This delicious gingerbread snack cake recipe is warmly spiced and made with a combination of buckwheat and coconut flours. It's lower in sugar, but still sweet enough to please.
If you've been searching for a healthy gingerbread recipe, this is it!
Not only is it gluten-free, it's also lower in sugar than the majority of recipes, which is important for those of us watching our sugar intake.
This recipe employs a combination of coconut and buckwheat flours, making it grain-free as well. (Buckwheat is actually a seed!)
It's moist, well flavored, and just sweet enough to be called cake.
Ingredients and substitutions
- Coconut flour
- Light buckwheat flour - This is superior in taste to the dark-colored buckwheat.
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Sea salt
- Spices - Ginger, cinnamon, cloves
- Stevia - Optional; granulated sugar could be added instead.
- Eggs
- Applesauce
- Milk of your choice
- Oil
- Honey - Maple syrup can substitute.
- Molasses
Recipe steps
First, mix together the dry ingredients.
In a separate bowl, mix the wet ingredients. I use a small two-cup glass pitcher, in which I first measure out the milk, then add everything else to it.
Mix everything together to form a thick batter.
Spread the batter into an oiled 8 x 8 glass baking dish.
Bake 20-30 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.
Recipe notes
Coconut flours vary in absorbency; I use the Bob's Red Mill coconut flour for this recipe.
For best flavor, use a light-colored buckwheat flour or grind your own from raw buckwheat groats.
Don't over bake or the bars will be dry. I've had multiple ovens over the years, and all have yielded different bake times. With my current oven, these are done at about 20 minutes.
Optional frosting
A delicious frosting that really set this cake off nicely.
Mix equal parts Greek yogurt and cream cheese (about 1/3 cup each) with a splash of maple syrup and a few drops of stevia. Beat this all together until fluffy, then spread it over the top of the (cooled) bars.
To avoid cream cheese, you could also try this Greek Yogurt Frosting.
If you're not the biggest gingerbread fan, but like baking with coconut flour, try these Sugar-Free Apple Muffins!
Gingerbread Snack Cake
Ingredients
DRY INGREDIENTS:
- ½ cup coconut flour
- 6 Tablespoons light buckwheat flour
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon dried ginger
- ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon powdered stevia add more if you like it sweeter
WET INGREDIENTS:
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup applesauce
- ½ cup milk of your choice
- ¼ cup coconut oil
- 1 Tablespoon honey
- 2 Tablespoons molasses
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix the dry ingredients together (flours, salt, baking soda, baking powder, spices, and stevia, if using). Eliminate any lumps by using a whisk.
- Mix the wet ingredients in a separate bowl. I actually use a small 2-cup glass pitcher, in which I first measure the milk, then add the rest of the wet ingredients.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry bowl and stir until well combined (batter will be very thick!).
- Spread the batter into a well-oiled 8 x 8 baking dish.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes or until springy to the touch. See Recipe Notes above regarding bake times.
- Cool completely and frost, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
If you have a chance to try this recipe, please leave a star rating and a comment below letting me know how you liked it!
Gina
I made this tonight and it's outstanding. Thank you for offering your recipe. Great combo of coconut flour and buckwheat. Good hit of ginger too. Impressed.
Lauren
Thanks Gina, I'm glad you liked them!
Bethany
These look good!
Suzanne Holt
Wholesome and gingerbread do not often go together. Thanks for developing a recipe that does just that!
Sammi @ Grounded & Surrounded
I am SO excited to make this!!! I know we will all love it ):):) Happy holidays!