I love making special and fun breakfast recipes during the holiday season and this cranberry orange coffee cake hits every mark! It’s easy to make (mixed in 1 bowl), perfectly balanced sweetness with the tart cranberries, has a soft and tender crumb (even though it’s 100% gluten-free), and is overall stunning to look at with the pop of red fruit throughout it! You can make it in advance too saving you time in the morning to relax a bit more.
Gluten Free Cranberry Orange Coffee Cake with Dates
If you love a nice piece of coffee cake with a hot cup of coffee or cozy hot cocoa, this fruity breakfast cake has to go on your list to try!
It is made with a flour mixture of oat flour, almond flour, and coconut flour that leaves you with a tender cake with a really yummy flavor.
It has a nice texture and is topped with one of my favorite things – a crumbly streusel topping that makes it EXTRA.
A little fresh orange juice and orange zest bring out the orange flavor. The orange adds to the fresh and fruity flavor you’ll find in every bite!
Studded with cranberries and bits of sweet dates, this moist cake is perfect for Christmas brunch!
Why you’ll love this easy Christmas morning breakfast recipe
One bowl recipe – Fewer bowls mean fewer dishes and less work for you! When possible, I love mixing my wet ingredients together in 1 bowl, and then adding all of the dry ingredients on top. You’ll gently mix the dry ingredients together (to combine the baking powder with the flour), and then mix everything fully together. This is an easy way to mix well, without having to dirty extra bowls.
Naturally gluten free – Instead of using 1:1 gluten-free all-purpose flour mixes, I love picking and choosing different naturally gluten-free flours to use in baked goods. The combination of oat flour, almond flour, and coconut flour makes the best coffee cake! It’s soft and really flavorful. All 3 of these flours are also easy to find at a regular grocery store. Plus you can make your own oat flour at home!
Holiday flavors – After Thanksgiving you may find yourself with an abundance of fresh cranberries to use up and this is the perfect recipe to help with that! Cranberries feel so festive and are a great addition to this holiday breakfast treat.
What you need for orange cranberry coffee cake
Scroll down to view the recipe card below for the full ingredients list, nutrition facts, and step-by-step instructions.
- eggs
- unsweetened almond milk
- orange juice
- unsalted butter, melted
- vanilla extract
- oat flour
- almond flour
- coconut flour
- natural cane sugar
- baking powder
- sea salt
- fresh orange zest
- fresh cranberries
- medjool dates
Streusel Topping Ingredients
- unsalted butter
- vanilla extract
- oat flour
- rolled oats
- natural cane sugar
How to make gluten free cranberry orange cake
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and lightly oil a square pan. I also like to cover the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.
Step 2: In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, almond milk, orange juice, melted butter, and vanilla extract until fully mixed. Add in the oat flour, almond flour, coconut flour, sugar, baking powder, and sea salt and gently mix the dry ingredients together before combining fully with the wet ingredients – it’s okay if it looks slightly lumpy.
Step 3: Stir in the orange zest, cranberries, and chopped dates and pour the cake batter into the prepared pan.
Step 4: To make the streusel topping combine the softened butter, vanilla extract, oat flour, rolled oats, and sugar in a small bowl and mix with a fork or pastry cutter until it looks crumbly. Spread it evenly on top of the batter.
Step 5: Bake for 40-45 minutes. Test with a toothpick for doneness. You want a slightly moist toothpick. Not gooey but not bone dry. The edge should be light golden brown, and the cake will spring back when you press on it lightly. Let the cake cool fully before cutting into it – enjoy!
Serving suggestion
Make a breakfast feast by pairing your coffee cake with lots of other healthy options, including some good protein to keep your bellies full and satisfied for longer. Try these high protein breakfast favorites to round out the meal:
- Smoked salmon breakfast casserole
- Spinach feta egg muffins
- Homemade country breakfast sausage
- Canadian bacon egg cups
- Spinach feta egg white bake
How to store
Coffee cake stores great at room temperature. Once fully cooled, add to an airtight container and keep it stored for up to 5 days on the counter, or 7 days in the fridge.
Substitutions, optional variations & dietary adjustments
Below you’ll find a list of substitutions that will work well in this delicious coffee cake recipe.
If you try something different out, please leave a comment below letting us all know how it turned out!
Eggs – Eggs are crucial in the success of this coffee cake recipe. Because we are not using any wheat flour with a gluten structure, the eggs help stabilize this cake. I would not suggest using a flax egg or egg substitute.
Unsweetened almond milk – Any type of milk will work here, including regular milk.
Orange juice – For a different flavor profile, try mango juice here! If you don’t have any juice available, you can swap in unsweetened apple sauce in its place.
Butter – You can swap the butter for melted coconut oil or avocado oil. Both work great!
Oat flour – Oat flour substitutes include an all-purpose gluten-free flour mix, regular flour, or whole wheat flour.
Almond flour – Brown rice flour works well in place of almond flour to make this a nut-free cake.
Coconut flour – While there is no 1:1 substitute for coconut flour, you can swap in and use almond flour, however, you’ll want to increase the quality from 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup.
Natural cane sugar – Coconut sugar is a good alternative, as is plain white sugar. For the crumb topping, feel free to use coarse sugar for a nice crunchy top!
Fresh cranberries – If you have leftover homemade cranberry sauce from Thanksgiving, feel free to use that in place of the fresh cranberries in this recipe! You can also use different berries like blueberries, raspberries, or chopped strawberries.
Dates – You can use Medjool dates or any kind of dates here. Other great fruits include raisins, dried apricots, and dried figs!
More healthy cake recipes recipes you’ll love
- Gluten free blueberry coffee cake
- Spinach pistachio cake
- No sugar banana cake
- Chocolate black bean cake
Gluten Free Cranberry Orange Coffee Cake with Dates
Ingredients
- 3 eggs
- 3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter melted
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup oat flour
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1/4 cup coconut flour
- 3/4 cup natural cane sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tbsp fresh orange zest
- 1 cup fresh cranberries
- 1/2 cup medjool dates pitted and chopped
Streusel Topping Ingredients
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup oat flour
- 1/4 cup oat flour
- 2 tbsp natural cane sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and lightly oil a square pan. I also like to cover the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, almond milk, orange juice, melted butter, and vanilla extract until fully mixed. Add in the oat flour, almond flour, coconut flour, sugar, baking powder, and sea salt and gently mix the dry ingredients together before combining fully with the wet ingredients – it’s okay if it looks slightly lumpy.
- Stir in the orange zest, cranberries, and chopped dates and pour the cake batter into the prepared pan.
- To make the streusel topping combine the softened butter, vanilla extract, oat flour, rolled oats, and sugar in a small bowl and mix with a fork or pastry cutter until it looks crumbly. Spread it evenly on top of the batter.
- Bake for 43-46 minutes. Test with a toothpick for doneness. You want a slightly moist toothpick. Not gooey but not bone dry. The edge should be light golden brown, and the cake will spring back when you press on it lightly. Let the cake cool fully before cutting into it – enjoy!
Nutrition
If you try this healthy cranberry orange date coffee cake recipe, I’d love it if you left a star rating and comment below letting me know how it turned out!
XO
Heather
2 comments
Easy and good!
Awesome, glad you loved it Mark!