Gluten-Free Apple Cake
Posted Sep 09, 2018, Updated May 22, 2024
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This gluten-free apple cake is the best apple cake recipe ever! It’s an easy, healthy paleo dessert that’s made without refined sugar and bursting with cozy fall flavors.
Fall is my favorite season. While I definitely enjoy summer, I am always ready for the cooler temperatures, changing colors and fall recipes – including this gluten free apple cake.
This paleo, gluten-free apple cake recipe comes together in no time and is packed full of nutritious ingredients! Eat it for breakfast, eat it for brunch, serve it warm for dessert smothered with some Paleo Vanilla Ice cream. You really can’t go wrong.
This Paleo apple cake is irresistible! It’s perfectly sweet, seriously moist, and bursting at the seams with bits of apple goodness!
Gluten-Free Apple Cake: Ingredients & Substitutions
As always it is best to follow this gluten-free Paleo Cake recipe as it’s written, but here are a few potential substitutions!
- Tapioca Flour. Arrowroot powder is an acceptable substitute for tapioca flour! You can also use corn starch but it’s not paleo.
- Coconut oil. Butter is a super yummy (but not dairy-free) substitute for coconut oil! Ghee is also a great substitution!
- Coconut sugar. Any granulated sugar works great in this recipe, just be sure it complies with your dietary needs.
- Pecans. I have used walnuts with delicious results as well!
How to Make Gluten-Free Apple Cake
- Finely dice the apples. This will ensure that the apples in the cake are fully baked (and not hard and crunchy)
- No Peeling Required. Since peeling is unnecessary, this best Apple Cake recipe is SUPER easy to make. I love that keeping the skin on the apples adds nutrition and fiber to this fabulous fall dessert!
- Making the topping. I know I say that the topping is optional, but really the sweet and salty crunch of the pecans is SO good I don’t recommend skipping it! I use a nut chopper to finely chop the pecans, but you can use a knife and cutting board if you don’t have one of those!
- Let it cool before removing from the cake pan. Please be sure to give this gluten-free apple cake recipe plenty of time to cool in the cake pan. This ensures that it will hold it’s shape and not fall apart when it’s removed from the pan.
Serve
Serve this healthy apple cake warm with a scoop of paleo vanilla ice cream or homemade whipped cream!
Store
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up 5-7 days.
Gluten Free Apple Cake Recipe FAQs
I believe the absolute best apples for baking are Pink Lady apples. They are a little sweet, and a little tart, and absolutely perfect in this Gluten-Free Apple Cake recipe! Some suggestions include (but are not limited to):
Pink Lady Apples. Must mention again because they’re my favorite!
Honey Crisp Apples. These are a sweeter variety, but super crisp with amazing flavor.
Granny smith. The traditional tart baking apple! They hold up well and add a nice little sour kick to the recipe!
Jazz apples and Gala apples. These varieties are very similar. They are great for baking but are mostly sweet with little (if any) sour taste!
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Gluten-Free Apple Cake (Paleo)
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1 cup almond flour
- 2 Tablespoons tapioca flour
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ cup coconut oil
- ½ cup coconut sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups chopped apples
Topping:
- ¼ cup pecans chopped
- 1 Tablespoon coconut sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9" round cake pan, set aside.
- In a small bowl, mix together almond flour, tapioca flour, baking soda, salt, and ½ tsp of cinnamon; set aside.
- In a large bowl, mix together melted coconut oil, coconut sugar.
- Mix in egg and and vanilla until well combined.
- Add the flour mixture and stir until just combined.
- Stir in the apples, pour into prepared pan.
- Sprinkle pecans on top.
- In a cup or small bowl, stir together the remaining cinnamon and sugar; sprinkle over pecans.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in preheated oven until the cake springs back when lightly touched and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool completely on a wire rack. Then slice and enjoy.
Video
Notes
- Tapioca Flour. Arrowroot powder is an acceptable substitute for tapioca flour! You can also use corn starch but it’s not paleo.
- Coconut oil. Butter is a super yummy (but not dairy-free) substitute for coconut oil! Ghee is also a great substitution!
- Coconut sugar. Any granulated sugar works great in this recipe, just be sure it complies with your dietary needs.
- Pecans. I have used walnuts with delicious results as well!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Now this is a colorful, delicious hearty breakfast! It’s filled with all the beautiful flavors and textures that I love most.
Thank you Connor!
Yum!!! I’m trying this for a party this weekend!! Thank you for sharing.
I typically never comment on recipes, but I just have to on this one! Made it this morning exactly as written. Turned out wonderful!!! It is so sweet, we cut them smaller than I normally would with an 8×8 pan. I did drizzle a tiny bit of coconut mana onto each… more for looks but it was fun to have a little “frosting”. Thank you for such a fun recipe! We made it for breakfast along with omelette for a birthday breakfast treat!
This is excellent! I made it last night and had it for dessert — and now for breakfast… Dangerous. I used a single Honeycrisp apple, which yielded enough apple that I doubled the recipe and baked in a 9×13 pan. I followed the recipe faithfully, except I used 1/2 coconut sugar and 1/2 powdered stevia in the batter and it worked perfectly. Just the right level of sweetness. (I did use all coconut sugar in the topping, so it crisped nicely.) The salt balances the recipe nicely. In addition, I did add about 1/8 tsp of cardamom and 1/8 tsp of mace, which really made it special. Love it and will be making it again!
Thank you so much for stopping by to let me know you enjoyed this cake Carolyn!!! Those additional spices definitely sound like something we need to try next time I make it!
I chopped up 2 macintosh apples and that was enough to cause me to double the recipe. This recipe is described as both a cake and a bar, which was confusing to me – as I am usually rushing to prepare dinner and searching new recipes as the same time. I think this recipe would be even better if it were re-writtten in a standard format – separate the topping ingredients, divided use, acceptable substitutions AND pictures of the steps as this recipe comes together in a different way than many others and these photos would have been reassuring.
Good recipe and there is a little left for day 2. It is more moist than a reading of the recipe would have you believe. Also, the ingredients are in every paleo pantry. The next time – if doubling, I would not double the salt. I used liquid coconut oil.
I’m allergic to coconut. Any suggestions on what I can substitute for and have the recipe still work out?
Hey Elissa! In order to keep this recipe paleo….you could substitute grass-fed butter or ghee for the coconut oil! And you could substitute maple sugar or date sugar for the coconut sugar. You could also try using honey as a substitute although I have not tried it so I cannot vouch for the end result!
I’m with you on the honeycrisp apples!!! The only kind I even bother buying any more. And boy do they get eaten! Cannot wait to try this recipe!!!!!
They are SO delicious aren’t they?! I’d love to hear how it goes if you give it a whirl! Have a great day!
These look so delicious!!! I love the fall…especially being from New England. ITs such a special time of year and I’m missing it over here in the UK
Will have to try these ASAP they look amazing!
Thanks!!!!!
I hope you love it Amylou! Let me know how it goes!
I am in love with apples. I have my favorites, Pink Lady, Honeycrisp, Fuji…. But, I also have an obsession with ”Wild’ apple trees and the variety doesn’t matter. Where we live there are apple trees everywhere! Along the side of the road, at the edge of parking lots, lining the railroad tracks…every fall we go picking whatever trees look the best (biggest fruit, least bugs, etc). Though not always the best for eating plain, the apples we collect are fantastic for applesauce, dried apple chips and baking with! I’ve even been known to knock on doors of homes with beautiful Apple trees in the yard that we’re going to waste and asked if I could ‘rescue’ the fruit! Fall is my favorite and Apple season makes my heart happy!!!
O this is lovely! Apples are one of my top 3 favorite foods 🙂
I agree!! Slathered with PB they’re my favorite snack!!!