Ginger Pear Coffee Cake

This ginger pear coffee cake is made with oat flour, yogurt, cinnamon, ginger and vanilla with a pear filling and buttery oat crumble topping.

A healthier coffee cake with all the flavor and tenderness!

It's perfect for breakfast, brunch, dessert or as a snack. Take it to your next potluck and everyone will be asking for the recipe.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Ingredients

For the streusel:

• Melted butter. This will hold everything together and provide that trademark crumble flavor.
  • You could also use melted coconut oil if that's your thing.
• Rolled oats. If you aren't specifically needing this coffee cake to be gluten free, you can use regular old-fashioned rolled oats.
  • Oats are naturally gluten free, but are often processed in a facility that also processes gluten-containing grains like wheat, so if you want or need it to be GF, grab the oats labeled gluten free.
• Sliced almonds. I like the sliced almonds, but if you have slivered you can use those.
  • Or if you have whole almonds and want to crush them, that'll work too.
  • Or you could try it with crushed walnuts or pecans.
• Brown sugar. I like to use dark and I typically only buy dark because it has such a rich a beautiful flavor, but light brown or even granulated sugar would work.
  • You could also try it with pure maple syrup or honey, too.
• Cinnamon. Ya know the stuff. It's delicious.

For the pear filling:

• A pear. Thinly slice it with the skin still on.
  • It provides texture and fiber, looks pretty and is less prep work. Win, win, win!
• More dark brown sugar. Same tips as outlined in the streusel section!
• More melted butter. Same! You can use melted coconut oil.
• Ginger. This is where the ginger pear gluten free coffee cake comes in to play.
  • It provides that classic ginger flavor and also a bit of spice. Yum!

For the cake mixture:

• Oil. My favorite is avocado or organic canola oil, but whatever neutral vegetable oil you have will work well. You could also swap in plain applesauce for part or all of the oil.
• Dark brown sugar. Same story - any sugar will do!
• Eggs. To hold everything together.
• Vanilla. A little extra splash never hurts.
• Greek yogurt. You can also use sour cream.
  • This provides so much moisture and a great texture to the cake.
• Oat flour. I grabbed the Bob's Red Mill GF oat flour.
  • Same tip as above - if you don't need the cake to be GF, then you can use regular oat flour or grind your own in a food processor (oat flour is just ground up oats).
• Rolled oats. Grab regular oats if you don't need to make the cake GF!
  • But lots of brands make GF rolled oats.
• Flax. This will add some heartiness, nutiness and a dose of omega-3s.
• Ginger and cinnamon. For flava.
• Baking powder and baking soda. Need both to help the cake spread and rise!
• Salt. A bit of salt is added to each component so all of the other flavors POP.

Equipment

• An oven for baking!
• A cutting board and knife to slice the pear.
• Measuring cups (dry and liquid) and spoons.
• A few spoons for scooping.
• A 9-inch square cake pan. You can also use a round cake pan and cut the cake into wedges, if you'd like. You can also use an 8-inch cake pan (square or round), the cooking time will vary slightly (will need to bake longer since it will be thicker).
• Parchment paper. And oven-safe metal clips (optional).
• 4 mixing bowls, 3 medium and 1 large.
• Hand mixer, stand mixer or a whisk.
• Another knife to slice the finished cake.
• Plates and forks for serving!

How to make this gluten free coffee cake

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cut parchment paper to fit inside of the cake pan. Tuck it down in so it fits the pan, then secure the sides with oven-safe metal clips, if you have them.
   • If you don't it's no biggie. Once you pour the batter in, the parchment will stay put.
3. To make the streusel: In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the melted butter, oats, brown sugar, sliced almonds, cinnamon and a pinch of salt.
   • Set this aside.
4. To make the pear mixture: Thinly slice a pear with the skin-in.
   • Discard the pit and stem. In another medium mixing bowl, stir together the brown sugar, melted butter, sliced pear, ginger and a pinch of salt.
5. To make the cake: Use a hand mixer (or a stand mixer with the paddle or whisk attachment or a whisk) to beat together the oil and brown sugar until fluffy.
   • Add one egg at a time until fluffy.
   • Then, beat in the vanilla extract and yogurt until thoroughly mixed.
6. In another bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: oat flour, oats, ground flax seed, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.
   • Slowly add the dry ingredients to the bowl with the yogurt mixture and beat until just incorporated.
   • Don't overmix, as it'll result in an overly dense cake.
7. Now, let's put together the cake!
8. Pour half of the cake batter into the prepared cake pan.
   • Line the pear slices on top of the batter. If there is ginger-butter mixture left in the bowl, scoop it out and spread it on the pear (this stuff is delicious - don't waste it!).
9. Pour the rest of the cake batter on top of the pears, carefully. Spread into an even layer.
10. Coat the top of the cake mixture with the streusel in an even layer.
11. Bake 25-40 minutes. This is a large time range, I know, but every oven is different so I like to play it safe.
    • Start checking on the cake around 20-25 minutes.
    • Once it is set (not jiggly) and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean, remove it from the oven and let it cool.
12. Once mostly cooled, remove the metal clips and grab the edges of the parchment paper and carefully transfer the cake to a cutting board.
    • Use a sharp knife to cut the cake into squares (or wedges if using a round cake pan). Dig in!

Chef's Tips

• You can use a few different cake pans for this ginger pear gluten free coffee cake recipe. I wrote the recipe using a 9-inch square metal cake pan.
• You can also use a 9-inch round metal cake pan.
• You can also use an 8-inch square or round metal cake pan, but the baking time will need to be adjusted; it'll take a few more minutes to cook in the 8-inch cake pan because the cake is thicker.
• I don't really recommend using glass bakeware for cakes because it may result in a crispy browned outside with an uncooked center.
• Save glass bakeware for savory dishes, like lasagna or casseroles!

Baked Good Recipes You'll Love:

• Cinnamon Crunch Zucchini Banana Bread
• Coffee Cake Muffins with Cinnamon Streusel
• Carrot Apple Bread with Walnut Streusel
• Mixed Berry Crumble Muffins
• Dark Chocolate Zucchini Bread
• Pumpkin Muffins with Pistachio Crumble
• Lemon Poppy Seed Zucchini Muffins

Ginger Pear Coffee Cake

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A tender coffee cake made with oat flour and yogurt with an almond cinnamon oat topping and a ginger pear filling.

• Author: Julie Andrews
• Prep Time: 15-20 mins
• Cook Time: 25-40 mins
• Total Time: 40 mins-1 hr
• Yield: Serves 12 1x
• Category: Breakfast, Dessert, Snack
• Method: Baking
• Cuisine: American
• Diet: Vegetarian

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

Crumble Topping:

• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 2 tablespoons rolled oats
• 2 tablespoons slivered almonds
• 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Pinch coarse salt

Pear Filling:

• 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon melted butter
• 1 ripe pear, cored and thinly sliced, skins on
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• Pinch coarse salt

Coffee Cake:

• ⅓ cup oil
• ⅓ cup dark brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• ¾ cup oat flour
• ¾ cup rolled oats
• 2 tablespoons ground flax seed
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt or sour cream

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9-inch square cake pan with parchment paper hanging over the edges. Secure the edges with oven-safe metal clips, if you have them. Coat with cooking spray. Set aside.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the butter, oats, almonds, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt until combined. Set aside.
3. In another medium mixing bowl, stir together the brown sugar, melted butter, sliced pear, ginger and salt until combined.
4. In a third large mixing bowl, use a hand mixer to beat together the oil and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in one egg at a time until fluffy. Beat in the vanilla extract until incorporated. Beat in the yogurt or sour cream until thoroughly mixed.
5. In a fourth medium mixing bowl, whisk together the oat flour, oats, flax seed, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.
6. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl with the Greek yogurt mixture, folding together with a spatula, just until incorporated.
7. Transfer half of the cake mixture into the prepared baking pan. Arrange the glazed pear slices on top of the cake mixture. Pour the remaining cake mixture on top of the pear slices and carefully spread into an even layer. Evenly distribute the crumble topping on the cake mixture.
8. Bake 25-40 minutes or until the cake is just set and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean. Let cool, then lift the cake out of the pan using the parchment paper “handles”. Place on a cutting board and slice into squares. Serve.

Notes

Baking Tip: If you'd like to bake this in an 8-inch cake pan, you can! Simply follow the directions, it will just take a bit longer to bake. Watch carefully!

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 piece
• Calories: 193
• Sugar: 3g
• Sodium: 189mg
• Fat: 11g
• Saturated Fat: 3g
• Unsaturated Fat: 8g
• Trans Fat: 0g
• Carbohydrates: 15g
• Fiber: 1g
• Protein: 5g
• Cholesterol: 40mg