Grain-free White Bean Coffee Cake Recipe
Trust me that this cake is so good! It does NOT look like it has white beans in it, nor does it taste like white beans (which may I remind you taste like nothing.) And lest you think I am a genius coming up with blending white beans to make a high-protein, downright delicious cake, I will come clean and tell you this is nothing that hasn’t already been done about 16,7000,000 times, according to google. Even my idol, Martha Stewart, has made cupcakes with white beans! If it’s good enough for Martha, it’s definitely good enough for moi.
I thought this would be such a different, delicious and healthful cake for your Mother’s Day brunch, and what a conversation-starter! It’s always fun to quiz your family and friends — “Can you guess what the secret ingredient is?” I would never suggest making this for Father’s Day because most dads I know would rather have doughnuts than a cake with nutritional benefits. Moms are different. We’re always looking to have our treats without the guilt!
This cake was a huge hit in my classes last year. I first told everyone to open their minds because this would not resemble a classic coffeecake. Most people that come to my classes are pretty open-minded anyway. In fact a few ladies said, “Ah, of course. Black beans in brownies, white beans in coffeecake.” I agree, it makes perfect sense. But I would never make any dessert or any recipe for that matter just because it’s kind of healthful. Of all things, dessert should be enjoyed, and you will love this cake! It’s very moist, just sweet enough and light. I ate quite a bit of this cake last year and I never felt uncomfortable or sick after eating it. That’s an indication of a pretty clean dessert.
I normally encourage you to make your beans from scratch, but for this recipe it is very important that your beans be nice and creamy soft. So if you want to be on the safe side, just used canned. I love Eden which doesn’t use BPA in its can liners. The one ingredient which might throw you for a loop is the coconut flour, although I do have a great muffin recipe on my site that uses almond flour and coconut flour. At my Whole Foods, you can buy coconut flour from the bulk bins, which is nice if you just need a little bit. Most recipes which use coconut flour only call for small amounts of it because it is so absorbent. Don’t go thinking you can substitute regular grain flours for coconut flour! They are completely different!
If you decide you don’t want to make this coffee cake with the faux streusel topping, just make the cake with your favorite frosting or serve it with fresh fruit and whipped cream or whipped coconut cream. Either way, moms deserve a treat on Mother’s Day, so indulge or do something generous for all the special moms in your life! Happy Mother’s Day!
- Crumble Topping:
- 3 cups walnuts
- 2 Tablespoons coconut oil or butter
- ¼ cup coconut palm sugar or brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (optional)
- 2 cups cooked white beans (make sure they’re soft and not crunchy), such as cannellini or Great Northern, drained and rinsed if canned (cold or at room temperature)
- 6 eggs
- ¾ teaspoon vanilla liquid stevia or plain stevia and add an extra ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ cup melted coconut oil, plus extra for greasing pan
- ⅓ cup honey
- ⅓ cup coconut flour
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 12 x 9 or 13 x 9 baking dish with coconut oil or butter.
- To make the topping, place the walnuts, coconut oil or butter, sugar and cinnamon in the food processor fitted with a metal blade and pulse until combined and the texture resembles a crumb topping. Remove from food processor and set aside.
- In the same food processor (no need to clean it) place the beans, eggs, stevia, vanilla coconut oil and honey and puree until smooth.
- Then add the coconut flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder to the white bean mixture and process until smooth. Pour into the greased pan.
- Spread the topping over the top of the batter and use a fork to swirl into the batter, then pat down to set.
- Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool before serving. Store leftovers in the refrigerator where it will stay good for up to a week.
36 Comments
What could I substitute the stevia for? We don’t use stevia- just more coconut sugar and add vanilla extract? Also, would this taste good without the walnuts? Can I use something else? We have someone with a nut allergy in our household.
I would use 1/2 cup of any sugar instead of the stevia. Keep in mind coconut sugar will make the cake a little darker. Instead of walnuts, you can skip the topping completely or do a different topping altogether from another cake recipe or sprinkle the top with big flakes of coconut for a different texture.
I love this coffee cake, I cook at a hospital and make it for our cafeteria and everyone loves it!!! I’ve made it with chick peas also and it came out great. Thanks for the recipes
That’s great to know it works well with chickpeas, too. Thanks!
Pamela, this recipe is wonderful!! I followed it precisely, only subbing pecans for walnuts and maple syrup for honey (based on what I had on hand), and it tastes just like an incredible pecan/cinnamon roll – minus a sugar crash ☺️ My husband can’t get enough of it either – pretty sure he’s had it for breakfast and dessert the past 3 days. Keeps wonderfully in the fridge, too, which makes it so easy to make in advance. This will be a repeat in our house for sure!
Yes, agree with you re: no sugar crash. All the fiber from the beans really helps balance the sweeteners. Glad you enjoyed it!
LOL! WHITE BEAN COFFEE CAKE RECIPE? At first, I was sure you were talking about White Coffee Beans. But no, exactly as your title indicates, you’re talking about White Beans.
So, just to be clear. We’re not talking about Whole Bean White Coffee. We’re talking about White Beans made into a “Coffee Cake”.
The reason this article caught my eye, is that I have several recipes that call for coffee grounds, but never have I heard of any recipe calling for white coffee grounds.
If by chance you want to know more about “White Coffee”, just search the internet for “Whole Bean White Coffee”.
Thank you for contributing! 20 Soups, Stews, Salads (and Desserts!) You Can Make With White Beans. https://parade.com/1036178/nettiemoore/best-white-bean-recipes/ I appreciate any social shares and comments! Nettie
I think this is the best flourless cake that I have tried! Tasted great and was simple to make. I subbed about 1/2 cup dark brown sugar for the etevia. Thanks!!
Terrific! Thanks for sharing your swap. I know others appreciate knowing different ingredients to use in case.
Made for our Easter breakfast (just my husband and I since this is during the Pandemic). So delicious! I don’t have stevia on hand, so used the conversion chart I found online. Used 3/4 cups of sugar; probably could have then omitted the honey. It’s a bit sweet, but oh so good. Another PS winner recipe!
Nice! I appreciate your info regarding the swap you made. Good to know!
I made this this morning and it was a hit. We needed something quick before soccer tryouts and it was perfect. And, I had all the ingredients in my pantry! I always have random cans of beans in my cabinet “just in case” but I definitely will have a can of white beans in there at all times. Thank you once again!
I mean, canned beans can do no wrong by me!
Yes! They are a savior sometimes.
Would this work as muffins? Thanks!
I don’t see why not. You would need to adjust baking time to be less. Check the muffins after 20 minutes.
This is so good! FYI I substituted Swerve for the sugar.
Good to know Swerve works, thanks! I know a lot of Keto folks are using it.
Looks lovely, Pamela! Thank you for making this available. The bane of any foodistas existence…. the “substitute” question.
I have an egg, oat, flax allergic child, so I am curious about any kitchen testing you’ve done with egg substitutes. It’s got a lot of eggs in it, so I was hopeful you had a kitchen flop or success to share in that department. Will try using chia, as it’s my go-to egg sub these days, but it will be a lot of experimentation. So any tips would be appreciated.
Cheers!
Haha! I’m used to the substitutes questions since I teach classes. I have tried most baking recipes egg-free with success with a flax-egg or chia, but not this one. As you observed, there are a lot of eggs in the cake. I haven’t had a lot of success substituting more than 4 eggs in a recipe. But I haven’t tried it here so who knows. One really interesting egg replacer that you can look into is collagen: http://thecuriouscoconut.com/blog/how-to-use-gelatin-as-a-gut-friendly-egg-replacer
Let me know if you give it a try.
Hi, Pamela. I’m wondering if I can sub almond flour for the coconut flour, due to an allergy. I know I can replace the coconut oil with butter but I am not sure what to do about the flour! Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!
I doubt you can replace the almond flour with coconut flour. Coconut flour is much heavier and needs more eggs. There’s probably a way to combine coconut flour with arrowroot or another starch, but I haven’t tried it. Sorry!
Thank you for your response! I’ll do a little experimenting. 🙂
Can you get a break down, calories,protein,carbs?
Hi Vicky, I don’t do calories counts on my site, but there are so many websites where you plug in the ingredients and it will give you whatever you’re looking for.
Myfitness pal is a great tool to use for calorie, carb, protein etc. If anyone needs nutrition information.
Is there a substitution for the eggs that would work (for us vegan folk)?
I just don’t know, Laurell. Sorry, I haven’t made the cake yet without eggs. If I were to try it egg-free, I would use Ener-g and not try a flax egg.
You can try flax eggs or psyllium husk. GL!
I’ve made this cake three times now! We absolutely love it. The only problem I have is it just doesn’t last long enough 🙂 thank you for the amazing recipe
Haha! We have the same “problem” over here!
This file attached to print is not the recipe, it is more like notes. FYI Thank you for all you do for the health of our family!
How weird! Thank you so much. Fixed now.
I don’t buy Stevia, so would I need to increase the honey? Looks really good!
Mandy, I haven’t tried deviating from the recipe, so I can’t guarantee it will turn out well or not. If you were going to replace the stevia with more honey, you would need to bump up the honey to 1 cup. Please let me know if you try it. Thanks!