I didn’t fall in love with all things gingerbread until a few years ago when I made these INCREDIBLE ginger molasses cookies with a chewy, spicy middle and crispy sugar coated edges. After my first bite, I knew that I would be a gingerbread lover for life.
Not to mention those fabulous little gingersnap cookies from Trader Joe’s… have you had them? Dangerous is what they are.
Speaking of my love for gingerbread, today I’m resharing an easy gluten free gingerbread cake recipe that you can’t help but fall in love with! Not only is it made in one bowl, but it’s also gluten free and perfect for Christmas morning brunch or anytime you’re feeling a holiday snack or dessert.
This gingerbread cake recipe is SO MOIST (I know we hate that word) but it’s truly delightful and almost a cross between a cake and a bar. My husband, who really doesn’t even like gingerbread treats, LOVED this cake, and before I knew it had even eaten half of the pan. That’s how you know it’s REAL GOOD.
Ingredients in gluten free gingerbread cake
This easy gingerbread cake is made with simple ingredients you probably already have in your pantry or fridge. Whoo hoo!
- Coconut oil: you’ll need melted coconut oil to give the cake moisture.
- Sweetener: we’re sweetening this gingerbread cake with pure maple syrup and blackstrap molasses for true gingerbread flavor.
- Egg: you’ll need 1 egg in this recipe to help the cake bake up properly.
- Milk: a little milk (I like to use unsweetened almond milk) adds extra moisture.
- Flour: to keep the cake gluten free we’re using a mix of fine blanched almond flour and oat flour.
- Spices: the wonderful mix of ground ginger, cinnamon, allspice, and a little salt are essential to the gingerbread flavor as well!
- Baking staples: you’ll also need baking powder (not baking soda) and vanilla extract. Learn how to make your own vanilla extract here!
- For the frosting: top this gorgeous gingerbread cake with a simple cream cheese frosting made from butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla.
Make this gluten free gingerbread cake your own
What I love about this easy gingerbread cake is that you can truly make it your own based on your preferences! Here are some options:
- Top with a cream cheese frosting. This is how I normally serve it. Sometimes I even add the zest of 1 lemon + 1 tablespoon lemon juice to the frosting for a lemon cream cheese frosting. You could also do an orange cream cheese frosting with the same amounts!
- Add chocolate chips. Skip the frosting and fold in 1/2 cup chocolate chips of choice to the batter! You could do semi-sweet, dark chocolate, white chocolate or even dairy free chocolate chips. YUM.
- Serve with powdered sugar + berries. Top with a dusting of powdered sugar and berries to keep it dairy free.
Can I make it dairy free or vegan?
Feel free to use dairy free butter and dairy free cream cheese to keep the entire cake dairy free. Alternatively, you can use one of the dairy free toppings above!
I haven’t tested this cake using a flax egg in place of the regular egg, but I think it should work well!
How to make your own oat flour
Instead of buying oat flour, you can easily make your own gluten free oat flour by simply placing certified gluten free oats into a blender and blending/pulsing until they’re smooth and resemble flour. This is probably the cheapest option, too! Check out my tutorial with all of my best tips & tricks.
Personally, I LOVE using a mix of both oat flour and almond flour for a chewy, moist crumb in this cake.
Can I use all purpose flour?
Unfortunately, I can’t recommend using all purpose flour in this recipe as I don’t think the cake texture will turn out the same. You’ll need the gluten-free flour blend of almond flour and oat flour!
Tips for making the perfect healthy gingerbread cake
- Use room temp ingredients. Be sure that your egg is at room temperature and your coconut oil is cooled before you mix the wet ingredients together otherwise the cold eggs will coagulate with the hot coconut oil. Simply run your egg under warm water for a few minutes to bring it to room temp. This goes for the cream cheese and butter in the frosting, too, so that you can easily beat it together! Do not microwave the butter or cream cheese or it will ruin the frosting. Simply set out the ingredients before you begin baking your cake and by the time it’s done baking and cooling, they’ll be ready to go!
- Pack your almond flour. That’s right, you’ll want to pack the almond flour just like you would with brown sugar, No need to pack the oat flour.
- Cool the cake. Before adding that fluffy cream cheese frosting, be sure that your cake is completely cooled otherwise the frosting will melt on top.
How to store & freeze gluten free gingerbread cake
- To store: I recommend storing the cake covered in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- To freeze: feel free to freeze this cake either frosted or unfrosted for up to 2 months. I recommend freezing it unfrosted in individual layers for best results. First, wrap each individual layer in plastic wrap, then aluminum foil, and then place the cakes in a zip-top freezer bag or airtight container. When you’re ready to serve it, simply thaw it in the refrigerator overnight and then let the cake come to room temperature before serving.
More gingerbread recipes you’ll love
- Incredible Gingerbread Oatmeal Cream Pies
- Orange Gingerbread Swirl Loaf
- Fluffy Gingerbread Pancakes
- Healthy Gingerbread Muffins
- Grain Free Gingerdoodle Cookies
I hope you love this easy gluten free gingerbread cake! If you make it, please leave a comment below and rate the recipe letting me know how you liked it. I appreciate it! xo.
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
One Bowl Gluten Free Gingerbread Cake
Ingredients
- Wet ingredients
- ¼ cup coconut oil, melted and cool enough to touch (or sub melted butter)
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- ¼ cup blackstrap molasses
- 1 egg, at room temperature (very important)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup unsweetened almond milk (or milk of choice)
- Dry ingredients
- 1 cup oat flour
- 1 cup packed fine blanched almond flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon allspice
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- For the frosting:
- ¼ cup butter or vegan butter, at room temperature
- 4 ounces cream cheese or vegan cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8x8 inch pan with parchment paper and spray with nonstick cooking spray to prevent sticking.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the following ingredients until smooth: coconut oil (making sure it’s melted but cooled enough to touch), pure maple syrup, molasses, egg, vanilla extract and almond milk.
- Next add the dry ingredients to the bowl: oat flour, almond flour, baking powder, ground ginger, cinnamon, allspice and salt. Mix together until batter is smooth and well combined.
- Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth top with a spatula. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until tester comes out clean. Allow cake to completely cool.
- For the frosting: add butter and cream cheese to the bowl of an electric mixer; beat on high until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Next add powdered sugar and vanilla extract and beat on medium speed until well combined. If you like a creamier frosting, feel free to add a tablespoon of milk and mix again.
- Frost cake with an offset spatula, then sprinkle with a little cinnamon to make pretty. Cut into 12 slices and serve.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
This post was originally published on December 19th, 2019, and republished on December 7th, 2023.
112 comments
girl, you are on fire. WANT!
Thanks Dana! New fav right here 🙂
This sounds amazing! Quick question. Do you think all oat flour would work? … sorry if you already mentioned this in the post and I missed it:) Or maybe hazelnut flour? We are almond intolerant… but can have other nuts. Thank you so much and Merry Christmas!
Hazelnut flour will work perfectly but you’ll definitely notice a slight change in flavor. I do recommend blanched hazelnut flour if you can find it. Another option would be pecan flour!
What about any flour that is nut free, my son has peanut and tree nut allergies?
Unfortunately I have only tested the recipe as is so I can’t be positive or suggest other substitutions with confidence that would absolutely work. So sorry! You can try this gingerbread loaf made with whole grain flour!
Looks fantabulous! I know it will change the nutrition, but could I use normal molasses in place of blackstrap molasses?
Yes that will work just fine!
This cake looks absolutely DELICIOUS! Just checked the pantry and I already have all the ingredients stocked. Weekend baking project for sure!
Love it! Enjoy!
I have loved every gingerbread recipe on this site but especially love how moist this one is. I brought it in as a Christmas breakfast treat for my coworkers and they really liked it. I topped it with a cinnamon cream cheese frosting (1/4 cup powdered sugar, 3 oz cream cheese, 1/2 tsp vanilla and 1/4 tsp cinnamon) which totally complimented the cake. Already can’t wait to make it again with the different variations because an unfrosted version with white chocolate chips sounds like it would be excellent.
Love that! Great idea with white chocolate chips – yum.
This looks delicious! I was planning to try it in a muffin tin, any reason that wouldn’t work? Looks like about the same volume as 12 muffins would be. 🙂
Or wait, would this be 24 cupcakes?
You can absolutely do that! They would likely make about 10-12 muffins!
I love the taste and simplicity of this recipe! However mine came out SO thin which is not ideal. Not sure what happened but I would recommend a double batch if you use an 8×8 and want it thick
The same thing happened to me! SO delicious but really thin
That’s so odd! From what I’ve seen everyone’s has come out thick. Did you use fresh baking powder and follow the recipe ingredients exactly? Sorry to hear you had trouble!
Love love love this cake!! I didn’t put any frosting on it and it was scrumptious on its own! The texture and flavor are spot on for the winter months. Thank you from this gluten and dairy free mama.
Perfect! So happy to hear that, Maria 🙂
This is the most delicious thing I’ve baked in years! I made it around the holidays for my family and it was gone within 4 hours. New favorite for sure!!!
So happy to hear that!
This recipe is PERFECTION.Thank you for sharing it.
Absolutely! Glad you loved it!
Question – should the almond milk also be at room temperature? I think you may be missing milk in your notes from the top part of the page where you have your tip to run the egg under warm water
No that should not be too big of an issue, but you can feel free to warm it if you’d like.
Made these yesterday and they’re almost gone. I cannot believe how easy this recipe was and how wonderful it all turned out! I’m wondering, though, that if I decreased the coconut oil by just a bit, they’d stay together a bit more. The cake is so moist that even after 24 minutes, it still feels doughy (but in a good way!) The sweetness level is also perfect – I think adding frosting or chocolate chips for me would have been too sweet — I love it just how it is.
So glad you loved this one! If the cake felt very moist feel free to decrease the coconut oil just a bit.
Any chance this would work with apple sauce instead of coconut oil?
You could try it! I haven’t tested so can’t be certain, but it might work. I would be concerned with it having a gummy texture though.
I added chopped crystallized ginger to the frosting and it is HEAVENLY. So delicious!
That sounds amazing!!
I made this for a Friendsgiving and it was a hit! No one would’ve guessed it’s gluten free – the texture was amazing and the frosting adds the right amount of sweet!
So happy to hear that!
Followed the recipe exactly as written but used dairy butter, milk, and cream cheese, and regular sugar. Everyone loved this. Folks were amazed I was eating it b/c they couldn’t believe it was gluten free. A definite keeper.
Perfect! So happy to hear that!
Hello. This looks lovely and I’m excited to try it. I’ve tried 4 other recipies for ginger cake and most of them were great on day one but the next day were dry 😩 Can you tell me, can I use ground almonds or is that the same as almond flour ? Thanks and fingers crossed my search for a moist cake ends here 🤞😊
This cake is incredible and dare I say it…so moist. The cream cheese icing takes it to the next level too. There’s honestly something about the combo of oat and almond flour that wins every time.
The best combo! Glad you love this one 🙂
LOVED this recipe! I wanted to make a simple, healthy-ish Christmas dessert to have around the house for the two of us, and this fit the bill perfectly. I didn’t make any changes to the cake recipe and it came out perfectly moist and well spiced. I decided to do a greek yogurt frosting instead of cream cheese (just 2/3-3/4 cup plain greek yogurt + 1/2 tsp vanilla paste + 1 tbsp maple syrup) and it’s perfect. Thank you for this recipe Monique!
Perfect! Glad you loved this one!
Delicious! I added candied ginger and it was yuuum!
Love that idea!
Delicious and moist. My whole family loved it! I made mine with oat milk, Kite hill dairy free cream cheese and only 1/2+ cup powdered sugar. The cake is great on its own but the icing makes it fabulous!! Thanks
Perfect! So glad you enjoyed!
This is so moist, fluffy, and delicious! I made it into muffins and skipped the frosting and instead put some dark chocolate chips into some. I will be making this year round it’s that good!
Perfect! So happy to hear that!
I used organic butter in place of the coconut oil and organic whole milk instead of the almond milk. Everything else I did exactly as written. The next time I would warm the milk a little because the cold milk caused the melted butter to clump up. I fear that this caused me to over mix the batter trying to get it smooth. My cake was very flat. The outer edges cooked perfectly; however, the middle seemed under cooked, even with a tooth pick coming out clean. I ended up placing the cake back in the oven. The gingerbread is moist and very flavorful. I like the ingredients. Frosting is not necessary, it was delicious without it.
Hi! Be sure to let the butter cool before mixing it into the other ingredients (just like the coconut oil listed in the ingredients). That will prevent everything from clumping! Let me know if you give it a try and that works out better 🙂
This cake is so moist and delicious! I love that it only has 1/4 maple syrup to sweeten it because it’s so much healthier than normal cakes and make having the second piece less of a guilty pleasure.
Absolutely! Glad you love it!
This looks fantastic! I was wondering if you could make this in mini decorative molds (such as Nordic Ware cakelet pans)? Thanks
I bet that would be AMAZING! I haven’t tried it with this recipe so I’m not sure how long it would take to cook, but just be sure to remove it from the oven when a tester comes out clean 🙂
I don’t know what happened I followed recipe to the letter and it came out a crumble mess. It doesn’t hold together. Frosting bead great.
So sorry to hear that, I’m not sure what could have happened! Did you use store-bought oat flour or make your own? And any chance it was overcooked?
Looks delicious!
What baking time would you recommend to turn this into muffins/cupcakes?
Hi, Hannah! I actually haven’t tried that so I can’t be sure, but just bake them until a tester comes out clean 🙂
So good and very easy to make!
Yay!! Happy you loved it, Christina!
Not my favourite. Texture was too crumbly/mushy.
Sorry you didn’t love it! I haven’t had that happen before. Did you use almond flour (not almond meal)?
The flavor is perfect!! Don’t use a banana to substitute the egg though. I didn’t have applesauce or flax. It didn’t rise at all. It’s still super yummy, just very dense. 🙂
Good to know! Happy it still tastes great 🙂
I absolutely love this gingerbread cake recipe. So easy and delicious!
YAY! So glad you do 🙂 Thanks for the review!
Hello. This looks lovely and I’m excited to try it. I’ve tried 4 other recipies for ginger cake and most of them were great on day one but the next day were dry 😩 Can you tell me, can I use ground almonds or is that the same as almond flour ? Thanks and fingers crossed my search for a moist cake ends here 🤞😊
Hi, Fiona! SO excited for you to try this one 🙂 Nope, you’ll need fine blanched almond flour (I love Bob’s Red Mill) which is really different from almond meal/ground almonds. It has a much finer texture and will create the best texture for the cake.
Thanks very much. I don’t think I can get Red Mill in the UK but I’ll find an alternative. Also you wouldn’t happen to have the weights in grams do you, I’ve never used cups, always weighed my ingredients 🤔
Sorry, I don’t measure in grams! You could try googling an online conversion calculator 🙂
Could all maple syrup be substituted for the molasses?
I wouldn’t recommend it — the molasses is essential to the texture & flavor of this cake, sorry!
love anything with gingerbread spices…yummmm! this looks so good! was just wondering if I could make this sugar free?? I use no added sugar maple syrup or stevia for my baking usually. in regards to the molasses, is there a possible sugar free substitute I could use please?
Sorry, I haven’t tested this with any substitutes so I can’t recommend anything. Let me know if you try any 🙂
Hi! I am wondering if I can substitute GF flour or coconut flour. My husband is highly allergic to oats and my dad is allergic to almonds
Hi! So sorry to say I haven’t tested this without the almond flour. Let me know if you end up trying it with GF flour (I wouldn’t recommend coconut).
This was a yummy little cake, perfect for snacking. I used regular milk. I didn’t have allspice, so I used about 1/4 tsp or more of ground clove. Mine took about half an hour to bake. I used Gramdma’ s brand original molasses. I guess black strap is different. It’s what I had on hand. Mine is lighter in color than the one pictured here- more like brown sugar color. It’s good! Thank you!
Absolutely! So glad you found this recipe 🙂
Lovely! Easy and very tasty. Moist and healthier with oat flour made in the blender!
No need to frost . Perfect sweetness. I added a touch of cardamon..just because.
Very yummy!
So glad you found this recipe and are loving it ❤️
This is delicious! No frosting necessary, though I’m sure it would be tasty. Flavor is amazing, texture is perfectly moist and light. Love it so much!
Glad you love this one! Agreed – the cake itself is so delicious (but I always like to have a little frosting!)
This is so delicious! I subbed applesauce for the oil and it turned out great – super moist and perfectly sweet. I didn’t even add frosting and it was gone in an instant!
Yum sounds amazing! So glad this is a hit 🙂
SO GOOD! I’ve been craving all things gingerbread this winter and this came out perfect. I didn’t make the frosting and don’t feel like it needs it. I actually cut the recipe in half and baked it in a smaller dish and it worked out great.
Perfect! So glad you are enjoying this cake, perfect for the winter 🙂
I think this is the tasty cake I’ve ever had! I didn’t even make the frosting, just dusted a little powdered sugar on top and it was incredible! And the house smelled heavenly while it baked! Tastes just like a (healthier) panelita, one of my favorite Colombian treats from my childhood!
Amazing! So glad you are loving this cake and it turned out amazing for you, Jennifer ❤️
This recipe looks delicious! Is there anyway this recipe can be successfully made with an egg replacer?
Hi! I haven’t tested this recipe using a flax egg but I think it should work well. Let me know if you try it!
Obsessed! So good. I left the sugar out of the frosting and used a bit of maple syrup instead. Kids loved it too. So nutritious and delicious.
Perfect! Glad it was a hit with the kiddos 🙂
These were not good. All you really taste is the molasses. Would not recommend.
Hi! Sorry to hear that this cake didn’t turn out for you. Did you follow the recipe exactly? With all of the other ingredients it shouldn’t have too strong of a molasses taste.
I don’t consider myself a cook or baker but I’ve discovered that I enjoy it. I can follow instructions so I very much appreciate your details, as I learn. I have 3 family members with varying levels of gluten intolerance so my antennas go up when I see GF. I look forward to checking my inbox to see what’s next. Thanks for all the compassion with which you create. Always other first makes a good chef!
So happy you found this recipe and Ambitious Kitchen! Check out our full gluten free category here for even more inspo 🙂
would chickpea flour work in place of oat flour?
I haven’t tested it out so I can’t be 100% sure. Let me know if you try it!
Great flavor- I thought it tasted even better the second day!
Wondering if this recipe could be used for a layer cake? Maybe an 8 inch round pan for each batch?
Agreed! Lots of gluten free baked goods taste even better 1-2 days later because they get a fudgy texture 🙂 Glad you enjoyed! You can absolutely make this in an 8 or 9 inch round pan, but if you’d like multiple layers you’ll have to double the recipe to have enough batter.
I love that this recipe calls for blackstrap molasses because I have some and most recipes don’t. That said, the cake has a more mature flavor and my kiddo wasn’t a huge fan, so I might try it with regular molasses the next time. Also, my cake was kinda stodgy and crumbly and not quite as tall as yours. I’m almost sure it’s because I made my own oat flour and had to use a small food processor for some of it because my vitamix was wet. It wasn’t nearly as fine as I would have liked and I had to run the processor a long time which may have warmed the oats too much. I used the almond flour from Aldi which seems ok, but maybe that was a factor too.
It’s a simple recipe and the frosting is amazing and compliments the slightly bitter molasses really well. Love the ingredients and will probably give it another try some time. This batch will likely just be all mine. Haha
I love using blackstrap molasses, too! This cake is definitely not meant to be *too* sweet as the frosting really takes it to that next level. Let me know if you give it another try with more finely blended oat flour – that could’ve been the culprit for the texture!
So good and easy to make. Thank you!
I doubled the recipe and took this to a party and it was a big hit! Even people who aren’t “cake people” loved it. I didn’t have allspice, so I substituted it with a blend of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Mine needed a bit more time in the oven but that was probably because I doubled the recipe and used a different size pan.
Amazing! Glad everyone loved it 🙂
I’ve been wanting to make this recipe for a while and finally got molasses to make it. It was amazing! Such a hit, people asked take slices home. The sweetness of the cream cheese was perfect. Thanks!!
Amazing! So glad it was a hit!
Can I just use GF flour instead of the oat/almond mix? Thanks!
Hi! I haven’t tested this cake with a 1:1 GF flour so I’m not sure how the texture will come out. Let me know if you give it a try!
I made this and it was beyond delicious! I used vanilla coconut sugar instead of powder sugar, and dairy free cream cheese. Wow – too good!
Perfect! Glad you loved it!
I replaced almond flour with dried almond pulp. I hope that works too!
Let me know how it turned out!