free flours, especially ones made from nuts, tend to be drier than wheat flour, sour cream's high-fat content helps retain moisture in the cake, preventing it from becoming dry or crumbly," Morone explains. Gluten-free cake batters can also be more prone to collapsing or breaking apart during baking, so the thickness and richness of sour cream helps to provide structure to the cake batter, ensuring that it rises evenly.  

As another perk, because sour cream is acidic, it helps to tenderize the crumb in the cake, resulting in a softer, more delicate final product. And finally, sour cream improves the flavor of the cake and enhances its overall flavor profile with its tanginess, which complements the sweetness of the cake. Though it may seem like an odd ingredient at first glance, sour cream is a staple in general baking and, thanks to the moisture it provides, an essential for gluten-free baking.