Grain-Free Vegan Crumb Coffee Cakes (NYC Style)

Grain-Free vegan crumb coffee cakes ! Made with chickpea flour and coconut flour, they are delicious, satisfying, and super-simple to prepare in a muffin tin.

I love coffee and I love to feed people delicious food, so early morning events–volunteering, post-run or post-race get-togethers, weekend little league games– are right up my alley. Show up with a few giant thermoses of coffee plus some homemade baked goods and the bliss becomes palpable in minutes.

One of the only stumbling blocks in the way of making this happen more often is that I worry. Not about whether I’m making the right flavor or variety of recipe, but rather whether it is something that (most) everyone can eat, whether they eat dairy, eggs, grain, peanuts, or refined sugar. My occasional need for sleep also gets in the way from time to time.

New-York Crumb Coffee Cakes made Vegan & Grain-Free

So I created a recipe that is sure to thrill one and all, no matter the dietary restrictions. Additionally, it is incredibly fast and easy to prepare. Most importantly, it is gobble-it-up delicious and is phenomenal alongside a strong cup of Joe.

It’s my New York Crumb Coffeecakes, made vegan, grain-free, gluten-free and refined sugar free.

Make the Crumb Topping

Begin by making the topping so that it will be ready for sprinkling as soon as you mix the cake batter.

Use a Combination of Chickpea Flour & Coconut Flour 

I used two of my favorite grain-free flours, chickpea flour and coconut flour, in combination with melted coconut oil, cinnamon and a bit of coconut palm sugar (regular brown sugar will work fine, too). 

Unlike traditional crumb coffeecake, where chilled butter needs to be cut into the flour-sugar mixture, my version is a snap: throw all of the topping ingredients into the food processor and pulse for a few seconds until crumbly.

Make the Batter in a Minute (or Less)

Next up, the cake batter.

Transfer the topping mixture  into a small bowl; there is no need to wash the food processor bowl as you will be adding more of the same ingredients.

Like the topping, my batter could not be easier.

Coconut flour and chickpea flour are gluten- and grain-free, so there is no need to worry about over-mixing the batter (with wheat flour, over-mixing cake batter will lead to tough results). So you can nix the fussy steps of creaming butter and sugar and slowly adding in sifted flour and liquid.

Instead, place all of the batter ingredients into the food processor and process until smooth. That’s it!

Fill & Top the Muffin Cups

Divide the batter between 8 cups of a standard size muffin tin (I like to use muffin liners for these; it saves time on clean-up, but also makes these easier to transport and share once baked). Sprinkle with the prepared topping and in about 20 minutes time, you have these gorgeous crumb cakes, ready to be devoured by one and all.

The cake is tender and moist with a delicate, yellow cake crumb and the crumb topping is everything it should be: crispy, crumbly, brown sugar-y, cinnamon-scented, and utterly crave-worthy.

Not only do these gorgeous cakes live up to their NYC-style, crumb cake moniker, I can attest that they are loved by picky children, grumpy teenagers (yes, I’ve seen them put smiles on both), Texas cowboys (even ones who swear they do not like sweets), marathoners, baseball moms, soccer dads, and everyone in between.

Moreover, no one will ever guess that these are (a) grain- gluten- egg- and dairy-free, and all-around good-for-you-food, as well as (b) that they are so easy to make.

I guess the secret is out!

If you want to gild the lily, try adding some fresh blueberries or raspberries (about 1/2 to 2/3 cup) or 1/4 to 1/3 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips to the cake batter.

Here’s to early morning get-togethers, baked goods, and coffee for all! Please let me know if you give these a try, I would love to hear what you think.

Happy baking!

More Chickpea Flour & Coconut Flour Recipes to Try

Chickpea Flour Breakfast Cookies

Chickpea Flour Pumpkin Cookies

Chocolate Raisin Breakfast Cookies (made with Chickpea flour & Coconut flour)

Vegan Coconut Flour Biscotti