This gluten-free walnut yogurt cake is super easy to make with just 10 wholesome ingredients. It’s free from refined sugar, sweetened with pure maple syrup, and can be made dairy-free and vegan.
Growing up my sister made the most delicious yogurt cake that I was obsessed with. She’d make it for me every time I went to her place for a sleepover. The sweet childhood memories might explain why I love yogurt cake so much. But besides that, I love how adding yogurt to the batter yields a rich, moist, and tangy taste and texture.
Even though I try to avoid dairy for the most part, organic plain yogurt and kefir are exceptions that work well for me, since they’re rich in probiotics (aka healthy bacteria that strengthen the gut and immune system). So I’ve made this cake both ways: with regular plain organic yogurt and also a dairy-free version using plant-based yogurt. It works well either way, so you can use whichever you prefer.
The Base:
Instead of refined flour, I used a combination of buckwheat flour and ground walnuts. Buckwheat is a gluten-free seed–unrelated to wheat–and a wonderful source of complete protein. It’s considered a pseudo-grain, similar to quinoa and amaranth, since it’s commonly consumed in the same way as grains. You can make your own buckwheat flour by grinding buckwheat groats in a high-power blender or spice/coffee grinder. You can also purchase it ready-made at most health food stores.
Walnuts yield a rich nutty flavor to the cake. But they also add a whole slew of nutrients such as healthy omega-3 fatty acids, copper, manganese, molybdenum, phosporous, vitamin B6, vitamin E, and folic acid. I like to grind them in a food processor into a fine–but not super fine–powder, to leave some texture in the cake. I usually like to set aside a handful of chopped walnuts to mix into the batter, so you’d be biting into pieces of walnuts as you dive into the cake. If you don’t like that, feel free to grind all the nuts at step 4 (in the recipe instructions below).
To finish it off, I drizzled the cake with a simple 2-ingredient tahini caramel sauce. So good! Can’t wait for you to try this easy and delicious gluten-free walnut yogurt cake! If you’re a fan of simple wholesome cakes, be sure to check out some of my other favorites, like this Gluten-free Plum Cake (my dad’s favorite cake in the whole world!), Orange Spice Olive Oil Cake, or this Banana Walnut Cake with Chocolate Frosting. Enjoy and please leave a comment below or tag me in your photos on Instagram or Facebook @nutriholist #nutriholist if you try any of my recipes. XO
Gluten-free Walnut Yogurt Cake
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds + 3 tablespoons water
- 1 cup plain non-dairy yogurt (or plain organic yogurt)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice (or lime juice)
- 8 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 4 tablespoons non-dairy milk
- 1/4 cup coconut oil melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups walnuts
- 1 cup buckwheat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
Tahini Caramel Sauce:
- 4 tablespoons tahini
- 4 tablespoons pure maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F and line a 7-inch spring-form pan with parchment paper.
- Prepare the chia egg by mixing chia seeds and water. Let it sit for about 10 minutes to gel.
- Add all the wet ingredients in a large bowl and stir to evenly combine. Make sure everything is at room temperature to prevent the coconut oil from solidifying.
- Reserve 1/4 cup walnuts to mix into the batter. Add the remaining 1 and 1/4 cup walnuts to the food processor and run the machine for about 30 seconds until you get finely ground walnuts. Mix in the buckwheat flour and baking powder and pulse for a few seconds to combine.
- Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until you get a thick batter. Fold in the reserved walnuts and pour into the lined spring-form pan. Use some walnuts for topping if desired.
- Bake in the preheated oven for about 45 minutes at convection setting or longer if using a regular oven. The cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Prepare the tahini caramel sauce by stirring the two ingredients in a small bowl. Drizzle all over the cake once it cools down. Enjoy and store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
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