Festive Apple Cake
By Hannah Healy
Updated June 12, 2024
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This ‘Healthy Apple Cake (Paleo & Sugar Free)’ post is sponsored by iHerb. I only recommend products that I have personally tried and believe are of value to my readers. All opinions in this post are my own.
This healthy apple cake is slightly sweet, moist and fluffy with hints of cinnamon. It’s the perfect paleo, gluten free and sugar free dessert for holidays or any occasion.
When fall comes around I love making recipes with autumn harvest foods like apples, but I like to stay away from added refined sugar. I thought a light, fluffy and not-too-sweet apple cake would be the perfect recipe for the upcoming season.
This recipe was a hit with my friends and family. They loved the spiced cinnamon and apple flavors and moist texture but enjoyed that it wasn’t too sweet. They could see it as a good breakfast cake with a nice cup of coffee or a great holiday dessert with some whipped coconut cream or ice cream on top!
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I got almost all of my ingredients for this apple cake recipe from iHerb!
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Almost all of the healthy paleo apple cake ingredients that I used for this recipe are available on iHerb…
- Nutiva Organic Coconut Flour
- Barney Butter Blanched Almond Flour
- Lakanto Monk Fruit Sweetener
- Swerve Confectioners Sweetener
- Arm & Hammer Baking Soda
- California Gold Nutrition Virgin Coconut Oil
- Frontier Organic Vanilla Extract
- Earth’s Best Organic Applesauce
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Why I Love This Recipe:
- One of the top reasons why I love this recipe is that it’s just so dang pretty! It’s an impressive looking dessert to share with family and friends. Plus it’s fun to arrange the apples on top in a beautiful design!
- The apples and cinnamon together with the nutty and dynamic flavors of the almond and coconut flour make for a delicious treat. Plus the added applesauce adds a nice moisture to the cake and natural sweetness.
- Even though this recipe is pretty and tasty, it’s actually quite easy to make! You don’t need any advanced baking skills or special equipment to make it.
Healthy Paleo Apple Cake Recipe Tips:
- The combination of almond flour and coconut flour is what helps make the texture of this cake so great. What one flour lacks, the other one makes up for. It’s best not to substitute these flours as it will drastically change the texture. Be sure to use blanched almond flour, not almond meal.
- The apple sauce adds moisture as well as a little extra apple flavor and sweetness. Without the apple sauce you may end up with a more dry or brittle cake.
- I used granulated monk fruit sweetener for this recipe to make it sugar free. You can substitute that for any other granulated sweetener such as coconut sugar, swerve or organic cane sugar.
- The addition of apple cider vinegar helps to make the cake a little more fluffy by reacting with the baking soda.
- The eggs are critical to making this recipe work since they are needed as a binder with the coconut flour. They also make the cake fluffy. It’s best not to substitute them.
- I cannot attest to any other substitutions apart from the ones mentioned above. Any other changes to the original recipe may change the flavor and/or texture and might result in an inedible cake. However, if you do experiment and find substitutions that work well, please comment below to help others who may want to make similar changes.
How to Make this Healthy Apple Cake:
First, preheat the oven to 325°F. Gather your ingredients for the recipe. Click here for a discount on your paleo baking supplies from iHerb.
In a bowl, combine the almond flour, coconut flour, granulated sweetener, sea salt, baking soda and cinnamon and mix together.
Add the eggs, vanilla extract, almond milk, applesauce and apple cider vinegar to the bowl and mix with a stick blender, hand mixer or food processor until smooth. Then add 1 tbsp melted coconut oil while mixing until it’s fully incorporated. Let the mixture sit for a couple minutes to allow the coconut flour to settle and firm up a bit while you cut up the apples.
Cut 2 apples into uniform slices. Grease an 8 inch cake pan with 1 tbsp coconut oil. Pour cake batter into the cake pan.
Arrange the apple slices on top of the cake batter. Sprinkle with cinnamon.
Bake at 325°F for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean.
Let cool before removing from the pan. Sprinkle liberally with swerve confectioners sweetener. Enjoy by itself or with some dairy free ice cream!
Festive Apple Cake
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup blanched almond flour
- 1/2 cup granulated monk fruit sweetener or swerve
- 1/4 cup coconut flour
- dash of sea salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 4 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup almond milk
- 1 tbsp coconut oil + 1 tbsp more for greasing the pan
- 1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
- 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 apples
- 1/4 cup swerve confectioners sweetener (optional- for sprinkling on top)
Instructions
- First, preheat the oven to 325°F. In a bowl, combine the almond flour, coconut flour, granulated sweetener, sea salt, baking soda and cinnamon and mix together.
- Add the eggs, vanilla extract, almond milk, applesauce and apple cider vinegar to the bowl and mix with a stick blender, hand mixer or food processor until smooth. Then add 1 tbsp melted coconut oil while mixing until it's fully incorporated. Let the mixture sit for a couple minutes to allow the coconut flour to settle and firm up a bit while you cut up the apples.
- Cut 2 apples into uniform slices. Grease an 8 inch cake pan with 1 tbsp coconut oil. Pour cake batter into the cake pan.
- Arrange the apple slices on top of the cake batter. Sprinkle with cinnamon.
- Bake at 325°F for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean.
- Let cool before removing from the pan. Sprinkle liberally with swerve confectioners sweetener.
Notes
- Subtract 11g carbs per serving from sugar alcohols to achieve net carbs. This recipe makes a total of 8 slices. Net carbs for one slice is 5.6g.
- The combination of almond flour and coconut flour is what helps make the texture of this cake so great. What one flour lacks, the other one makes up for. It’s best not to substitute these flours as it will drastically change the texture. Be sure to use blanched almond flour, not almond meal.
- The apple sauce adds moisture as well as a little extra apple flavor and sweetness. Without the apple sauce you may end up with a more dry or brittle cake.
- I used granulated monk fruit sweetener for this recipe to make it sugar free. You can substitute that for any other granulated sweetener such as coconut sugar, swerve or organic cane sugar.
- The addition of apple cider vinegar helps to make the cake a little more fluffy by reacting with the baking soda.
- The eggs are critical to making this recipe work since they are needed as a binder with the coconut flour. They also make the cake fluffy. It’s best not to substitute them.
- I cannot attest to any other substitutions apart from the ones mentioned above. Any other changes to the original recipe may change the flavor and/or texture and might result in an inedible cake. However, if you do experiment and find substitutions that work well, please comment below to help others who may want to make similar changes.
Nutrition
