This gluten free coffee cake is moist, tender, perfectly spiced and topped with an easy cinnamon streusel. It’s dairy free and perfect as a simple dessert or alongside your morning coffee.
While coffee cake is traditionally served with breakfast (hence the coffee part of the name!), I love it for dessert! It reminds me of a cinnamon roll, but with a fraction of the work involved.
This gluten free coffee cake has a rich buttery flavor, lots and lots of cinnamon and is finished off with a simple four ingredient streusel crumb topping.
I’ve been told it tastes 100x better than the Starbucks version and I promise you cannot tell it’s both gluten and dairy free.
This recipe is perfect to prep in advance since it freezes well! You’ll just want to wrap in plastic wrap, then place in a freezer safe bag. Freeze for up to 3 months and let thaw in the fridge before reheating.
How to make coffee cake
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line an 8×8 aluminum baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.
Whisk together the cinnamon and sugar for the filling and set aside.
Melt the butter for the streusel and use a fork to carefully mash in the remaining ingredients until it looks crumbly. If it looks too wet, add in more flour, if it looks too dry/crumbly, add in a splash of maple syrup or milk until it holds together a bit better.
In a large mixing bowl, beat together the wet ingredients for the cake with an electric mixer. Whisk in the dry ingredients until you get a smooth batter.
Add half of the batter to the prepared pan, sprinkle on top the cinnamon sugar, then add in the remaining batter and spread evenly on top. Use your fingers to crumble on the streusel.
Bake for 37-43 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. 40 is generally best in my oven, but all ovens are different so keep an eye on it.
Remove from the oven and let cool completely. I use the maple glaze from my healthy pumpkin bread to finish it off, but this is totally optional!
Make muffins instead!
If you want to make gluten free coffee cake muffins, follow all of the instructions as usual, but add half of the batter into the muffin tins, filling halfway, add the cinnamon sugar, then the batter.
Finish off with the streusel and bake at 350 for about 25-30 minutes. This time is a guess as I have not baked these into muffins. If you try it out, let me know!
How to store
Once prepared, this recipe will keep at room temperature for about 3 days.
I suggest storing it in a container to keep it fresh and moist. You can also store it in the fridge for up to 5 days and reheat in the microwave or oven as desired.
Variations
Can I use almond flour? Unfortunately, no. This recipe was made with gluten free all purpose flour and another type of flour won’t work here.
Can I add blueberry? Yes, however, blueberries will add more moisture to the batter which may increase the bake time.
I would suggest adding in about 1 cup of fresh blueberries to the batter and adding about 5 extra minutes of bake time.
You’ll also love..
- Gluten Free Bagels
- Almond Flour Blueberry Muffins
- Cinnamon Sugar Donuts
- Cinnamon Rolls
- Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Muffins
Lastly, if you want more recipes straight to your inbox, be sure to subscribe to my email list. As always, if you make this recipe, be sure to tag me on instagram and leave a comment below so I can see your creation!
Gluten Free Coffee Cake
by: claire cary
Ingredients
Wet
- ½ cup butter melted
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup non-dairy milk
- ⅓ cup greek yogurt I used Kite Hill
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons apple cider or white vinegar
Dry
- 2 ¼ cup gluten free all purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
Filling
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 ½ teaspoon cinnamon
Streusel
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- ⅓ cup gluten free all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
- 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Line an 8×8 aluminum baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- Whisk together the cinnamon and sugar for the filling and set aside.
- Melt the butter for the streusel and use a fork to carefully mash in the remaining ingredients until it looks crumbly. If it looks too wet, add in more flour, if it looks too dry/crumbly, add in a splash of maple syrup or milk until it holds together a bit better.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together the wet ingredients for the cake with an electric mixer.
- Whisk in the dry ingredients until you get a smooth batter. Be sure to spoon and level the flour into your dry measuring cup to measure, don't scoop right from the bag.
- Add half of the batter to the prepared pan, sprinkle on top the cinnamon sugar, then add in the remaining batter and spread evenly on top.
- Use your fingers to crumble on the streusel.
- Bake for 37-43 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. 40 is generally best in my oven, but all ovens are different so keep an eye on it.
- Remove from the oven and let cool completely. I use the maple glaze from my healthy pumpkin bread to finish it off, but this is totally optional!
Eileen Elledge says
The search is over! This is simply the best I have ever had. This will be my “go to” when I am having company over for brunch , or volunteer to bring a coffee cake to a brunch.
I added sliced almonds to the topping, which was delicious too.
Claire Cary says
Love the addition of sliced almonds! So glad you enjoyed this.
Tati says
This coffee cake is to die for. It is super moist, light, and perfectly sweet. Literally better than Starbucks!
Claire Cary says
The best compliment!!!