This Gluten-Free Almond Flour Apple Cake is tender and moist and infused with cozy cinnamon and freshly grated apple. Just like my almond flour coffee cake, this recipe is naturally gluten-free, dairy-free and finished with a crunchy streusel topping. Serve it with a drizzle of powdered sugar glaze for extra sweetness!
If you love this gluten-free apple cake, you'll also love my gluten-free apple pecan crisp!
Quick Look: Gluten-Free Almond Flour Apple Cake
- ⏱ Prep Time: 15 minutes
- 👩🏻🍳 Bake Time: 30 minutes
- ⏳ Total Time: 45 minutes
- 🍎 Servings: 10 slices
- ⚡ Calories: 355 per slice
- 🍽 Diet: gluten-free and dairy-free
- 🔥 Flavor/texture: Soft, moist and fluffy, filled with cinnamon and apple flavor, with a crunchy streusel topping and sweet glaze.
- 👌 Difficulty: Easy
- ❤️ Why you'll love: uses shredded apple for the best texture; no separating egg whites; coffee cake vibes with streusel topping.
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Why you'll love this apple cake
- Streusel topping: Instead of topping the cake with apple slices and almonds, I went with a coffee cake vibe and topped it with crunchy streusel and powdered sugar glaze.
- Not too sweet: Even though it's finished with a decadent streusel and icing sugar glaze, it maintains a balanced sweetness.
- Ideal texture: Using shredded apple with the excess juice squeezed out means you get all the apple flavor with flecks of apple throughout the cake. But, there are no big chunks of apple that may make parts of the cake soggy.
- No separating egg whites: Some almond flour cakes require separating and whipping the egg whites before adding them to the batter. You don't have to worry about that step with this recipe. (I actually don't do this with any of my almond flour recipes)!
- Diet-friendly: This gluten-free and dairy-free cake is a great choice to bring to holiday gatherings.
- Versatile serving: It pairs well with an afternoon cup of tea, a casual snack cake or a decadent dessert served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Table of Contents
Ingredient notes
- Almond flour - Make sure you're using blanched almond flour and not almond meal. The finer texture of the flour just results in a better cake texture in my opinion.
- Gluten-free flour - For the streusel topping, you'll need some gluten-free 1-to-1 baking flour. If you don't need this cake to be gluten-free, you can use all purpose flour for the streusel. You can also substitute with the crumb topping I use for my lemon raspberry crumb cake and blueberry coffee cake muffins, which are both made with almond flour.
- Apple - All you need is one small apple or enough to yield 85 grams of grated apple. I prefer Honeycrisp or Gala, but other sweet and crisp apple varieties will work too. (If you prefer a cake that uses apple cider instead of fresh apples, check out my apple spice cake)!
- Eggs - For leavening and moisture, you'll need 3 large eggs brought to room temperature.
- Cane sugar - I tested this cake with both cane sugar and coconut sugar, and preferred the flavor and texture of cane sugar. You can substitute granulated sugar for the cane sugar but the texture may be slightly different. I haven't tested it with brown sugar, but it will likely add more moisture to the cake, so substitute with caution.
- Brown sugar - You'll need brown sugar for the streusel topping. You can substitute with coconut sugar, but brown sugar yields the best results. Feel free to use dark or light brown sugar.
- Oil - Just ¼ cup of oil adds a little more moisture to the cake. I used olive oil here, but extra virgin olive oil, vegetable oil or avocado oil would also work.
- Plant-based butter - Cold, cubed butter will bring the streusel topping together. To keep this cake dairy-free, I used plant-based baking sticks, but you can use cow's butter if you prefer. Avoid buttery spreads as they won't have the same texture as baking sticks.
- Cinnamon - Ground cinnamon is essential for both the cake and the streusel topping. It's not overpowering, but it does complement the apple and brown sugar topping nicely. If you'd like to spice it up a bit more, replace 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon with a ¼ teaspoon each of nutmeg, ginger, allspice and cloves. I do this with my apple spice muffins!
- Powdered sugar - This is for the glaze. If it's lumpy, make sure to sift it before whisking it with the milk.
- Almond milk - Just a little is mixed with the powdered sugar. I used unsweetened almond milk to keep the recipe dairy-free, but you can use cow's milk or cream if you prefer. Other plant-based options such as cashew milk or oat milk will work too. Just make sure the oat milk is gluten-free.
How to make gluten-free apple cake with almond flour
Step 1: Add the streusel ingredients to a small bowl and mix together until crumbly.
Step 2: Grate the apple, wrap in a paper towel and squeeze out some of the juice.
Step 3: In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
Step 4: In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla.
Step 5: Add the wet ingredients to the dry mixture and stir until just combined.
Step 6: Fold in the grated apple. Do not add in the excess apple juice.
Step 7: Add the thick batter to your prepared pan and use an offset spatula to spread it out evenly.
Step 8: Scatter the streusel on top of the batter. Bake at 350F for 28-32 minutes.
Step 9: Let cake cool for 10 minutes before removing the sides of the pan.
Step 10: In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and almond milk and drizzle it over the cake.
Measuring ingredients
For convenience, US cup measurements are included in the recipe card for this recipe. To ensure greater accuracy, however, weight and volume measurements are also provided. So, if you see grams (g), you'll want to use a kitchen scale to weigh your ingredients, and if you see milliliters (ml), you'll want to use a liquid measuring cup. Smaller quantities of ingredients are provided in teaspoons and tablespoons.
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Storage and freezing tips
This apple cake made with almond flour is super moist, so it will stay soft and tender for days. We like to keep it stored in an airtight container at room temperature, where it will last for 2-3 days. For longer storage, you can keep it in the fridge for 5-6 days.
You can also freeze this cake. You'll just want to leave off the powdered sugar glaze. Let the cake fully cool and then wrap tightly in plastic wrap or place in a freezer safe container. It will last for up to 3 months in the freezer. When ready to enjoy, thaw at room temperature and top with the glaze.
Expert tips
- Grated apple. Be sure to use the medium holes on your box grater. If you shred the apple with the smaller holes, it will be too fine and wet for the cake.
- Weigh the apple. For greater accuracy, I recommend weighing the grated apple before and after squeezing out the juice. Also, please don't skip this step. The cake will end up too moist if the juice isn't squeezed out.
- Cold butter. To achieve a crunchy streusel topping, make sure your butter is cold and cubed. If it is too warm, the topping will spread too much. Once the topping is made, I usually pop it in the fridge while the cake batter comes together.
- Room temperature ingredients. Aside from the cold butter needed for the streusel, you'll want your refrigerated ingredients brought to room temperature so they whisk together easily. This includes your eggs and almond flour (if you store it in the fridge).
- Grease and line the pan. While we're using a springform pan for easy release, you'll still want to grease the pan well and line the bottom with parchment paper.
- Let the cake cool. Almond flour cakes need time to set up. If you cut into it when it is still warm, it may be crumbly.
Gluten-free almond flour apple cake FAQs
You'll want to use a crisp apple that holds its shape. Sweet apples are a great option such as Honeycrisp, Jazz, Gala and Fuji. For a tart, crisp apple, Grannny Smith works well. I use the same types of apples when I make my air fryer baked apples.
It will be easier to grate the apples if you leave the skin on and the skin adds texture to the cake. Just make sure you choose apples without dents or blemishes, and wash the skin with water before grating.
I recommend using an 8-inch springform pan for this cake. The removable sides mean you don't need to invert the cake to remove it from the pan and possibly flatten the streusel topping. In terms of size, an 8-inch round is the best size. I don't recommend using a 9-inch as the resulting cake will not be very high.
This could be because the cake pan used was too small for the batter or the oven door was opened too early to check on the cake. Also, if the streusel topping isn't evenly distributed on top of the cake, it may cause it to sink in places.
More recommend almond flour cake recipes
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📖 Recipe
Gluten-Free Almond Flour Apple Cake
Ingredients
For the streusel topping:
- ¼ cup (40 g) gluten-free 1-to-1 baking flour
- ¼ cup (57 g) brown sugar, packed
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons plant-based butter, cold and cubed
For the cake:
- 2 ½ cups (260 g) fine blanched almond flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- ½ cup (110 g) cane sugar
- ¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 small apple, Honeycrisp or Gala
For the glaze:
- ½ cup (60 g) powdered sugar, sifted
- 2-3 teaspoons unsweetened almond milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 8-inch springform pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.
- Make the streusel topping by adding the 1-to-1 baking flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and butter to a small bowl. Use a fork, pastry cutter or your fingers to mix together the ingredients until crumbly. Place in the fridge until ready to use.
- Use the medium holes on a box grater to grate the apple. You will need ½ cup or 85g of grated apple. Wrap the grated apple in a paper towel and squeeze out some of the juice. The grated apple should weigh 55g after the juice is squeezed out. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry mixture and stir until just combined.
- Fold the grated apple into the cake batter. Do not add in the excess apple juice.
- Add the batter to your prepared pan and use an offset spatula to spread it out evenly. (The batter will be thick).
- Evenly scatter the streusel mixture on top of the batter.
- Bake for 28-32 minutes, or until a tooth pick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
- Let cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing the sides and transferring it to a wire rack to fully cool.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and almond milk and drizzle it over the cake.
- Slice and serve, or store in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days.
Notes
- Grate the apple by using the medium holes on your box grater. If you shred the apple with the smallest holes, it will be too small and wet for the cake.
- For greater accuracy, I recommend weighing the grated apple before and after squeezing out some of the juice.
- If you don't have a kitchen scale, be sure to measure your flour using the spoon and level method with a dry measuring cup.
- To achieve a crunchy streusel topping, make sure your butter is cold and cubed. If it is too warm, the topping will spread too much. Once the topping is made, I pop it in the fridge while the cake batter comes together.
- If you would like to reduce the sweetness of the cake, feel free to omit the powdered sugar glaze.
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Nutrition Facts per Serving
Disclaimer
Nutrition information is an estimate only and will vary depending on the substitutions made and the brands used.
Did you make this recipe or have any questions?
I love reading your comments and addressing your questions, so please leave your comments and ratings or questions below!
Eliza says
I love this recipe! I've used it a few times and it always turns out great. My only qualm is that there's more sugar than apple, so I'd hardly call the recipe an "apple cake". I add waaaaay more apple than the recipe calls for. Makes a great breakfast cake to go with morning tea ❤️