This healthy pumpkin spice chocolate chip oat flour cake is a feast for the senses! Dense, gooey, and almost fudgy in texture, toeing the line between a brownie and a cake, this is one of my favourite autumn desserts.

a stack of three slices of the cake

Hope you had a good week! All in all, it’s been a nice, quiet week around here. Monday-Wednesday are the days that I commit to the not-so-joyous university work, and Thursday and Friday are my creative days, when I do recipe development, photography, and writing! I was on a roll today, let me tell you. Creativity can be elusive, so I am realizing that when it appears, I must seize upon it before it fizzles out for another indefinite period of time. I developed a lentil sweet potato shepherd’s pie, vegan eggnog smoothie bowl, savoury pumpkin rosemary spelt flour biscuits, and apple carrot oat flour breakfast cookies. And yesterday, my dad tweaked my vegan maple vanilla cupcakes and created a pumpkin spice variation for you all, which I was able to photograph this afternoon. In other words, there are many cozy recipes coming to a food blog near you.

This pumpkin oat flour cake is my new favourite dessert. It’s dense and almost fudgy in texture, nice and sweet without being over the top, and oil-free, since almond butter and pumpkin add lots of moisture and richness. It’s also gluten-free and very easy to make, to say nothing of how delicious your kitchen will smell as it’s baking. It’s lovely warm, when the chocolate chips are still melty, with a scoop of ice cream, but I actually prefer it after it’s been refrigerated for a few hours! Try it!

INGREDIENTS YOU’LL NEED

Ground flax, water, almond butter, pumpkin puree, coconut sugar, maple syrup, non-dairy milk, vanilla extract, oat flour, baking powder, baking soda, fine sea salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cardamom, allspice, cloves, and chocolate chips.

STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a 8×8-inch square baking dish with parchment paper, with enough overhang to allow you to lift the cake out easily, or lightly grease the pan.
In a large bowl, mix together the flax and water. Wait a couple of minutes for it to thicken, then add the almond butter, pumpkin puree, coconut sugar, maple syrup, non-dairy milk, and vanilla. Whisk to combine.
In a medium bowl, stir together the oat flour, baking powder, baking soda, fine sea salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cardamom, allspice, and cloves.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Stir to incorporate, then mix in the chocolate chips.
Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake for 30-32 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
Let the cake cool in the pan for at least 30 minutes, then lift out and place on a wire rack to cool completely before slicing. If you can’t wait that long, go ahead and enjoy a slice sooner, though! Just note that it will firm up quite a bit once it’s cooled.
Store cake in an airtight container at room temperature or in the fridge. I like the texture it takes on when stored in the fridge.

an overhead shot of a slice of cake on a white plate with an iced pumpkin spice latte alongside

A FEW THINGS TO CONSIDER:

If you’re not used to baking with oat flour, allow me to give you a heads-up that the texture of this cake is more dense and toothsome than a cake made with wheat flour. I love the texture, and so has everyone I’ve served this cake to, but I owe it to you to inform you of this fact beforehand! If you’re looking for a lighter/fluffier cake, you could probably replace the oat flour with either light spelt flour or a combination of whole spelt and all purpose flours. Or, to keep it gluten-free, you could try all-purpose gluten-free baking flour, such as the one by Bob’s Red Mill.
You can use peanut butter or cashew butter in place of the almond butter, but I really like the combination of almond butter and pumpkin.
For double the pumpkin fun, make this iced pumpkin spice latte to go with! In a blender, combine the following: ½ cup chilled coffee, 1 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk, 2 tablespoon pumpkin puree, 2-3 teaspoon maple syrup or raw honey, ¼ teaspoon cinnamon, a pinch of nutmeg, pinch of cloves, pinch of cardamom, pinch of allspice, and ⅛ teaspoon of ground ginger. Blend until smooth, then pour into a glass partially filled with ice! It’s soooo good. 🙂

straight on shot of a stack of three slices of the cake on a wooden board

MORE PUMPKIN DESSERTS

Well, I hope that you love this pumpkin spice chocolate chip oat flour cake! If you make it, let me know how you enjoyed it by leaving a comment and rating below this post! And if you share a photo to Instagram, tag @upbeet.kitchen and #upbeetkitchen so that I can see!

Enjoy!