This Almond Flour Apple Cake is a healthier treat made with whole-food ingredients. It’s perfect for fall baking, and it’s topped with a streusel crumb topping as well. There are multiple options for the glaze, but the maple option is my favorite this time of year.
Just picture a perfectly spiced cake, weighed down by loads of apples and a crunchy streusel topping. And if that doesn’t sound tasty enough… it’s all drizzled with a maple glaze. There’s just so much fall flavor all wrapped up in this tasty cake!
The idea for this cake came with the chilly fall temperatures we have here right now. And I started thinking about slow Sunday afternoons with a cup of coffee while nibbling on a piece of this. It ended up being one of those recipes that really can work as a breakfast/brunch treat, or as a dessert, and even the above-mentioned coffee snack.
1st let’s dive in and talk about the ingredients
- Almond Flour – is my preferred flour to make perfectly moist baked goods that are both gluten free and paleo.
- Tapioca Starch – I use this in combination with the almond flour and it creates the perfect fluffy texture in baked goods. I’ve also had many readers write in to say they’ve successfully subbed in either cornstarch or arrowroot for the tapioca.
- Cinnamon – because is there anything that tastes like fall more than cinnamon and apples together? But feel free to branch out with cardamom or nutmeg, although I might cut the measurement in half since those spices might be overwhelming in the quantities listed for cinnamon.
- Lemon Zest – this plays off the cinnamon for a touch of brightness that is more than worth getting the zester out for!
- Maple Syrup – adds the right amount of sweetness, and is a great flavor booster, as well as being a natural sweetener.
- Eggs – work together with the almond flour and tapioca starch to create the right texture in this cake.
- Butter/ghee/Avocado oil – I love using butter or ghee in my baked goods because of the incredible flavor. However for those that are strictly dairy free, avocado oil works incredibly well and has a subtle buttery flavor. I used to use coconut oil, and it does work, but has a much stronger flavor. Overall, it’s worth tracking down some avocado oil for your pantry, (I get mine at Costco)!
- Vanilla – because everything baked is better with vanilla extract!
- Apples – I used McIntosh apples here which are the perfect sweet-tart combination and great for baking. You can also use Granny Smith which are usually available everywhere.
Make this Almond Flour Apple Cake step by step
1st up we’re going to mix together the dry ingredients until no lumps remain.
Then add the wet ingredients and mix just to combine.
From there mix in the apples and pour the cake batter into a prepared pan. I have baked this cake with all the apples piled on top which is good too, but it can create a challenge of batter pockets. So I’ve taken to mixing the apples right into the batter.
Then the streusel mixture is scattered evenly over the top, and it’s baked until puffed up and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Once the cake is baked and cooled to room temperature, it’s time to choose a frosting!
3 options for the frosting
- For a lower sugar paleo option, try out a double recipe of my glaze from my Cinnamon Apple Muffins.
- For the easiest option, use the powdered sugar option listed in the recipe notes.
- And finally for the tastiest maple frosting, follow the recipe instructions. This frosting does require making powdered sugar in your Vitamix from maple sugar. It’s a simple process, but since not everyone has a Vitamix or maple sugar, the powdered sugar version works perfectly as well.
More apple recipe inspiration
- Paleo Caramel Apple Crisp
- Honey Mustard Chicken & Apple Skillet Dinner
- Slow Cooker Applesauce
- Paleo Caramel Apple Blondies
- Paleo Butternut Sausage Apple Stuffing
I really hope you enjoy this apple cake! If you do make this recipe, I hope you’ll leave me a comment/rating below. I always love hearing from you here. And over on Instagram where you can tag me at #getinspiredeveryday with your photos.
Almond Flour Apple Cake
INGREDIENTS
- 2 cups fine almond flour
- 1/2 cup tapioca starch
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 2 tsp baking powder - see notes
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tbsp lemon zest - grated with a microplane grater
- 1/2 cup Grade B maple syrup
- 2 eggs
- 6 tbsp melted ghee - butter, or avocado oil
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups peeled & chopped baking apples - I used McIntosh, about 1/2″x 1/4″ pieces
Streusel Topping:
- 1/2 cup fine almond flour
- 2 tbsp tapioca starch
- 1 cup chopped pecans - raw/unsalted
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 pinch sea salt
- 2 tbsp butter - melted, or ghee, avocado oil
- 2 tbsp Grade B maple syrup
Glaze:
- 1/2 cup sifted powdered maple sugar - see notes
- 3 tbsp salted butter - or melted ghee/avocado oil for paleo
- 3 tbsp Grade B maple syrup
- 1 pinch of sea salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and lightly grease a 11″x7″ baking dish, (4-5″ deep).
- Whisk together the almond flour, tapioca starch, cinnamon, sea salt, baking powder, and baking soda until no lumps remain.
- Stir in the lemon zest, then add the maple syrup, eggs, melted ghee/butter/avocado oil, and vanilla extract. Mix until just combined, then stir in the apples.
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared baking dish. In a small bowl stir together the ingredients for the streusel topping until combined. Using your hands, crumble the streusel topping evenly over the cake.
- Bake the cake until puffed and toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, or with moist crumbs, 40-50 minutes.
- Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool to room temperature on a cooling rack before frosting it.
- For the frosting, start by placing the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook swirling it around the bottom until it smells toasty and has browned, 2-3 minutes, (skip this step if using ghee or avocado oil). Add it to the sifted powdered sugar along with the maple syrup, pinch of salt, and vanilla extract.
- Stir to combine, then drizzle it evenly over the cake. Serve within the first day for the best texture, although we enjoyed this cake for 3 days before it started to be a bit dry.
I have 40 lbs of apples from our tree and needed recipes to use them up. I had to write a review for this one because it is AMAZING. This is my first ever online recipe review out of hundreds I’ve tried, that’s how good this is! I left off the glaze and used coconut sugar in the streusel topping, and used avocado oil in the batter. Holy smokes good thing I doubled the recipe because it’s half gone by the next morning.
Thank you so much, it makes my day to here you enjoyed this cake so much!
I love the almond flour in here for flavor purposes but also because it makes it a little bit healthier!
Thanks so much, and enjoy!
Hey Kari,
As an SOB or Son of Baker, my interest is full fermentation. While this recipe looks good, how is the base of the coffee cake; leavened, proofed or fermented?
Hi Patrick,
This coffee cake gets it’s leavening from both baking powder and baking soda. It’s a quick bread so it doesn’t use yeast like some coffee cakes do. I hope this answers your question and let me know if you get to try this one out!