A delicious cake deserves a great title. Unlike normal coffee cake this cake is made with fresh brewed coffee! The coffee cinnamon chocolate chunk cake batter is layered with cinnamon streusel crumb topping. It’s a great fall dessert without bombarding everyone with the typical fall flavors. I’m holding off on the pumpkin & apple recipes…until next week!
Want to know a secret? The cake is actually vegan & gluten-free! I didn’t want to put that in the title because I know some people steer away from alternative baking. I used to be skeptical also, but then I decided it would be a good challenge to conquer. I always get skeptical looks from my family when I tell them something is vegan. How is it vegan? It’s not worth the calories! I want real cake! – All things they say about vegan goods. But it must be good, because they all eat it!
Some important tips to keep the cake fluffy and delicious: don’t overmix the cake batter! It will be too tough, so it’s okay to stop mixing even if there’s some streaks of flour. The second tip is don’t overbake the cake! 20 minutes worked for me, but every oven is different, so I suggest starting at 15 minutes and see what the cake looks like. Originally, I cut the sugar in half, but I don’t recommend it, so I wrote the recipe with the proper amount of sugar. You can cut back if you’re looking to lessen your sugar intake.
You can serve this cake in the same pan you baked it in. No layering or frosting needed. It’s great for transporting and is a quick, no-fuss cake.
I chose to layer the crumbs in-between the cake batter and save some for the top. If you want, you can save all the crumbs for the top of the cake so it’s extra crumby. I’d recommend saving all the crumbs for the top, I’d probably do this next time!
Dark Roast Coffee Cinnamon Chocolate Chunk Coffee Cake

Yield: makes an 8 x 8 inch cake |
Cinnamon, chocolate, coffee cake batter topped with fluffy crumbs. Light, fluffy, no-fuss cake
You'll Need...
- Cake:
- 1 3/4 cup oat flour (or pulse oats in your food processor)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup coffee
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup chocolate chunks
- 1/2 cup pecans
- Crumbs:
- 1 cup almond flour
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup or honey
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Make the cake: Dump all the cake ingredients in a bowl and mix. DO NOT overmix!
- Make the crumbs: Using a fork, mix all crumb ingredients together.
- Line an 8 x 8 inch glass baking pan with parchment paper. Place the cake batter in the pan. Top with crumb topping. Bake 15 - 20 minutes until cake is spongy and few crumbs remain on an inserted toothpick.
Additional Notes
images & text © North Coast Eats
adapted from Feasting on Fruit
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