A soft and tender vegan coffee cake with cinnamon streusel topping! This delicious and easy to make crumb cake will satisfy your cravings for a “buttery” cake. The recipe is plant-based (dairy-free, egg-free), gluten-free, can be made refined sugar-free, and is perfect for dessert or breakfast.
What is a coffee cake? A coffee cake is a soft and moist cake that is topped with a sweet streusel topping, similar to a German coffee cake (Streuselkuchen). The topping is a crumble, often containing cinnamon, sometimes nuts and occasionally also fruit like apples). The crumb cake is served in the afternoon or morning with coffee (or tea), however, the cake actually doesn’t contain coffee (even though you can add it).
The Ingredients
This gluten-free coffee cake only contains simple ingredients, which you maybe already have at home. Below are the ingredients and their substitutes that you will need for the coffee cake.
All ingredients AND measurements are listed in the printable recipe card below! There you will also find the nutrition facts (calories in coffee cake).
- Oat flour – Use regular oat flour or gluten-free oat flour if you are a celiac. You can also make your own oat flour from rolled oats in a blender or electric coffee/spice grinder.
- White rice flour – Brown rice might work fine as well. You can most likely also use gluten-free all-purpose flour (or regular flour if you’re not gluten-free) instead of oat flour and rice flour. I haven’t tried these combos though.
- Cornstarch – Arrowroot flour or potato starch might be used instead of cornstarch.
- Erythritol – It doesn’t contain sugar (same as Xylitol). However, you can use regular sugar instead.
- Applesauce – You can probably also use mashed banana instead.
- Coconut oil – If you want to make the vegan coffee cake oil-free, I would suggest increasing the amount of applesauce. The texture will be different though. Oil or vegan butter is also needed for the streusel, however, you could try replacing it with vegan cream cheese or nut butter.
- Plant-based milk – Any dairy-free milk is fine. Some examples are almond milk, soy milk, oat milk, coconut milk, etc.
- Coconut sugar – You could also use brown sugar for the cinnamon streusel topping.
- Almond flour – To make the recipe nut-free, simply use ground shredded unsweetened coconut.
- Baking powder, baking soda, apple cider vinegar – They will help the cake rise.
- Cinnamon, vanilla extract, and salt – Used for flavor.
How To Make Vegan Coffee Cake?
You don’t need a food processor, hand mixer or blender to make this oatmeal coffee cake. All you need is two mixing bowls, a whisk, and a baking dish.
STEP 1: First, line a baking dish with parchment paper with an overhang on all sides (for easy removal). My pan measures 6×9 inches (ca. 15×23 cm).
STEP 2: Start with the cinnamon streusel topping. Simply, add all dry ingredients for the streusel to a bowl, stir with a whisk, then add the wet ingredients. Use your fingers to combine everything until the mixture is slightly crumbly. Set aside and preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (ca. 180 °C).
STEP 3: Add all dry ingredients for the coffee cake batter into a large mixing bowl and stir with a whisk. You could also add the dry ingredients to a food processor and blend for a couple of seconds.
STEP 4: Next, add the wet ingredients and stir with a whisk.
STEP 5: Pour about half of the batter into the lined baking dish. Then add half of the cinnamon streusel. Pour the remaining batter on top of the streusel and finally add the remaining streusel.
STEP 6: Bake in the oven for about 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the crumb cake comes out almost clean (it can be crumbly but shouldn’t be wet). The baking time can be a few minutes less or more depending on your oven and the size of the pan. Let cool completely, then drizzle with icing (optional).
Helpful Tips And Variations
- Apple Coffee Cake: Add a small, chopped apple and spread it over the second layer of the batter, then add the final crumb layer (streusel).
- Add more spices: You can add other spices like allspice, a pinch of ground cloves or nutmeg for a deliciously spiced coffee cake.
- Make coffee cake muffins: Simply use a muffin pan instead of a rectangular (or round) baking pan. The cooking time will be reduced by about 10-15 minutes (I recommend making a toothpick test) after 25 minutes.
- Add nuts: You can add chopped walnuts, almonds, cashews or other nuts of choice to the batter.
How To Store?
Store the oat coffee cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 6 days or freeze for up to 2 months.
If you love healthy cake recipes, make sure to check out my other delicious vegan & gluten-free cakes:
- Vegan Gingerbread Cake
- Pineapple Upside Down Cake
- Marble Bundt Cake
- Lemon Sheet Cake
- Upside Down Plum Cake
Should you give this tender vegan coffee cake recipe a try, please leave a comment and rating below and tag me in your Instagram or Facebook post with #elavegan and @elavegan.
Vegan Coffee Cake
Ingredients
Dry Cake Ingredients:
- 1 cup (90 g) oat flour gluten-free if needed
- 1/2 cup (80 g) rice flour (*see notes)
- 2 tbsp (16 g) cornstarch or potato starch
- 1/3 cup (70 g) Erythritol or sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
Wet Cake Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup (180 ml) almond milk or any other dairy-free milk
- 2/3 cup (160 g) applesauce unsweetened
- 2 tbsp (28 g) oil (*see notes)
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Streusel:
- 1/2 cup (80 g) rice flour or regular flour, if you're not gluten-free
- 1/2 cup (60 g) almond flour or shredded unsweetened coconut
- 1/4 cup (40 g) coconut sugar or brown sugar
- 2 tbsp (28 g) oil
- 2 tbsp (40 g) maple syrup or any other liquid sweetener
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
Instructions
- I recommend measuring the ingredients in grams on a kitchen scale.
- Start by lining a baking dish with parchment paper with an overhang on all sides (for easy removal). My pan measures 6×9 inches (ca. 15x23 cm).
- Make the streusel topping: Add all dry ingredients for the streusel to a bowl, stir with a whisk, then add the wet ingredients. Use your fingers to combine everything until the mixture is slightly crumbly. Set aside and preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (ca. 180 °C).
- Add all dry cake ingredients into a large mixing bowl and stir with a whisk. You could also add the dry ingredients to a food processor and blend for a couple of seconds.
- Next, add the wet cake ingredients and stir with a whisk. You can also use a hand mixer.
- Assemble: Pour about half of the batter into the lined baking dish. Then add half of the cinnamon streusel. Pour the remaining batter on top of the streusel and finally add the remaining streusel.
- Bake in the oven for about 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the crumb cake comes out almost clean (it can be crumbly but shouldn't be wet). The baking time can be a few minutes less or more depending on your oven and the size of the pan. Let cool completely, then drizzle with icing (optional). Check the recipe notes below for the icing. Enjoy!
Notes
- Store the coffee cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 6 days or freeze for up to 2 months.
- Oil: I used coconut oil but canola oil should be fine too. You can also use softened vegan butter. For an oil-free version, I would suggest increasing the amount of applesauce. The texture will be different though. To replace the oil in the streusel, you could experiment with vegan cream cheese or nut butter.
- Flour: You can also make your own oat flour from rolled oats (or instant oats) in a blender or electric coffee/spice grinder. A gluten-free all-purpose flour (or regular flour if not gluten-free) instead of oat flour and rice flour should work fine, I haven't tried it though.
- Icing: To make the icing, simply add a few tablespoons of powdered Erythritol (or powdered sugar) and a little plant-based milk to a small bowl. Stir with a whisk until combined.
- Step-by-step photos are above in the blog post.
- Recipe serves 9. Nutrition facts are for one serving.
Nutrition information is an estimate and has been calculated automatically
Equipment
If you are using Pinterest, feel free to pin the following photo:
Made the cake yesterday for my mothers birthday and it was absolutely delicious! I added in a chopped apple as you recommended, used ground hazelnuts instead of almonds and added one table spoon of peanut butter in the crumble.
Everyone loved it and asked for a second serving plus no one realized that it was a “healthier” recipe and entirely vegan and gluten free! Will definitely do this again, thanks for the amazing recipe!!
Hi Vera, that’s awesome! I am so glad you liked it. 🙂
This is the best coffee cake I have ever tasted, vegan or otherwise! I just took it out of the oven a few minutes ago and had to sneak a taste before it cooled completely. I used 1 cup of light spelt flour and 1/2 cup of oat flour in the cake and it worked beautifully. I can’t wait to try more of your dessert recipes. 🙂
I am so glad you loved it, Allison! Thanks a lot for your great feedback. 🙂
How do I make the icing!? I didn’t see the instructions for it
Hi Rachel, it’s written in the recipe notes:
Thank you, I must have missed it!
No worries! 🙂
AMAZING! Everything I tried so far from your website is amazing! Thank you again for sharing!!
Aww, that’s awesome, Diana. 🙂
Hi! I made it and i loved it. The only thing was that bc I used the last of my apple cider vinegar bottle, it had all the bits, so my coffee cake has a bitter after taste. I guess I’m wondering how important the apple cider vinegar is, and do i NEED to use it next time? Thank you!!! will definitely be trying out your other recipes 🙂
Hi Tatyana! Thanks for your feedback. The vinegar is needed to activate the baking soda/powder, however, you can use less next time. 1 tsp should be enough. 🙂
Wonderful and delicious. I made muffins but will make it in a dish next time. Thank you so much.
So happy they turned out great! 🙂
Great as always , made with lots of love
Sounds lovely! Happy it turned out great. 🙂
Can i replace sugar with maple syrup
Hi! I made this recipe but it turned out really dense. Do you think this is because I subbed the rice/oat flour for whole wheat flour? My family still liked the cake but I personally found it a little too heavy.
Hi Ava, yes, I think whole wheat flour will make the cake dense because of the gluten. White rice flour is much lighter. 🙂
If I could give more stars then I would, this recipe is BEYOND amazing! I swapped out a couple of the ingredients in this recipe but it still tastes so good! I swapped out the flours in the dry ingredients for an all purpose gluten free flour blend and I swapped out the oil and applesauce with pumpkin puree since I can’t have apples. I also switched the sugar for monk fruit sweetener (I only put in half of what it asked though). Even with the switches this is by far the best sweet vegan recipe that I’ve had. Thank you so much for creating this and letting it be available to us!
I am so glad it turned out amazing! Thanks for sharing your substitutes, Shelby. 🙂
Hello from France !
The pictures were so mouth-watering. I was really looking forward to try this recipe.
It was a success! The cake didn’t last longer than one breakfast ;-). My whole family loved it (even my brother, which is not an easy thing…)! The cake is moist and soft. It is very flavourful with a perfect cinnamon taste.
I added a chopped apple as suggested (I strongly recommend it!). Next time, I might decrease slightly the amount of sugar in the streusel though.
I don’t usually bake gluten free on purpose as we don’t mind gluten at home. Yet, I find it fun experimenting with other flours and discovering new tastes and textures. I used brown rice flour and ground almonds for the crumble and it worked well.
In my oven, I baked the cake for 45 minutes.
Thanks a lot for the recipe! Have a nice day 🙂
I am so happy it was a success! Thanks so much for your helpful comment, Alia. It is very much appreciated. 🙂
Much love, Ela
Ok, Ela, when am I going to find a recipe of yours that isn’t good? I’ve never written this many reviews on one site, or even in my entire life, but I feel the shoutouts are well deserved. This coffee cake was DIVINE! I followed the recipe exactly and it’s definitely going to be in the rotation, along with all the other great breakfast/desserts recipes I’ve tried of yours. Crazy, that I’m baking more and during this time, but maintaining my weight (with exercise of course). Your dessert recipes are definitely great healthy alternatives while still satisfying my sweet tooth. Next mission—flourless brownies with sweet potato icing! (Do you have a cookbook in the works?) Again, thank you so much!! Keep doing what you do!!
Aww, thanks so much, Sommer! You are lovely! 🙂 Yes, it in the works but it takes time. I am so glad you like my recipes.
Much love, Ela
Woohoo! Glad to hear a cookbook is in the works. Much Love!
Oh my goodness this was amazing!!!! I usually make up my own recipes but this looked so good I had to try it. My husband grew up with coffee cake on Christmas morning, you know the normal kind full of gluten and eggs and sugar and dairy. All things we don’t eat now. I’ve tried so many recipes and tried my own hand at it but it’s always been disappointing. However this was the coffee cake we both remember from years past. It is perfect!!! Amazing texture and fabulous flavor. I followed the recipe exactly. The batter was really thin and I was worried but it baked up perfectly. It needed about 10 extra minutes of baking time. I didn’t do the glaze and I don’t think it needs it at all. I’m sorry for the novel I am just so beyond grateful to have found this recipe. Our Christmas morning is made!!! And also, I’m laughing so hard at these comments about when to add the coffee. Apparently coffee cake isn’t as widely known as I had thought!! 🤣
Aww, thanks so much for your thorough comment, Britney, I really appreciate it a lot! I am very glad my version turned out delicious and brought back your memories. That’s beautiful! 🙂
Much love, Ela
Just made this and it tastes good, but added coffee as the name denoted! It’s also no way near as thick as yours despite having the same sized pan, not sure why? Thanks for the recipe 😊
I am glad you liked it, Sophie! Was your pan 6×9 inches or 8×8 inches? 😊
I made this today and it is incredible! Sweet, but not too sweet, moist, crumbly, just perfect. I used all-purpose flour and added extra cinnamon and pecans. I baked it in an 8×8 glass pan and the cooking time was accurate, although I wasn’t able to layer the streusel. It goes perfect with my morning coffee and satisfies my sweet tooth without being overly full of sugar!
That’s wonderful, Erin! I am so glad the cake turned out delicious with all-purpose flour. Thanks for your great feedback! 🙂
One of my favourite recipes of yours. I can’t have oats even gluten-free ones so I substituted that flour and added more rice flour and also coconut flour but still turned out great. Have made the loaf as well as the muffins versions and love both ways. It’s difficult to find gluten-free vegan cakes and I am so glad that I can finally make my own. Thank you for sharing your recipes
My pleasure, Halima! I am so happy the cake turned out great with more rice flour and also coconut flour! If you read my comment reply, do you mind sharing how much rice flour and coconut flour you used instead of oat flour? 🙂
Much love, Ela
Hey Ela!
What can I use instead of oat and rice flour? In which stage should I add coffee? I could not find it in the recipe
Hey Paola, both of your questions have been actually answered in the blog post and recipe notes. 🙂
As regards the flour: “A gluten-free all-purpose flour (or regular flour if not gluten-free) instead of oat flour and rice flour should work fine”.
As regards the coffee: “The crumb cake is served in the afternoon or morning with coffee (or tea), however, the cake actually doesn’t contain coffee…”
Hope this helps.
Kind regards,
Ela
This recipe looks great – was the coffee / espresso powder left out ? Should it be in there somewhere ?
Hi Suzanne! I actually mentioned it in my blog post. I will try to make it even clearer.
A coffee cake is a very popular cake in the United States and in Germany. The name “coffee cake” comes from the fact that the cake is being served in the afternoon or morning with a cup of coffee (or tea), not because it contains coffee.
Hope this helps. 🙂
Just made this yst and love it! The texture is so soft and crumbly and its just perfect for tea time without being too sweet! I added apples and it was serious YUM!
I am glad it turned out soft and delicious! Thanks for your kind feedback, Usha. 🙂
Hi! Can I bake it in a bread pan or will the texture change? 🙂
Hi Denise, do you mean a loaf pan? It should work but it will increase the baking time. 🙂
Really good! I used ground walnuts because I didn’t have almond flour and AP instead of rice flour.
Sounds amazing, Amanda! Thanks so much for your great feedback. 🙂
The nutrition factes is 100gr or 30gr ;;;
It’s for one piece if you cut the cake into 9 pieces, so basically 1/9 of the recipe. Hope this helps. 🙂
Delicious ! I had no almond flour or coconut so I used oats and the result is amazing !
Thank you Ela !
I am glad it still turned out amazing! Thanks for your feedback, Marie. 🙂
Oh my goodness! Made this yesterday and it blew my mind. I was craving something sweet but not too sweet. Subbed vegan butter for the applesauce and this was so decadent. Will be making this on repeat!
Sounds fabulous, Amanda! I am so glad it turned out delicious. 🙂
Hi Ela!!! Thank you for this so very simple easy to do and delish recipe!!!! My only concern next is to divide better the bater since I didn’t have enough for the top layer! upssss!!!
My pleasure, Maria! I am glad you loved the recipe. Btw. I also had the batter struggle the first time. 😀
Ela, this cake is divine! Even my boyfriend, usually a little suspicious about vegan cake, loved it. I switched the almond flour for ground walnuts, which gave it a more rustic flavour. Most definitely I’ll make that cake again.
Thank you for all your work and your amazing recipes 🙂
Aww, that’s awesome Gretchen! I am so glad you and your boyfriend loved the recipe, even with walnuts. 🙂
Made these today and everyone loved them .
Easy recipe to follow and so delicious ! Thank you so much for sharing x
I am so glad you liked the recipe, Lucy! Thanks for your feedback. 🙂
I made this today and it was super delicious! I added peeled & diced apple under the top strudel layer and baked it in an 8×8 glass dish. I did have to bake for an additional 8 minutes. So tasty! I can’t wait to make it again 🙂
Yay! I am so glad it turned out super delicious! Thanks for your helpful feedback, Olivia. 🙂
Can I replace all purpose flour for all the mentioned flours?
Please check the recipe notes where I write about substitutes.
Sounds amazing! Could I use pumpkin instead of applesauce? Thank you!
Mashed pumpkin should work fine in this recipe. 🙂
Hi! Could I use quinoa flour instead of oat flour and cassava flour instead of rice flour? Thanks 🙂
Hello, I really don’t know. It might work but since I haven’t tried it myself, I cannot say for sure. The result will be definitely different from my recipe. 🙂
I just made this and it’s amazing! So soft and moist the texture is fantastic! I made it in a round cake pan the usual size and it worked great. I didn’t do the icing but to me it didn’t need it. Great comfort food with a cup of tea!
Thank you for having such easy and wonderful recipes!
Sounds amazing! I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe, Cindy. 🙂
Ela, your coffee cake looks utterly delicious! And I just love that streusel on top! Yummy!
Thanks so much, Anna! I hope you will give it a try my dear. 🙂
How can i substitute apple sauce?
Hello, it’s mentioned in the blog post and in the recipe notes. Mashed banana might work. 🙂
Very tasty. Nice and light for an early morning breakfast!
I am glad you loved the recipe, Sabrina! Thanks for your great feedback. 🙂
Me pareció fantástica la receta y las opciones de reemplazo que propones. Sólo que no encontré el café en la receta, voy a probar reemplazando un poco de la leche por café y con una cucharada de café instantáneo en la harina… quedará bien verdad?
Hi Andrea! I already mentioned it in my blog post and I will copy and paste it for you:
“The crumb cake is served in the afternoon or morning with coffee (or tea), however, the cake actually doesn’t contain coffee (even though you can add it).”
Hope this helps. 🙂
Hola, la receta no utiliza café aunque se llame “coffee” cake. Ela solo menciona que la torta es sabrosa comertela en la mañana con un café o en la tarde para merendar. saludos
Gracias, Maria! 💛
Looks amazing! Can I substitute the oats flour with almond flour?
Thanks
I never tried it but I think it should work well! 🙂
Hi Rachna,
Let me know if you try this! Will you sub the rice and oat for the almond?
Thanks and thank you, Ela, Looks incredible!
This looks so good! I want to try it tonight. I think I want to double to feed my family of 7. Do you think an 8×8 pan would work?
Hi Alisa, I think that should be fine! I hope you will enjoy the cake. 🙂