I didn’t fall in love with all things gingerbread until a few years ago when I made these INCREDIBLE ginger molasses cookies with a chewy, spicy middle and crispy sugar coated edges. After my first bite, I knew that I would be a gingerbread lover for life.
Not to mention those fabulous little gingersnap cookies from Trader Joe’s… have you had them? Dangerous is what they are.
Speaking of my love for gingerbread, today I’m sharing an easy gingerbread cake recipe that you can’t help but fall in love with! Not only is it made in one bowl, but it’s also gluten free and perfect for Christmas morning brunch or anytime you’re feeling a holiday snack.
This gingerbread cake recipe is SO MOIST (I know we hate that word) but it’s truly delightful and almost a cross between a cake and a bar. My husband, who really doesn’t even like gingerbread treats, LOVED this cake, and before I knew it had even eaten half of the pan. That’s how you know it’s REAL GOOD.
Ingredients in gluten free gingerbread cake
This easy gingerbread cake is made with simple ingredients you probably already have in your pantry or fridge. Whoo hoo!
The wet ingredients are first mixed together in a bowl: melted and cooled coconut oil, pure maple syrup, blackstrap molasses, an egg and vanilla extract. It’s very important that your egg is at room temperature or it could cause the coconut oil to coagulate. Tip: run your egg under warm water for 1 minute to bring to room temp!
Next, you’ll add in the dry ingredients to the bowl with the wet ingredients: oat flour, almond flour, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, allspice and salt. Tip: make sure your oat flour is certified gluten free if you truly want to make your cake gluten free!
How to make your own oat flour
Instead of buying oat flour, you can easily make your own gluten free oat flour by simply placing certified gluten free oats into a blender and blending/pulsing until they’re smooth and resemble flour. This is probably the cheapest option too!
Personally, I LOVE using a mix of both oat flour and almond flour for a chewy, moist crumb in this cake.
Make this gluten free gingerbread cake your own
What I love about this easy gingerbread cake is that you can truly make it your own based on your preferences! Here are some options:
- Top with a cream cheese frosting. This is how I normally serve it. Sometimes I even add the zest of 1 lemon + 1 tablespoon lemon juice to the frosting for a lemon cream cheese frosting. You could also do an orange cream cheese frosting with the same amounts!
- Add chocolate chips. Skip the frosting and fold in 1/2 cup chocolate chips of choice to the batter! You could do semi-sweet, dark chocolate, white chocolate or even dairy free chocolate chips. YUM.
- Serve with powdered sugar + berries. Top with a dusting of powdered sugar and berries to keep it dairy free.
I hope you love this easy gluten free gingerbread cake! It’s perfect for Christmas morning brunch.
If you make this recipe, please leave a comment below and rate the recipe letting me know how you liked it. I appreciate it! xo.
One Bowl Gluten Free Gingerbread Cake
Delicious, easy gingerbread cake made right in one bowl! This gluten free gingerbread snacking cake is made with a mix of oat and almond flour, warm spices and is sweetened with pure maple syrup and blackstrap molasses.
- Wet ingredients
-
1/4
cup
coconut oil, melted and cool enough to touch (or sub melted butter) -
1/4
cup
pure maple syrup -
1/4
cup
blackstrap molasses -
1
egg, at room temperature (very important) -
1
teaspoon
vanilla extract -
1/2
cup
unsweetened almond milk (or milk of choice) - Dry ingredients
-
1
cup
oat flour -
1
cup
packed fine blanched almond flour -
1
teaspoon
baking powder -
1 1/2
teaspoons
ground ginger -
1
teaspoon
cinnamon -
1/2
teaspoon
allspice -
1/4
teaspoon
salt - For the frosting:
-
¼
cup
butter or vegan butter, at room temperature -
4
ounces
cream cheese or vegan cream cheese, at room temperature -
1
cup
powdered sugar -
1
teaspoon
vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8×8 inch pan with parchment paper and spray with nonstick cooking spray to prevent sticking.
In a large bowl, whisk together the following ingredients until smooth: coconut oil (making sure it’s melted but cooled enough to touch), pure maple syrup, molasses, egg, vanilla extract and almond milk.
Next add the dry ingredients to the bowl: oat flour, almond flour, baking powder, ground ginger, cinnamon, allspice and salt. Mix together until batter is smooth and well combined.
Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth top with a spatula. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until tester comes out clean. Allow cake to completely cool.
For the frosting: add butter and cream cheese to the bowl of an electric mixer; beat on high until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Next add powdered sugar and vanilla extract and beat on medium speed until well combined. If you like a creamier frosting, feel free to add a tablespoon of milk and mix again.
Frost cake with an offset spatula, then sprinkle with a little cinnamon to make pretty. Cut into 12 slices and serve.
To make dairy free: serve with a dairy free frosting or powdered sugar, berries or fold in dairy free chocolate chips into the batter instead.
To make cake your own:
- If you don’t want to frost the cake, you can sprinkle it with powdered sugar or serve with coconut whipped cream or regular whipped cream. Yum!
- If you prefer, you can make this a chocolate chip gingerbread snacking cake by adding ½ cup white, dark or dairy free chocolate chips to the batter before baking. SO GOOD.
Nutrition
Servings: 12 slices
Serving size: 1 slice without frosting
Calories: 178kcal
Fat: 10.4g
Saturated fat: 4.4g
Carbohydrates: 19.1g
Fiber: 1.9g
Sugar: 8.3g
Protein: 3.6g
