Gluten Free Pumpkin Snack Cake
My easy pumpkin snack cake recipe is soft, moist, and packed with cozy fall flavor. It’s made in a single layer with lightened-up cream cheese frosting, perfect for snacking! I’ll whip up this gluten-free pumpkin cake for Thanksgiving, Halloween, or just because. It’s so easy to make with pantry staples.
This pumpkin snack cake with icing is one of my favorite seasonal recipes. It brings all the cozy fall baking vibes to a weekend afternoon. It’s very easy to make with ingredients I almost always have in the pantry this time of year: Pumpkin, spices, and almond meal and oat flour, since I make it gluten-free. Sweetened with maple syrup, this pumpkin cake is definitely cake, though I did my best to make it more wholesome so I could snack on slices, guilt-free!
About This Easy Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cake Recipe
- A cake made for snacking. I wanted to create a pumpkin cake recipe that doubled as breakfast and dessert. Like a coffee cake or crumb cake, without the extra step of making a streusel.
- Quick and simple. You don’t need funky flour blends, weird substitutes, or specialty ingredients to make this cake. It’s baked in a single layer and cut into squares. All you need is a whisk, bowl, and baking pan.
- Real pumpkin flavors. This gluten-free pumpkin snack cake is soft, moist, and loaded with spice, made with real pumpkin puree in the batter. I also love that the cake is sweetened with coconut sugar and maple syrup, which amps up the fall flavor.
- Easily make it your own. I include my tangy cream cheese icing that I make with Greek yogurt. You can just as easily customize your pumpkin cake with frosting, glaze, or leave it plain with a dusting of sugar.
Ingredients You’ll Need to Bake Your Cake
Like banana bread, the ingredients in this gluten-free pumpkin cake are staples in most pantries. I’ve included notes on the important ingredients here. Scroll down to the printable recipe card for the full amounts and detailed instructions.
- Sugar – I use unrefined coconut sugar for its deep, caramelized flavor. If you don’t have coconut sugar available, regular granulated white sugar or brown sugar is fine to use.
- Flour – You need both oat flour and almond flour for this gluten-free recipe. You can easily make your own oat flour by blitzing old-fashioned oats into a fine flour using a blender or food processor. Make sure the oats you’re using are certified gluten-free.
- Eggs and Milk – Bring these fridge-cold ingredients to room temperature before you make your cake. Room-temperature milk and eggs will blend more smoothly with the other ingredients.
- Vegetable Oil – Choose a neutral oil, like canola or avocado oil. You could use melted butter, but I find that cakes made with oil stay more tender for longer.
- Pumpkin Pie Spice – Pumpkin pie spice is a blend of spices that includes cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves. You’ll find it in most spice aisles, or you can make homemade pumpkin spice.
- Pumpkin Puree – Make sure you’re using pure pumpkin puree, and not pumpkin pie filling! They both come in cans (often from the same brands), so double-check the labels.
- Baking Powder and Salt – Ensure that the baking powder you’re using is certified gluten-free if needed. Also, check the expiration dates on the packaging. If it’s expired, buy fresh baking powder so your cake will rise properly.
Optional Mix-ins
Feel free to customize this pumpkin cake recipe by mixing in chocolate chips, chopped nuts (pecans, walnuts), and dried fruit, like cranberries. You can also make a pumpkin snack cake with streusel, either sprinkled on top or layered inside. The topping from my gluten-free crumb cake would work well here.
Homemade Cream Cheese Frosting
I frost this cake with a lighter version of my favorite homemade cream cheese frosting. While the original recipe calls for butter and powdered sugar, I make this “snacking” version with Greek yogurt and coconut sugar. As a result, this frosting is a bit thinner and more icing-like. To make it, you’ll need:
- Cream Cheese – Full-fat cream cheese will yield a creamier frosting, but you could use light cream cheese if you’d like. Bring the cream cheese to room temperature.
- Greek Yogurt – Plain Greek yogurt, either full-fat or nonfat.
- Vanilla Extract – For the best flavor, pure extract is always the first choice!
- Sugar – I use coconut sugar. Alternatively, you can use a sweetener or classic powdered sugar instead.
Tips for Baking a Perfect Pumpkin Snack Cake
This single-layer pumpkin cake comes together quickly and easily in a 9-inch square pan. You don’t even need a mixer! You’ll find the complete step-by-step instructions in the recipe card. In the meantime, the following are tips to ensure this gluten-free pumpkin snack cake is a success:
- Mix the dry and wet ingredients separately. I’ve seen some one-bowl snack cake recipes that don’t, but I always like to, just in case! Mixing the ingredients separately before combining them into the batter makes it harder to overmix, which can make the cake dense.
- How to tell when it’s done: This pumpkin cake is done baking when a toothpick stuck into the center of the baked cake comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs attached. The cake should be nicely browned and firm to the touch.
- Cool the cake completely before you frost it. This is key. Frosting the cake too soon after baking causes the frosting to melt right off the warm cake.
- Make the cake in advance. I love to make this snack cake in advance and let it sit in the fridge for a day or more. This way, the flavors really come together over the extra time and the cake absorbs some of the moisture from the frosting, giving it a deliciously gooey, finger-licking texture!
- Use homemade pumpkin spice. If you have cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, ground cloves, and allspice already in your spice rack, combine 1 part each to make your own pumpkin pie spice. You can make a big batch to keep in the pantry to use in more fall baking recipes, from pumpkin pie to pumpkin cookies and muffins!
Frequently Asked Questions
The main difference is that a pumpkin snack cake is a bit denser, like pumpkin bread, baked in a square pan. Meanwhile, traditional cake is fluffier and sweeter, like your typical white layer cake.
Sure! To bake the pumpkin cake batter in a cupcake pan or loaf pan, you’ll need to adjust the baking times accordingly. The cake will take longer to bake in a loaf pan, while cupcakes will bake more quickly.
Too much flour will make the cake dry and crumbly, as will overbaking. Use a kitchen scale for accurate measuring, and use a toothpick test to tell when the cake is done baking.
How to Store
- Store at room temperature. This cake will keep for 4-5 days at room temperature when stored in an airtight container.
- Refrigerate. I also love to store this frosted snack cake in the fridge. Let the cake chill, uncovered, for 15 minutes so the frosting can harden a bit. Then, cover it with plastic wrap (or with a lid if it’s in an airtight container). Not only will your cake keep for longer, but I find refrigerating makes the texture and flavor even better!
- Freeze. For best results, freeze the cake before frosting. Cool the cake completely, and wrap it well in a double layer of plastic wrap. Freeze the cake for up to 3 months. Thaw the cake in the fridge and add the frosting before serving.
- Almond Flour: While you can make your own oat flour with gluten free oats, it’s definitely easiest to grab a bag of Bob’s Red Mill almond flour.
- Pumpkin Pie Spice: If you don’t want to make your own, keep a small bottle on hand. McCormick is gluten free.
- Square Cake Pan: I like to bake this in a glass baking dish. Having one with a lid makes it easy to keep in the fridge for snacking all week.
- Bowls: You will need a few bowls for this. I love to keep a stacking set in my cabinet.
More Fall Pumpkin Recipes
Gluten Free Pumpkin Snack Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
- ¾ cup almond flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill)
- 3/4 cup oat flour (old fashioned oats that have been ground to a flour in a food processor or blender, certified gluten-free, if necessary)
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar or Swerve granular erythritol sweetener or brown sugar
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder, certified gluten-free, if necessary
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 3 large eggs at room temperature
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil or avocado oil
- 1/4 cup milk at room temperature
- 1 cup pumpkin puree, (not pumpkin pie filling)
For the frosting:
- 4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature (I used light)
- 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt (I used nonfat)
- 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar or Swerve Confectioners erythritol sweetener or powdered sugar
Instructions
For the cake:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9-inch square pan with cooking spray or mist with oil.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the almond meal and oat flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt until combined.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, milk and pumpkin.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and fold gently to combine.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until slightly browned and firm to the touch.
- Let cool to room temperature.
- Frost with Greek yogurt cream cheese frosting.
For the frosting:
- Combine all of the ingredients in a medium bowl and beat with an electric mixer until thoroughly combined and smooth.
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This looks fantastic, it uses pumpkin, its gluten free – yes yes yes. A recipe i need to try… : )
Many Thanks for a superb recipe
Chris
I love #PumpkinWeek for bringing this recipe into my life!~Carolyn @ Cabot
hahahaha! Me too!
All those todddlerisms seem to stick around for the rest of their lives. In 20 years when you make this cake again the story of the penguins will be told. Thanks not only for a great recipe but also for my first laugh of the day
My Little Dude is a riot. I’m glad I have my blog to record these stories since I was never a journal girl.