VANILLA VEGAN GLUTEN FREE Cake (Oat Flour only!)

Recipe and Magic by the one and only Britt from The Banana Diaries 

Ok, guys, it's finally here. And! You're going to LOVE it!

The amazing chef, baker Britt has NAILED perhaps the healthiest, fluffiest vegan carrot cake made from homemade oat flour! Technically, because rolled outs are being used, its flourless! 

Behold the only vanilla vegan gluten free cake recipe you’ll ever need! This super light and tender oat flour cake is full of sweet vanilla and baked to have the perfect crumb texture so that everyone will love this cake, vegan or not!. Topped with a super creamy dairy free buttercream, this vanilla oat flour cake is the perfect treat for all occasions! You won’t even know it’s gluten free, eggless, and dairy free!

ESSENTIAL Tips from Britt to create the best cake ever 

As with all of my cake recipes, I love to offer up some extra baking tips to ensure that this cake turns out just as amazing for you each time!! Below are a few of my top recommendations for baking this oat flour cake. I’ve also included a few troubleshooting situations to help you during your baking process.

Do NOT make any substitutions unless otherwise noted.

This means PLEASE do not substitute out the oat flour for this cake. This vegan gluten free cake is designed specifically for oat flour, since my vegan vanilla cake already has the option of using gluten free 1:1 baking flour (Bob’s Red Mill in the blue bag). The ratios of wet to dry ingredients have been altered in this recipe to specifically fit how oat flour bakes, whether homemade or store bought.

Any other substitutions I’ve noted in the recipe card, i.e. using coconut sugar in place of granulated sugar, or using whichever dairy free milk you’d like- please feel free to use those!

Please make sure all your wet ingredients are room temperature.

This is the biggest issue that I see when baking cakes. Not using room temperature ingredients. This is so important, even for gluten free vegan cakes, as drastically different temperatures in the batter will cause gumminess and denseness in the cake.

Use homemade oat flour or store bought oat flour!

Some oat flour cakes recommend just using homemade oat flour, but this vanilla vegan gluten free cake can use both! This is because we’re using gram measurements, which is a much more accurate way to bake. 460 grams of oat flour either way is the same. I will note that homemade oat flour has a more rustic feel (which is what I used in the photos for this recipe). Personally, I LOVE it, and it definitely tastes “oat-ier.” If you want a more classic vegan vanilla cake taste while still using oat flour, choose store bought! I recommend Arrowhead Mills for that.

You can make this cake as a three layer 6″ cake or a two layer 8″ cake

Either will work here! You can even use the batter to make a vegan gluten free sheet cake as well. Please keep in mind that the baking temperatures will be slightly different. If you’re doing a two layer 8″ cake, there will be more batter in the cake pans, yielding a longer baking time.

Make sure your leavening agents (i.e. baking powder + baking soda) are still good to use!

It’s more common than not that when we go to bake a cake (or any baked good), our baking powder and/or baking soda are expired/not good anymore. This is what most often causes the cakes to not fully rise. If you’ve had your baking powder/soda for more than 6 months, or it wasn’t properly stored, definitely be sure to purchase some new before beginning. If you’re unsure as to whether or not your leavening agents are still good to use, you can check out this great article on how to check if your leavening agents still work!

Ingredients

Vegan Vanilla Cake:

• 3/4 cups (200 grams) unsweetened dairy free milk, room temperature
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar (to be mixed with dairy free milk milk)
• 5 1/8 cups (460 grams) gluten-free rolled oats* see note for store bought oat flour measurement
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp arrowroot starch or cornstarch
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup (200 grams) granulated coconut sugar or regular sugar
• 1/2 cup (113 grams) salted vegan butter (I recommend Flora Plant butter), room temperature
• 3/4 cup (190 grams) unsweetened applesauce, room temperature
• 2 tbsp vanilla extract (yes 2 full tablespoons!) or, 1/12 tbsp vanilla extract + 1/2tsp vanilla powder

Vegan Vanilla Buttercream:

• 2 cups (450 grams) vegan butter, softened
• 4 cups organic powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract or 1/2 tsp vanilla powder
• 2–4 tbsp unsweetened dairy free milk
• Vegan food coloring: rose powder, plant-based powders, liquid coloring

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease three 6″ cake pans with cooking oil, and line them with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. Measure out all ingredients before beginning. 
3. Prepare the oat flour: pulse the oats in a high speed blender or food processor until they reach a fine flour. Please see this post on how to make oat flour for all the tips and tricks. 
4. Prepare the vegan buttermilk. Combine the dairy free milk with the apple cider vinegar, and set aside to sit for 5-6 minutes. You can weigh and measure the remaining ingredients during this time. 
5. In a medium bowl, whisk together the oat flour, baking powder, arrowroot starch, and baking soda. Set aside.
6. Make the batter: In a stand mixer with paddle attachment or a large bowl with hand mixer, cream together the vegan butter and sugar until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the sides as needed. Then add in the applesauce and vanilla extract. Mix again on medium speed until combined, scraping down the sides and at the bottom of the bowl as needed. Add in about half of the dry mixture, along with half of the vegan buttermilk, and mix on medium speed until just combined. Add in the remaining dry mixture and vegan buttermilk, and mix on medium speed until there are just no more dry streaks. Make sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl as well as the sides.
7. Bake the cakes: Divide the batter between the three cake pans evenly, and bake for 35 minutes in 6″ cake pans, or until the toothpick comes out clean. 
8. Remove from the oven and allow the cakes to cool in their pans for 10 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely. Once cooled completely (there is absolutely no warmth to the touch!), then you can prepare your buttercream.

Vegan Vanilla Buttercream:

1. When ready to frost the cakes, add vegan butter to a large bowl or stand mixer and cream for 2-3 minutes.
2. Add in 1 cup of powdered sugar at a time, continuing the beat the mixture until it’s a thick buttercream.
3. Add in vanilla and 2-4 tablespoons of dairy free milk as needed, and continue to beat until desired texture.
4. Frost cake and enjoy! Use vegan food coloring, as recommended in the post, to decorate your cakes.

Notes

1. If using store bought oat flour: use the weighted measurement for the oat flour. You’ll need 460 grams of oat flour, which roughly translates to 5 cups oat flour.
2. Refined sugar free: to make this cake refined sugar free, you can use coconut sugar in the cake and make powdered coconut sugar for the buttercream. Please not that the cakes will be caramel in color and in taste, but still delicious!
3. For all cake tips, please read the above blog post!

*We're doing a last minute Organic Vanilla Powder sale! Enjoy 15% off on the site today (discount already applied)