Healthy Gingerbread Coffee Cake (Paleo)

This healthy gingerbread coffee cake has a light and fluffy texture and all the warm, sweet spices of the holidays. It’s adorned with the most perfect crumble topping, which turns slightly crisp when baked. Finish with a powdered sugar glaze for the ultimate breakfast treat! 

What’s better than classic coffee cake with a warm streusel topping? Healthy gingerbread coffee cake, of course!

As you might expect, this healthy coffee cake serves as a breakfast treat that can be paired with coffee. The tradition of coffee cake goes back to 16th century coffee houses where many people would gather to discuss business, cultural, or political matters. It fueled discussion and quite literally fought grumpiness.

I love that coffee cake has a rich history in fighting grumpiness. We all need a little bit of that in our lives—especially in the morning, and possibly when overwhelmed with family staying at our house during the holidays.

Because breakfast is the most important meal of the day, I wanted to create a simple and healthy coffee cake that tastes just like classic coffee cake. While coffee cake comes in many different flavors (check out my cinnamon roll coffee cake recipe for more goodness), the warm spices of gingerbread are what set this healthy coffee cake recipe apart from the rest. This coffee cake also has the perfect crumb topping, which turns slightly crisp when baked.

While the glaze is optional, it definitely gives the cake added texture and sweetness. You can add a little more coconut milk as needed depending on how viscous you’d like the glaze to be. Serve the glaze drizzled on top or in a bowl with a spoon so guests can added it to taste.

What Makes This Coffee Cake Healthier?

I love figuring out ways to make healthy swaps in desserts without sacrificing texture or flavor. While this easy coffee cake recipe is made with healthier ingredients, it’s everything you’d want from a traditional coffee cake—light and fluffy with a decadent crumb topping and icing! This recipe is:

• Made with whole ingredients: This healthy gingerbread coffee cake is made with almond and arrowroot flour, eggs, coconut oil, and molasses.
• Gluten free: A combination of almond flour and arrowroot flour makes the cake super fluffy, and gives the crumb a nice crisp when baked.
• Dairy free: You can use coconut oil in both the cake and crumb topping in place of ghee. No milk needed!
• Naturally sweetened: Molasses, maple syrup, and coconut sugar are used to sweeten the cake and crumb topping. Both pair perfectly with the gingerbread flavors!

Ingredients for Healthy Gingerbread Coffee Cake

This healthy coffee cake is so easy to make. You likely have most if not all of the ingredients already on hand, so let’s get to baking!

For the Coffee Cake:

• Blanched almond flour
• Arrowroot flour
• Baking powder
• Cinnamon
• Ground ginger
• Ground clove
• Nutmeg
• Coconut sugar
• Ghee or coconut oil
• Maple syrup
• Molasses
• Eggs

For the Crumb Topping:

• Coconut sugar
• Blanched almond flour
• Arrowroot flour
• Cinnamon
• Ghee or coconut oil
• Maple syrup

For the Glaze (optional):

• Organic powdered sugar
• Maple syrup
• Dairy free milk

How to Make the BEST Healthy Coffee Cake

1. Prepare the pan. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8 baking pan with parchment paper.
2. Mix the cake batter. Add all of the dry ingredients, spices, and coconut sugar to a medium bowl and mix well. In a separate bowl, mix together the melted coconut oil, maple syrup, molasses, and eggs. Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until well combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
3. Make the crumb topping. Mix all of the ingredients together in a small bowl except for the coconut oil and maple syrup. Add the coconut oil and mix with the back of a fork so it forms into a crumble. Add the maple syrup, 1 tablespoon at a time. Continue to mix into a wet crumble with the back of the fork. Cut the crumble with the side of the fork as needed to mix.
4. Bake the cake. Gently pour the crumble topping over the batter in the pan. Bake for 38-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
5. Top with glaze + serve. Mix together the ingredients for the glaze in a small bowl. Let the cake cool for 20 minutes prior to drizzling on the glaze. Serve with a hot cup of coffee or cocoa.

Paleo Coffee Cake

Because the ingredients are simple and gluten free, this recipe makes the best paleo coffee cake! The base is just almond flour and tapioca flour, which are both grain free flours that are paleo friendly. The only sweeteners used are maple syrup, molasses, and coconut sugar, which are more natural forms of sweetener. If you’re strict paleo, make sure to skip the vanilla powdered sugar glaze when serving this healthy coffee cake. Why? Because organic powdered sugar is sourced from organic cane sugar, which isn’t paleo.

The good news? You can make your own from coconut sugar! Just add 1/2 cup coconut sugar and 2 teaspoons tapioca flour to a high speed blender or food processor and process for 1-2 minutes. It’s important to note that coconut sugar has a deeper caramel flavor and color, so that may change the appearance and taste slightly.

Can I Make Substitutions?

Sure can! However, this is where I make that special note that you won’t get the same consistent results if you vary from the original recipe. But, if you find yourself short, here’s a few swaps you can make:

• Almond flour: You can use another nut flour, like cashew flour.
• Arrowroot flour: You can swap this for tapioca flour.
• Maple syrup: This can be swapped for raw honey.
• Coconut sugar: You can swap this for any granulated sugar, including brown sugar.
• Coconut oil: Use ghee or unsalted butter. Just make sure it’s soft and room temperature.

Baking Tips + Tricks

• Make sure to whisk the flours and dry ingredients together well. This will improve the texture of the coffee cake.
• For the best texture and flavor, go with ghee or unsalted butter for the crumb topping.
• You can bake this healthy coffee cake ahead of time and store it in the fridge in an airtight container. Simply warm it in the oven and make the icing that morning. Pour it over the coffee cake just before serving.
• This coffee cake can also be made in a traditional round coffee cake pan! Just grease the pan well, and remove the cake from the pan before pouring the icing on top.

Can I Freeze Coffee Cake?

Yes! To freeze coffee cake, wrap the cake in parchment paper or food storage wrap, then place it in an airtight freezer-safe storage bag. Coffee cake will last in the freezer up to 3 months. If you’ve cut the cake up into pieces, wrap eat piece of coffee cake individually so they don’t stick. Make sure to freeze the coffee cake without the glaze. When you’re ready to eat your coffee cake, just lay it out to thaw for a few hours. Top it with glaze before serving.

Stocking the Pantry

I personally use Thrive Market for most of my pantry needs because it saves me some cash—especially when it comes to commonly used items like blanched almond flour, maple syrup, and coconut oil. For a complete list of my recommend pantry items and what I use in my home, check out my favorite kitchen tools and pantry items.

Other Recipes You’ll Love

• Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake (Grain-Free, Dairy-Free, Paleo)
• Fluffy Paleo Cinnamon Rolls

• 4-Ingredient Vegan Caramel Sauce
• Paleo Chocolate Banana Bread
• Paleo Magic Cookie Bars

What did you think about this healthy gingerbread coffee cake? Let me know in the comments below!