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A Paleo chestnut flour coffee cake recipe made with chestnut flour and almond flour to create a sweet yet nutty grain-free cake with real coffee cake texture.

Chestnut Flour Coffee Cake on a plate.

This chestnut flour coffee cake is AMAZING. It’s a gluten-free, grain-free, Paleo coffee cake recipe that has a real coffee cake texture. It’s perfect for breakfast, or with a cup of coffee, or as a dessert.

This cake has a crumbly crisp outside and a soft on the inside. It is my favorite coffee cake that I’ve ever made. If you love cinnamon desserts, try my Cinnamon Swirl Paleo Pumpkin Banana Bread or my Cinnamon Maple Roasted Almonds recipes.

What makes this recipe great

  • It is made with chestnut flour, which results in a great cake texture. And which results in a delicious sweet nutty taste.
  • Chestnut flour is used a lot in cakes and crepes in Italy, so it brings a festive Italian feel to your kitchen.
  • It is a fun way to use steamed chestnuts in baking.
  • Its a wonderful way to get coffee cake in your life in a grain-free, gluten-free, dairy-free way.
Paleo coffee cake recipe with chestnut flour.

Ingredients needed:

  • almond flour– Use blanched almond flour here because it has a finer texture. This combines with the almond flour to make a great cake texture.
  • chestnut flour– This is the key ingredient here for taste and texture. I always get mine from nuts.com.
  • nutmeg– you can grind your own or buy it pre-ground.
  • cinnamon– Ceylon cinnamon has a strong great taste.
  • baking soda– this helps the cake rise.
  • vanilla– the flavor of the vanilla compliments the rest of the cake.
  • apple cider vinegar– used to make the baking soda rise.
  • maple syrup– a natural sweetness, which works well in this recipe.
  • eggs– these are used to bind the cake together.
  • coconut oil– you can use melted coconut oil or olive oil.
  • cocoa powder– this helps with flavor and color.
  • steamed chestnuts– this is used in the topping and adds a great taste. You can buy them steamed at Trader Joes or your local grocery store.
Chestnut flour cake out of the oven.

Step by step instructions:

  • Mix the dry ingredients together in one bowl. This includes the almond flour, chestnut flour, nutmeg, cinnamon and baking soda.
  • In another bowl, mix the wet ingredients. Mix the vanilla, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup and eggs together. Then mix in the oil.
  • Mix the wet and try ingredients together.
  • Make the crumb topping out of almond flour, cinnamon, cocoa powder, maple syrup, crushed chestnuts, and coconut oil.
  • Pour the batter into a pan, top in the crumb topping and then bake!

Tips and Tricks

  1. Make sure you have chestnut flour and steamed chestnuts in advance. These tend to be ingredients that most people don’t have in their homes on a regular basis.
  2. You can try to roast your own chestnuts. If you want to do this, try this roasting your own technique from Fool Proof Living.
  3. Make sure to melt your coconut oil before measuring it. You can also use avocado oil or olive oil as well.
Paleo Chestnut Flour Coffee Cake with a bite taken out of it.

Recipe FAQs

Why isn’t there coffee in this coffee cake?

Coffee cake doesn’t have coffee inside of it! It is a cake meant to be eaten with coffee.

Can I use another flour in this recipe?

I haven’t tested it. Alternative flours have a certain absorption, so I wouldn’t be confident to give another option than the flours used here.

What can I use instead of steamed chestnuts?

Pecans!

Chestnut flour coffee cake on a plate with a fork.

Other coffee cake recipes you may enjoy:

Paleo Gluten-free Pumpkin Coffee Cake

Grain-Free Strawberry Coffee Cake

Unique Dairy-free Lemon Poppy Seed Coffee Cake

Paleo Coffee Cake Banana Bread (Gluten-free)

Did you try this recipe? Please leave me a ⭐ review below!

5 from 5 votes

Paleo Chestnut Flour Coffee Cake

Servings: 9
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 25 minutes
Total: 35 minutes
Paleo Chestnut Flour Coffee Cake | Perchance to Cook, www.perchancetocook.com
A yummy cake made with chestnut flour and almond flour to create a sweet yet nutty grain-free cake with real coffee cake texture.

Ingredients 

Chestnut flour coffe cake ingredients:

Crumb topping:

Instructions 

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  • Grease an 8 in x 8 in pan.
  • In a large bowl, mix 1/2 cup almond flour, 3/4 cup chestnut flour, 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, and 1 tsp baking soda.
  • In another bowl, mix 1 tsp vanilla, 1 tsp apple cider vinegar, 1/4 cup maple syrup, and 3 medium eggs until the mixture thickens. Add 2 Tbs of melted coconut oil and mix again. Then pour the dry ingredients into the bowl of wet ingredients and mix. Pour the batter into a greased 8 in x 8 in pan and spread the batter out evenly with a rubber spatula.
  • In another bowl, mix together the crumb topping. Add 1/2 cup almond flour, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, and1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder to a bowl, mix. Add 2 Tbs maple syrup, and 1/4 cup crushed chestnuts to the bowl and mix. Add 1 tsp melted coconut oil and mix. If you have the right crumble consistency, stop here. If not, add another tsp. (I only used one)
  • Pour the crumbles on top of the batter in the pan, making sure to evenly spread them out.
  • Bake everything for 25 minutes, until the edges of the cake look crisp and you can poke a knife into the middle of it and it comes out clean.
  • Serve with a bit of maple syrup sprinkled on top.

Notes

If you don’t have steamed chestnuts, use pecans.

Nutrition

Calories: 241kcalCarbohydrates: 29gProtein: 6gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0.01gCholesterol: 55mgSodium: 149mgPotassium: 74mgFiber: 3gSugar: 13gVitamin A: 93IUVitamin C: 9mgCalcium: 61mgIron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
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28 Comments

  1. This looks fantastic! I have all the ingredients so will get to baking this right away. Have you tried doubling the recipe? I think I could eat a whole one of these all by myself so I wanted to increase the recipe and wondered if it works out.

    1. I haven’t tried doubling the recipe, but I don’t think it would be a problem if you used a bigger pan and maybe cooked it a little bit longer. Let me know how it goes!

  2. I need a recipe for cake with coffee in it so find this misleading.
    Can I substitute dried coffee granules for the cocoa powder? I can’t eat chocolate in any form. Also what size cup would I use or doesn’t it matter as long as I use the same one?

    1. You can use instant coffee instead of cocoa powder, but please know that a “coffee cake” is a cake eaten with coffee. It is traditionally not made with coffee in it. If you research coffee cake there will not be coffee in any of them. Cup refers to a measuring cup used in cooking or baking. 1 cup is usually 8 ounces.

  3. Sorry, I’ve just seen the earlier post about it being a cake for a cup of coffee, not a coffee cake.
    Ooops

  4. Hi, have you tried to do in advance? I’d like to bring it to a game night but I don’t want it to dry by baking it 2 days before. Do you have any tips? Maybe mixing all the dry ingredients together 2 days before and keep it in the fridge?5 stars

    1. I think you could mix all the dry ingredients together and keep it in a tupperware at room temperature. I’ve never tried making it in advance but if I did, I would do that. 🙂 I would also maybe even make the whole thing, and then cover it and refrigerate it over night.

  5. Hi! This sounds so good! Could i swap the almond flour for any other flour? Almond flour is so expensive where i live… would love to hear from you!

  6. This looks perfect for Christmas morning!

    Any suggestions for making it keto (i.e., substituting the maple syrup for some concoction of erythritol in the cake and doing something else creative with the topping) ?

  7. Hi – your link for how to steam chestnuts seems to be mission. Nbd – happy to google, just a heads up. This looks glorious. We have two giant chestnut trees, and I was searching for new ideas as to what to do with the nuts. Thanks!

    1. Hi!! I bought steamed chestnuts in a jar. I’d love to learn how to steam them though. 🙂 I noticed that my link to the steamed chestnuts that I bought was missing, thanks for pointing that out!! I am jealous that you have two chestnut trees, I would LOVE that.