Elana's Pantry

New York Times Bestselling author Elana Amsterdam founded Elana’s Pantry, the go-to website for easy, healthy, grain-free, Paleo recipes, in 2006

cinnamon apple cake

Cinnamon Apple Cake

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Cinnamon Apple Cake is a fabulous fall dessert and super easy to make. This paleo cake recipe calls for just 8 ingredients –apples, orange juice, almond butter, eggs, honey, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt. This healthy flourless cake recipe yields a delicious, dense cake that is not overly sweet. Filled with a super spicy cinnamon flavor, my boys and I adore it smothered in my classic Whipped Cream or dairy-free Coconut Whipped Cream.

I love cooking with cinnamon because it is considered a healing super-spice.  Cinnamon can regulate blood sugar and is touted in Ayurveda as fixing numerous ailments. Cinnamon is my go-to spice and I often add it to my morning Protein Shake and Dandelion Coffee.

Print Recipe
Cinnamon Apple Cake
Serves:
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. In a food processor pulse apple, orange juice, and almond butter until well blended
  2. Pulse in honey, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon (yes 2 tablespoons), and salt
  3. Pour batter into a greased 8 x 8 inch baking dish
  4. Bake at 350° for 32 to 36 minutes
  5. Cool and serve with Whipped Cream Frosting

The recipe for this Paleo Cinnamon Apple Cake was inspired by one from Andre Anna. Just a few of the changes I made to the recipe include eliminating the step of pre-cooking the apples, adding quite a bit of cinnamon, and removing the baking powder as it was not necessary to get a good crumb in my flourless cake recipe.

If you enjoyed my paleo Cinnamon Apple Cake recipe, you’ll love these healthy apple recipes!

Comments

  1. Elana, congrats to you on another successful cake. I made it last night and it was “delish”!! However, I did add the applesauce and baking soda, which made it “cake-like”. Also, added raw honey. Couldn’t believe this is made without any flour. I loved it, not being too sweet. Thanks again for your magic.

    Reply

      • Fancy, thanks for your comment! There’s no need for substitutions like baking powder with this cake. What you are describing happens when you use homemade almond butter rather the the product that I use and link to in the ingredients portion of the recipe. If you follow the recipe and use the recommended ingredients your cake will be perfect :-)

        Reply

  3. I am allergic to almonds – can I use something else besides almond butter? I may tolerate cashew butter or peanut butter??

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  9. I made this today and it was amazing! You can’t tell that it has no flour! Thanks Elana!!! All the recipes that I have make from your blog turn out perfect and are super simple =)

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  10. We made this tonight and I thought I’d let everyone know how it turned out because we made some alterations others were asking about. We used 1/2 cup of unsweetened natural applesauce (Motts) in place of an apple and raw honey i place of agave. We used regular table salt decreased to 1/4 t, and we also added 1/4 t baking soda and a dash of nutmeg. It came out AMAZINGLY!! Very cake-like. I don’t think it needs a topping. Great recipe.

    Reply

  11. I substituted zucchini for the apple and baked this last night. I also Torani sugar-free orange syrup for the OJ and substituted stevia green powder (1 1/2 tsp) for the agave syrup and added an extra egg. I REALLY processed it and it was very “liquidy” and frothy (from the eggs) then I folded in the almond butter. I was worried that I had messed up and it was going to be ruined because it was so liquid, but it came out fantastic. With no leavening, but all that frothiness from the eggs, it worked out fine. It has a brownie-like consistency. Thanks, Elana, for the inspiration!

    Reply

  12. oh wow this sounds so yummy and just what I’d love as an afternoon treat unfortunately that’s be a in a few hours and whilst I’m at work, so that won’t happen however, I’m definitely trying this on the weekend sometime!

    Reply

  14. I just made this recipe w/ home made organic apple sauce (our tree was very productive last year). I added orange zest from the orange before squeezing it. The batter was a bit runny so I added coconut flour to thicken it up and put it in muffin tins. The family loves them! Thanks again for your great ideas!

    Reply

  15. I came across this recipe earlier today, and I knew as soon as I saw the picture and read the ingredients that I just had to make it!

    I’m working on reducing/eliminating flour for my family, and this cake looked delicious at first sight! I only made two changes out of necessity: I used Simply Orange Juice since I didn’t have a fresh orange on hand, and I used 1/4 cup sugar since I didn’t have agave nectar on hand.

    This recipe is so simple and so delicious. My 3-year-old can’t stop eating, and I had to force myself to stop! Very good, indeed!!! =)

    Reply

  16. Fabulous. I was reading out possible recipes to try out to my boyfriend and he jumped on this one. I was a little disappointed because I thought it looked dry and a little boring – i was in the mood for your german chocolate cake! But I dutifully made it and YUM!!! I am a convert. SOOO easy to make and really satisfying. I didn’t have oranges and so just used plain water, and I sub’ed runny honey for the agave. I was skeptical about the large amount of cinnamon but it was perfect. My house smelled great too. I served a dollop of plain greek style yogurt on top of mine and boyfriend got honey-egg white frosting. He loved it too – and he eats gluten and sugar and everything. You rock.

    Reply

  17. Thank you, Elana!
    My belly is a little nutty and I’m still learning what I can and cannot eat. I am SO thankful to have found your website! I asked for your cookbook for my birthday and my hubby GOT it! :) Love it. I just made these bars and they are in the oven. My friend is coming over, her 2 little girls have celiac, so cannot wait to send some home with her.

    I love yoga! I am actually a yoga teacher and lover of life and all things simple, like you. I am 39 and live in Indiana with my hubby and daughter. We made your cashew milk ice cream for my birthday this week, too. It’s so yummy. I made it with honey and forgot the salt(woops!) but it was heavenly. For someone who is dairy free (except for goat cheese :)) it was a treat. Thank you, again. You seem like such a PEACH!

    I hope you are doing wonderful today and enjoy this sweet, chilly, pre-Thanksgiving weekend. I am very thankful for YOU! :)

    Love,
    Polly

    Reply

  18. Can’t wait to make this. Your cookbook is my goto birthday/thank you/wedding/whatever gift since I discovered it. I love the simplicity of it. And the results from the recipes!

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  21. i love baking with almond butter! with Trader Joe’s around here, it’s so affordable and easy! and this stayed up on my computer screen from when i received it until just now. i think the whipped cream was calling my name….

    thanks for the delicious dessert treat that satisfies our apple cinnamon cravings for this chilly but delicious season….

    so looking forward to the eggnog recipe that is coming up in the holidays- saw some at the store the other day and will be looking it up soon… coco-nog i’m sure!

    blessings and peace-

    Reply

  22. That is so indulging! I love the icing on the top. It seems to looks like perfect. I do icing too but it is more in a wet look and it is easy to melt. I think I should practice more my frostings.

    Reply

  24. Elana…thank you so much for all of your time and effort that you so graciously offer to all. Your recipes have really been a blessing to me since I have trouble with grains, dairy, and sugar. It has been so nice trying so many of your recipes, many of which my family likes also, and feeling “normal” again. The links you provide have also been so helpful and it is great to find sites where ingredients are much cheaper (and available) than what I find at the stores. Thank you so very, very much! Your caring has blessed so many!

    Reply

  26. Hi Elana,

    Just baked this cake this evening and I was very impressed, it was whipped up in a flash. It def needed the cream, i used a dollop organic sour cream..very yum. Will def make again…love that its grainfree and high in protein…great for nutritional type.

    Cheers Fee

    Reply

  28. I just made this with pumpkin instead of apple, no orange juice (didn’t have any)(substituted milk), sunflower butter instead of almond, and added some coconut cream. Great!! A nice treat, just the right sweetness. Thanks, Elana and AndreAnna, for sharing this recipe!

    Reply

  29. Elana-

    My fiance’s birthday was on Friday, and I offered to make him anything he wanted for dinner. Every single thing he requested was one of your recipes! Here is the menu he chose: mustard lime chicken, roasted broccoli, jelly-donut cupcakes with your peanut butter icing! Of course, I love all of your recipes because I don’t eat gluten, dairy, sugar, or soy, but he can eat anything he wants (and does) and loves all of your creations that I make.

    Thank you so much for providing us with such delicious, nourishing, and simple recipes- you are a true inspiration and cooking genius!

    Reply

  31. Thank you Elana!!!

    We only just discovered your book and I am working my way through each and every recipe! We used a 5 lb bag of almond flour in just one week! We were already gluten free but needed to go on a much healthier purely organic, low sugar diet due to serious health issues. Your book has given me a solution to successfully replace the kids existing high-sugar GF items (we do use alternatives for the Agave). Taking away without having a replacement would have made this impossible! You are a life saver – and in this case I mean it literally.

    Having fun cooking!

    Reply

  32. Wow, that just looks irresistibly delicious! I love how nutrient dense it is too – would make a great, quick breakfast paired with a green smoothie! Can’t wait to try it. :)

    Reply

  34. Love it, Elana! Absolutely my kind of recipe … as soon as I get some almond butter I’ll make this. Or I might make some more pecan butter (a recipe from my friend, Desi, at The Palate Peacemaker) and use that, so I don’t have to wait as long. Sadly, my basic grocery store does not have almond butter or even raw almonds.
    xoxo,
    Shirley

    Reply

    • I subbed apple/pear sauce last night (it’s what I had open in the fridge) and the cake turned out lovely! Be brave.

      Reply

  36. AH! I was just thinking about something like this today. I love apples and cinnamon. I would make this with butter. What a great combination!!

    Reply

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