Grain-Free Cinnamon Coffee Cake with Maple Drizzle

Grain-Free Coffee Cake with Maple Drizzle

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day for me…no matter what time of day I eat it.  I generally like to have bacon and eggs, omelets, frittatas or sometimes even coconut pancakes but every once in a while on the weekends or for holidays a nice sweet treat served with homemade spicy sausage is where it is at!  This recipe is adapted from one in Elana Amsterdam’s Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook and is truly the best gluten-free, grain-free, refined sugar-free coffee cake I’ve ever eaten…as a matter of fact it is better than any coffee cake I’ve ever had that was full of sugar, gluten and grain!!!

This past Friday was my mom’s birthday followed by Mother’s Day on Sunday so I thought I’d treat my mom, dad and husband (and let’s be honest…ME, too) to a fun, decadent breakfast dessert…and it really hit the spot!

Out of the oven…resting.

Grain-Free Cinnamon Coffee Cake (makes 9-12 servings):

2 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup pecans, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup butter or coconut oil, melted
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla

Topping:
3 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
3 Tbsp. butter or coconut oil, melted
6 Tbsp. maple syrup
1/2 cup sliced almonds or chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8-inch square baking dish or pan with butter or coconut oil and lightly dust with almond flour.

To make the cake:

Combine the almond flour, salt, baking soda, pecans and raisins in a large bowl.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter or coconut oil, maple syrup, eggs and vanilla.  Make a well inside the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the well.  Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until thoroughly combined, the batter will be very thick.  Scrape the batter into the prepared baking dish. Using a spatula, gently push the batter into place making it as level as possible.

To make the topping:

Combine cinnamon, butter or coconut oil, maple syrup and pecans or almonds in a bowl.  Spread the topping over the cake batter. 

Bake for 25-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for 1 hour on a wire rack.  Slice cake into squares and drizzle with Maple Frosting before serving.

This cake can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for several days.  Once you drizzle it, store it in the fridge.

Maple Drizzle:

3/4 cup coconut butter

1/4 cup pure maple syrup (or more to taste)

1/4-1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, almond milk, or coconut milk

pinch of salt

In a small saucepan, heat all ingredients over medium-low heat, stir until well combined.  Consistency should be thin enough to drizzle over the coffee cake.

***If you eat dairy and prefer a maple cream cheese drizzle…substitute 4 ounces softened cream cheese for the coconut butter and reduce the heavy cream to 2 Tbsp.-1/4 cup and blend in a small bowl with a hand mixer until smooth.  Again the consistency should be thin enough to drizzle***

This coffee cake is delightful with or without the drizzle.

This recipe is shared at: Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday, Gluten-Free Wednesdays, Whole Foods Wednesdays, Fight Back Friday, Beyond the Peel

No drizzle necessary for complete yummi-ness!

But then again…why not just go for it!

Cinnamon Swirl Raisin Bread

Cinnamon Swirly Goodness

When I was growing up my parents were somewhat “hippy-ish” which meant there were a lot of bran muffins and carob in our fridge.  My elementary school best friend (Regina) had parents that were from the country (East Texas) which meant biscuits, gravy and Wonder Bread cinnamon toast!  I’m thankful for my hippy parents because they taught me the importance of living healthy and eating clean…although we have come a long way from those bran muffin days into grain-free lifestyles!  I am equally thankful for all those wonderful memories of eating country meals at my friend’s house.  Regina’s mom sang in the choir at the First Baptist Church and Sunday mornings were usually pretty busy so it was always the morning for a quick breakfast of oven-toast.  Cheese or Cinnamon-Sugar were our choices.  I usually had one of each, the cheese toast was a slice of white bread with a square of American cheese toasted under the broiler until it was bubbly and crispy on top…the cinnamon-sugar was the same white bread buttered and sprinkled with a mixture of cinnamon and white sugar also broiled until toasty.  Both were pleasantly crispy on the top while the bottom was still that white bread soft doughy texture since they didn’t get flipped in the oven…it kind of makes my throat close up with the thought of it now but I do remember it tasting and smelling so yummy.  There is just something so comforting about the smell of cinnamon swirling through the house…especially when it’s coming from the oven!   Now, I don’t eat sweets all that often anymore but for some reason I had a hankering for cinnamon toast…I had a freshly baked loaf of Elana’s Pantry Paleo Bread in the freezer that I could have easily doctored up to make cinnamon toast but I was in the mood to experiment so I decided to try to make some Cinnamon Swirl Raisin Bread.  Well, it was a success, the bread has a nice texture warm out of the oven and in my opinion, even better toasted under the broiler and topped with a pat of pastured butter!  I started with a base of Elana’s Pantry Paleo Bread with a few modifications and then added the swirl of cinnamon, coconut nectar and raisins.  As you can see from the photo the raisins kind of sank to the bottom of the loaf in places, next time I will toss them in a bit of coconut flour before mixing them in so they don’t sink.

Cinnamon Swirl Raisin Bread

(yields 12-16 slices)

Base Bread Dough:

1 cup blanched almond flour

1/2 cup pecan meal

2 Tablespoons coconut flour

1/4 cup flax meal

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

5 eggs, room temperature

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar

Cinnamon Swirl:

1/4 cup honey, maple syrup or coconut nectar

1/2 cup raisins, lightly coated in coconut flour

1 Tablespoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon coconut oil, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a small loaf pan (I use a Magic Line 7.5 x 3.5 Loaf Pan) with coconut oil and set aside.  Place almond flour, pecan meal, coconut flour, flax meal and baking soda in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine.  Add eggs, coconut oil and apple cider vinegar and pulse until well combined scraping down sides once or twice.  In a large bowl mix together sweetener, cinnamon and 1 teaspoon of coconut oil until smooth, add raisins.  Gently fold in bread dough until just combined but also still a little swirled together.  Scoop mixture into prepared loaf pan and smooth the top with the back of spoon.  Place in middle of oven and bake for 30 minutes.  At the 30 minute mark check the loaf…sometimes this bread has a tendency to rise and separate on one side…if this happens I use a hot pad to press the top down evenly so it is flat.  Bake for 10 – 15 additional minutes.  Remove from the oven, run a butter knife around the edges of the loaf pan then cool in the pan for 10 minutes.  Remove from pan and finish cooling on a wire rack.  Slice and serve or wrap in parchment paper and store in an air tight container or gallon size zip top bag.

This recipe is shared at:

Fight Back Friday

Make Ahead Monday

Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday

Gluten Free Wednesday, Allergy-Free Wednesdays

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