Gluten-Free Cinnamon Sugar Cake
A lightly sweetened and spiced gluten-free cinnamon sugar cake.
Gluten-Free Cinnamon Sugar Cake
This lovely thing is a simple butter and buttermilk cake kissed with a bit of cinnamon and infused with raw sugar (still sugar, yes, but I like the deeper, more caramally note the raw sugar imparts). It comes together in a flash, perfect for whipping up when you’re short on time. This cake received one of the highest compliments you yearn for when making gluten-free treats: “I can’t even tell this is gluten-free!”
But it is: just a combo of (gluten-free) oat flour, sweet white rice flour, and cornmeal comes together to create a not-too-sweet cake with a lovely firm crumb perfect with morning coffee, afternoon tea, or dressed up with fruit and whipped cream to make an easy and enticing dessert. You can use regular sugar here instead of the raw sugar, although I’m partial to the flavor profile the raw sugar brings. Or, try swapping out half the sugar for honey, a natural pairing with cornmeal.
What You’ll Need
- Oat flour: One of my favorite gluten-free flours, oat flour is wonderful in almost everything
- Cormeal: For lovely nubby texture
- Sweet rice flour: This flour acts as a binder in gluten-free bakes – no need for xanthan gum
- Buttermilk
- Unsalted butter
- Sugar
- Baking powder
- Ground cinnamon
- Pure vanilla extract
Tips for Success
- Bring ingredients to room temperature
- Swap all-purpose flour for the gluten-free flours if you don’t need to eat gluten-free
- See the “Notes” section following the recipe for substitution instructions
- Make dairy-free: Use your favorite non-dairy butter of choice and sub the buttermilk for 1/2 cup non-dairy milk + 2 tsp vinegar
How to Store
This cake is best stored in the fridge in an air-tight container for 3 days. Bring to bring to room temperature to serve.
Gluten-free Cinnamon Sugar Cake
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 ⅓ cups raw sugar or sugar plus two additional teaspoons
- 3 eggs large, at room temperature
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cups/140 g gluten-free oat flour
- ½ cup/60 g sweet white rice flour
- ¼ cup cornmeal finely ground
- 2 ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp fine sea salt
- ⅛ + 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ cup buttermilk at room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375° F. Butter an 8 x 8 square pan.
- In a large bowl using an electric mixer on medium speed, cream the butter and sugar until it is light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract.
- In a medium bowl, sift together the flours, baking powder, salt, and 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon.
- Add the flour mixture and the buttermilk to the butter/etc., in three additions, starting with 1/2 cup of flour and 1/3 of the milk, and ending with the remaining flour. Stir well after each addition.
- Spoon the batter into the cake pan, and smooth the top with a spatula. Sprinkle the 2 additional tablespoons of sugar and the 1 teaspoon cinnamon evenly across the top. Place pan in oven and bake about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool in pan 15 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.
- Cake is best served warm or at room temperature.