This Gluten-Free Vegan Apple Snack Cake is perfectly moist, fragrantly spiced, and packed full of sweet, juicy apples! It's so easy to make, comes together in one bowl and is refined sugar free too.
I've already made a pudding-like apple cake and apple upside down cake and apple bread and apple muffins, but I wanted to make an easy, low-maintenance apple cake. This Apple Snack Cake is great to have on hand to enjoy as a snack with tea or coffee, an easy dessert, or even for breakfast or brunch!
What type of apples should you use for Apple Snack Cake?
- I recommend using eating apples for this recipe, rather than cooking apples.
- The reason why I recommend eating apples for this particular recipe is because they tend to cook faster (which is better since this recipe uses raw apples baked directly into the cake), they contain less water so you won't have any problems of excess water from the apples releasing itself into the cake whilst baking, and eating apples are naturally sweeter so less added sugar is required.
- I recommend peeling the apples before using them.
How to make this recipe
Scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe.
- Mix together all the ingredients in a glass mixing bowl.
Tip: Make sure to use a measuring jug to measure out the exact amount of plant-based milk!
- Transfer the batter into a square baking tin.
Tip: Make sure to line the baking tin with greased baking paper - this will make removing the cake from the tin so much easier!
- Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, or until an inserted skewer comes out clean.
- Leave to cool before slicing.
Substitutions you can make
- You can use any type of oil: coconut oil, olive oil or vegetable oil.
- You can use any type of plant-based milk: almond milk, rice milk, soy milk, cashew milk, oat milk etc.
- You can use any type of liquid sweetener: maple syrup, agave syrup, brown rice syrup, date syrup etc.
- You can replace the ground almonds with ground walnuts.
- For a nut-free version: replace the ground almonds with ground sunflower seeds and use a nut-free plant-based milk.
- You can use plain flour, wholemeal (whole wheat) flour or spelt flour instead of the gluten-free flour if you’re not gluten-free.
- The apple cider vinegar is crucial as the acidity reacts with the alkali bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) - it can be replaced with lemon juice.
Ingredients you can add to the cake batter
- Raisins.
- Chopped dates.
- Chopped dried figs.
- Dried cranberries.
- Chopped walnuts.
Ingredients you can top this cake with before baking
- Chopped pecan nuts.
- Flaked almonds.
Serving suggestions
- You can top the cake with vegan cream cheese frosting.
- You can serve it with vegan vanilla ice cream.
- Or you can serve it with custard! This custard powder is my favourite as it's made with just few simple ingredients and it's vegan, gluten-free and completely free from sugar.
How long does this Apple Snack Cake keep for?
This cake does taste best when fresh, but keeps covered in the fridge for up to a few days.
More vegan desserts
- Coconut Macaroons
- Lemon Bars
- Strawberry Trifle
- Strawberry Shortcake
- Lemon Pudding
- Pumpkin Loaf Cake
- Coffee Cake
- Apple Crumb Cake
- Apple Oatmeal Bars
If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog, I’d really love to hear any feedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo @rhiansrecipes #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you.
Gluten-Free Vegan Apple Snack Cake
Ingredients
- 60 g (¼ cup) coconut oil (or sub olive or vegetable oil)
- 200 ml (â…˜ cup) unsweetened almond milk (or any other plant-based milk)
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar * (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
- 8 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Pinch salt
- 300 g (10.6 oz) apples , peeled, cored and diced (two medium-sized apples)
- 150 g (1 ¼ cup) ground almonds (almond meal) ** (or sub ground walnuts)
- 150 g (1 ¼ cups) gluten-free flour blend (or sub plain flour if not gluten-free)
- 2 heaped teaspoons baking powder (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
- ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit).
- Place the coconut oil in a large bowl and melt over a saucepan of boiling water or in the microwave (skip this step if using any other oil).
- Once melted, add the milk to the same bowl along with the vinegar, maple syrup, vanilla, ginger, cinnamon, salt, diced apples and ground almonds.
- Sift in the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.
- Mix well, adding a tiny splash more milk if it’s looking too dry.
- Transfer the mixture into a square baking tin lined with baking paper (I used a 23cm/9inch square baking tin).
- Bake in the oven for around 20 minutes until risen and an inserted skewer comes out clean.
- Leave to cool before slicing.
- Best when fresh but keeps covered in the fridge for up to a few days.
Notes
Disclosure: This posts contains affiliate links to Amazon. If you purchase any of these products, a small percentage will come to me with no extra cost to you! This income will go towards the running of this blog – thank you.
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