This cozy gluten-free almond flour pumpkin cake has delicious pumpkin flavor, plenty of warm spices, and an easy cinnamon frosting to tie it all together. It’s the perfect fall treat recipe for pumpkin season!
A Cozy Cake For Pumpkin Season!
This almond flour pumpkin cake cake has consistently been one of my most popular fall recipes since it was originally shared in 2019. People have baked it as a Friendsgiving or Thanksgiving dessert, brought it to book club, shared it for birthdays, and tried is as a cozy weekend baking project. There’s just SO much to love about it!
We’ve updated the photos, videos, and baking tips to make it even easier to make. I hope you love it just as much as we do. Happy gluten-free baking! xo, Emily
Gather Your Ingredients
So how do we pack all that cozy fall flavor and fluffy, moist texture into this gluten-free pumpkin cake recipe? Let’s take a look at our ingredients list:
How To Make Almond Flour Pumpkin Cake, Step By Step
As always, you can find the full recipe with ingredient amounts, detailed instructions, and tips in the recipe card below.
- Preheat & Prep. To start, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9×9 square pan with parchment paper. (I like a ceramic pan or glass pan for this cake, since it bakes more gently.)
- Combine Dry Ingredients. In a medium bowl, combine almond flour, arrowroot powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, and salt. Whisk to combine until evenly blended, then set aside.
- Combine Wet Ingredients. In a large bowl, combine pumpkin puree, maple syrup, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Whisk until evenly combined.
- Finish the Batter. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients mixture and stir until the flour mixture is just blended in.
- Bake. Pour cake batter into your prepared pan and smooth the top with an offset spatula. Bake 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean with just a few moist crumbs.
- Cool Cake COMPLETELY. Allow the cake to cool completely to room temperature before you add the frosting. (Otherwise the frosting will melt on the cake!)
- Make Frosting. In a large mixing bowl, combine powdered sugar, softened butter, maple syrup, 1 Tablespoon milk, the cinnamon, and vanilla, along with a small pinch of salt. Beat on low speed with a hand mixer for 30-60 seconds just until the powdered sugar is moistened, then turn the speed up to medium and beat 1-2 minutes until smooth and fluffy. If the frosting seems too stiff to spread easily, add more milk 1 teaspoon at a time. If the frosting seems to loose and isn’t holding its shape, add more powdered sugar 1 Tablespoon at a time, until you reach a smooth, spreadable consistency.
- Frost The Cake. Spread frosting over the cooled cake before cutting into slices & serving. Enjoy cake right away, or store leftovers covered in the fridge 2-3 days.
Prefer a Naturally Sweetened Frosting? Try This!
I can’t say enough great things about our cinnamon frosting, BUT, if you’re paleo, avoiding refined sugar, or simply want a different frosting, you might like one of these naturally-sweetened frosting options. (The cake itself is a pretty healthy pumpkin cake recipe!)
- How to Make Paleo Powdered Sugar (then you can use it in my frosting recipe!) – Primal Palate
- Keto Cream Cheese Frosting – Cassidy’s Craveable Creations
- Creamy Cashew Cream Cheese Frosting – Minimalist Baker
- Maple Pecan Glaze – Detoxinista
- Paleo & Vegan Medjool Date Caramel Sauce – Feasting on Fruit
Or, you can skip the frosting and add some chocolate chips to the cake or serve slices with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of caramel sauce!
FAQ + Tips And Tricks For The Best Almond Flour Pumpkin Cake
CAN I SUBSTITUTE THE ALMOND FLOUR FOR SOMETHING ELSE? Not if you want the same result. Almond flour is not a 1:1 substitute for other gluten-free flours, like 1:1 gluten-free flour, oat flour, or coconut flour. Coconut flour, for instance, absorbs several times its own volume in liquid, so unless you adjust the amounts of flour and/or wet ingredients, it will not work. Swapping coconut flour 1:1 will give you a dry, crumbly, crusty cake. No bueno.
CAN I USE PUMPKIN PIE SPICE INSTEAD? Yes, though I prefer our custom blend. To substitute in pumpkin spice, use 2 1/2 tsp. of pumpkin spice instead of the cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom listed below.
CAN I MAKE THIS CAKE VEGAN? I haven’t tried this gluten-free pumpkin cake recipe without eggs, but I’d LOVE to know how it goes if you try it with flax eggs, additional pumpkin, or a powdered egg replacer! Then, you’d just need to use dairy-free milk and vegan butter (like Earth Balance) in the frosting.
HOW TO MAKE THIS PUMPKIN CAKE PALEO. If you’re strictly paleo, you’ll want to use paleo-approved baking powder (or an additional 1/8 tsp. Baking soda + 1/4 tsp. Cream of Tartar). The rest of the cake is 100% paleo approved! As for the frosting, you’ll want to choose one of the naturally sweetened options in the section above this!
HOW TO STORE YOUR GLUTEN FREE PUMPKIN CAKE. We keep ours covered in the refrigerator, and it’ll last 3-4 days in the fridge. You can also freeze it for about 1 month in a freezer-safe bag.
Did You Make This Recipe?
Tell me all about it! Leave a star rating below when you try our Gluten-Free Almond Flour Pumpkin Cake recipe. I can’t wait to hear how it goes!
Almond Flour Pumpkin Cake with Cinnamon Frosting
Ingredients
FOR THE GLUTEN FREE PUMPKIN CAKE:
- 3/4 cup unsweetened pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
- 3 large eggs
- 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/4 cup oil (avocado oil, canola oil, or vegetable)
- 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp. cardamom
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 2 cups almond flour
- 1/2 cup arrowroot (can sub cornstarch or tapioca starch)
FOR THE CINNAMON FROSTING:
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar (180 grams)
- 2 Tbsp. butter, softened (or vegan butter)
- 2 Tbsp. pure maple syrup
- 1-2 Tbsp. milk I use almond milk–use whatever you drink
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/4-1/2 tsp. vanilla
- pinch salt optional
Instructions
- Preheat & Prep. To start, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9×9 square pan with parchment paper. (I like a ceramic pan or glass pan for this cake, since it bakes more gently.)
- Combine Dry Ingredients. In a medium bowl, combine almond flour, arrowroot powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, and salt. Whisk to combine until evenly blended, then set aside.
- Combine Wet Ingredients. In a large bowl, combine pumpkin puree, maple syrup, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Whisk until evenly combined.
- Finish the Batter. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients mixture and stir until the flour mixture is just blended in.
- Bake. Pour cake batter into your prepared pan and smooth the top with an offset spatula. Bake 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean with just a few moist crumbs.
- Cool Cake COMPLETELY. Allow the cake to cool completely to room temperature before you add the frosting. (Otherwise the frosting will melt on the cake!)
- Make Frosting. In a large mixing bowl, combine powdered sugar, softened butter, maple syrup, 1 Tablespoon milk, the cinnamon, and vanilla, along with a small pinch of salt. Beat on low speed with a hand mixer for 30-60 seconds just until the powdered sugar is moistened, then turn the speed up to medium and beat 1-2 minutes until smooth and fluffy. If the frosting seems too stiff to spread easily, add more milk 1 teaspoon at a time. If the frosting seems to loose and isn't holding its shape, add more powdered sugar 1 Tablespoon at a time, until you reach a smooth, spreadable consistency.
- Frost The Cake. Spread frosting over the cooled cake before cutting into slices & serving. Enjoy cake right away, or store leftovers covered in the fridge 2-3 days.
Notes
- NUTRITION FACTS = CAKE ONLY (since I know many of you will want to make it with a naturally sweetened frosting.)
- CINNAMON FROSTING NUTRITION FACTS. If you’re adding the cinnamon frosting, you’ll add approximately 93 cal + 1.5g fat + 0g protein + 20.5g carbs + 20.2g sugar + 147mg sodium per serving
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition facts are an estimate only and will vary based on brands and amounts used.
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I loved the texture but I thought it could have had more cinnamon and more sweetness.
Would it be possible to add 1/4 cup brown sugar to enrich the flavour?
You could probably get away with it!
I love this cake so much! And the cinnamon frosting pairs perfectly!
I always try to bake something for my daughter in law when we are all having a special dessert. She can’t have dairy or gluten and tries to use little sugar. This filled the bill as a replacement for pumpkin pie for her and she loved it. I made half a batch in a bread loaf pan and it worked great. For the frosting I just used the tum margarine that she uses and needed no milk.I saw some others snitching on it as well with positive comments! Thanks for the great recipe!
I’m so glad it was a hit! (And WAY TO GO!)
This cake is fantastic! My husband can’t believe how much it is like ‘real’ cake (aka cake with wheat flour.) This is a keeper!
Oh, good!!! I’m so glad you loved it! Thank you for taking the time to leave a review–I appreciate it so much!
I made this for my bf’s 40th b-day. He loved it! My only concern is that it tastes more like a spice cake than a Pumpkin cake. How would I be able to incorporate more pumpkin flavor? 🤔 Also, I would like to add walnuts but not sure how much. Any recommendations would help. Thank you!
Veronica – You could certainly reduce the spices if you want the pumpkin flavor to shine through more. And I think you could easily fold in some walnuts. I think 1/2-3/4 cup would be plenty!