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Gluten Free Cranberry Coffee Cake makes a delicious holiday breakfast or dessert. Moist and tender with a nutty crumb topping. Bursting with festive flavors of tart fresh cranberries, orange, and cinnamon. And it is easy to make in your food processor. Enjoy a slice with a cup of coffee or tea!
What inevitably happens every year before Christmas? My tree is up, my house is decorated, and I’ve already purchased and hidden a good portion of the gifts for my Santa-believing boys. The elf is making its way around the house (we keep it simple though, with no crazy elf antics). Christmas music is echoing through the halls.
But, my husband still has to dig out the Christmas lights. I still have to order, and address, and mail Christmas cards. And the wrapping and baking. Oh geez, and I always think I am ahead of the game.
Well, at least I usually prepare ahead to have something stashed away in the freezer for breakfast on Christmas morning.
Sometimes it’s this Gluten Free Cranberry Orange Coffee Cake. This sweet little breakfast cake with bursts of tart pockets is so good I’m amazed it makes it to the freezer before I just sit down with a fork and devour the entire pan.
Gluten Free Cranberry Orange Cake Recipe
This breakfast cake is tender with a perfect crumb, especially considering it is gluten free. The citrus flavor is there but doesn’t hit you over the head. Fresh cranberries instead of sweetened dried cranberries give you those tangy bits that balance the sweetness so nicely. And that crumbly, nutty topping, is slightly buttery and delicious.
And this cranberry orange coffee cake is so easy! You can make this cranberry coffee cake recipe with just a food processor and a bowl. Really, what more could you want in a holiday breakfast?
- Almond flour, oat flour, and coconut flour – certified gluten free versions of each are available. For the oat flour, you can also just place instant or old-fashioned oats (certified gluten free, if needed) in a food processor or blender and pulse until it forms a flour.
- Spices – salt, ground cinnamon, ground ginger
- Light brown sugar
- Melted butter – I recommend unsalted so you can control the amount of salt
- Plain Greek yogurt
- Chopped pecans
- Baking soda
- Baking powder
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Orange zest and juice
- Fresh cranberries
- Powdered sugar – optional for dusting
How to make Gluten Free Cranberry Coffee Cake
Prep: Preheat the oven to 325°F and grease an 8×8-inch baking pan or line with parchment paper.
Make the crumb mixture: Pulse dry topping ingredients in a food processor. Add melted butter and Greek yogurt, and pulse again. Transfer part of this mixture to a bowl and finish the crumb topping in the food procesor.
Mix the batter: To the bowl with the reserved flour mixture, add your additional wet and dry ingredients and stir till it forms a batter. Then fold in the cranberries.
Bake: Pour the batter into a baking pan, top with the crumb mixture, and bake.
Cool and serve: Cool the gluten free cranberry orange cake, dust with powdered sugar, and enjoy!
Can you make it in advance and freeze it?
Yes, this cake is freezer-friendly. Just wrap it tightly with plastic wraps before storing in the freezer for up to two months!
Parchment Paper – while you can just grease your baking pan, I recommend lining it with parchment paper. Then you’ll be able to lift the entire crumb cake out of the pan to cut it into nice slices.
Food Processor – most of the mixing is done in a food processor, so it is super simple.
OXO Dusting Wand – because a sprinkling of powdered sugar is essential for the perfect cranberry coffee cake, I recommend you pick up this dusting wand. This wand gives a light, delicate dusting of powdered sugar over the entire cake to make it look so pretty.
Make it a meal
Complete your gluten free holiday breakfast or brunch with some of these recipes.
- Waldorf Fruit Salad
- Cheesy Cauliflower Hash Browns Casserole
- Apple Cinnamon Yogurt Parfaits
- Potato Broccoli and Cheese Egg Muffins
- Tomato Feta Spinach Frittata
More gluten free coffee cake recipes
More recipe with fresh cranberries
- Sparkling Cranberry Mocktail
- Cranberry Garlic Prime Rib
- Cinnamon Orange Jellied Cranberry Sauce
- Quince, Cranberry and Persimmon Crisps from Pineapple and Coconut
Gluten Free Cranberry Orange Coffee Cake
Ingredients
- 1¼ cups almond flour
- ¼ cup oat flour (just place instant or old-fashioned oats in a food processor and pulse until it forms a flour)
- 3 Tablespoons coconut flour
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon, divided
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger, divided
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
- 3 Tablespoons melted butter, divided
- 2 Tablespoons plain Greek yogurt
- ½ cup chopped pecans
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 Tablespoons orange zest, from about two oranges
- ½ cup orange juice
- 1 cup fresh cranberries
- Powdered sugar
Instructions
- Grease an 8"x8" baking pan or line with parchment paper.
- Preheat oven to 325°F.
- In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together the almond flour, oat flour, coconut flour, salt, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ginger, and brown sugar until combined.
- Add 2 Tablespoons melted butter and Greek yogurt, and and pulse until well combined.
- Transfer this mixture to a large bowl and set aside.
- For the topping, return ½ cup of the flour mixture to the food processor.
- Add the pecans, remaining 1 Tablespoon butter, and additional cinnamon and ginger, and pulse a couple of times to combine and form loose crumbs.
- To the reserved dry mixture, stir in the the baking soda and baking powder.
- Add the eggs, vanilla, orange zest, and orange juice and stir until smooth. Stir in the cranberries.
- Pour batter into the prepared pan.
- Sprinkle the pecan crumb mixture evenly over the top of the batter and press down slightly.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the middle should come out clean.
- Cool the cake completely, and dust with powdered sugar.
- Store the cake, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Brianne,
I’m a fan of using the fresh cranberries too! I’ve got them, I may as well use them (though fresh cranberries in a baked chicken and rice dish is . . . suboptimal and version 2 will have dried cranberries or cherries).
Train of thought . . . thank you for a yummy looking coffeecake!
My favourite Christmas treats are my great-grandmother’s shortbread cookies and her cherry cake.
For the holidays I always enjoy making chocolate and pretzel bark and peanut butter balls. My favorites!
The flavor combo on this sounds amazing! Thank you for sharing with us at Merry Monday!!
Mmmm, peanut butter balls!!
I am always on the lookout for new gluten free goodies. I will definitely be given this recipe a try! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks! It’s so easy and tasty!
Well, now I know what I will be making for my MOPs potluck on Wednesday. I’m so glad I found your recipe at the Inspire Me Monday link party. This sounds delicious and I don’t even have to change it to make it gluten-free! If you’re looking for more gluten-free recipes, all of mine are. Come check out my corner of the blogosphere at http://fearfultofearlessblog.com/
Cinnamon rolls are my favorite… also so many of the other cookies, especially a sugar cookie that had peppermint flavored icing and mini m&m’s as ornaments… ’cause they were in the shape of a pine tree. Which shouldn’t be hard to make with Almond or Coconut flour… I would just have to hope that if I use coconut it doesn’t suck up the icing’s moister.
Will this work with flax eggs?
Thanks!
I have not tested it. Let me know if you try it!
I always make shortbread which I love.
I love to make cherry cheese pie and molasses cookies.
Soft gingersnap cookies!
Mmmmm….your coffee cake looks scrumptious. I love the cranberry-orange combo!
Thanks for posting the great looking g.f. holiday treats! Everything looks so wonderful! Have a great Christmas and keep up the great blog!