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Cardamom Cranberry Christmas Cake (Grain-free!)

December 18, 2018 (UPDATED: May 16, 2020) by Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship® 10 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission.

Grain- Free Cardamom Christmas Cake - whip it up in just 5 minutes for moist and delicious! Healthy enough for breakfast!
Grain- Free Cardamom Christmas Cake - whip it up in just 5 minutes for moist and delicious! Healthy enough for breakfast!

Breakfast or dessert?

That’s one of my favorite questions for baked goods, and one that isn’t asked nearly enough in the popular culture.

Cardamom cranberry Christmas cake

Healthy Breakfast Treats for School Party

Coffee cake, cinnamon rolls, and mass-produced muffins are automatically delegated to breakfast, when in fact they surely deserve to be dessert based on their sugar percentage. That’s why I was nervous when I saw that my daughter’s 5th-grade class Christmas party was from 8-9:00 a.m. What are they going to eat at that hour?

For most people, the answer would be doughnuts, pastries, and “because it’s a special occasion” the same cookies and candy they would bring to an afternoon party. Sigh.

If I was in charge – and I actually volunteered to do it but only if I didn’t have to work with anyone and serve sugar (“problem parent,” I know!) – I would serve some fresh fruit and this recipe.

Cardamom Cranberry Christmas Cake grain free and delicious

When I ask the question, “Breakfast or dessert?” it’s usually to see if something which is nourishing enough for breakfast – like these apple squares – would also be decadent enough for dessert. This cake fits the bill for both, and it gives you an excuse to buy cranberries when they go on sale after Christmas.

The best part is that it doesn’t even need the cranberries; it’s the almond and cardamom (and, I’ll admit, the chocolate chips) that make it something special.

Cardamom Cranberry Christmas Cake grain free and delicious

The recipe is a spin-off of the black bean brownies from my eBook about beans, made more like a blondie and with festive spices.

If you love cardamom, you could totally double it, and if you’re not a fan, the almond flavoring does a wonderful job on its own. No almond for you? Just add a bit more vanilla and enjoy the cardamom. The cranberries make it pretty, and if you do use them, add some orange zest, lemon zest or lemon juice to, you know, brighten them up. Winking smile

Your kids CAN make their own healthy breakfast!family in the kitchen making breakfast

Join the Kids Cook Real Food Weekend Challenge: Kids Master Breakfast and imagine your kids making breakfast independently! This is a live challenge with prizes and support but pro-filmed video lessons at your own pace. Truly the best of both worlds for busy families, and it starts THIS Saturday!

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Cardamom Cranberry Christmas Cake (Grain-free!)

★★★★★ 5 from 3 reviews
  • Author: Katie Kimball
  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Cook Time: 35 mins
  • Total Time: 45 mins
  • Yield: 16 pcs
  • Category: Dessert
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Description

Super quick to throw together – just use beans leftover from making another meal. Gluten-free, grain-free and healthy enough to serve for breakfast yet decadent enough for a holiday dessert!


Ingredients

  • 1 3/4 c. cooked white beans (navy, Great Northern)
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/2 c. honey or 3/4 c. sucanat
  • 1/4 c. melted butter or coconut oil
  • 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp. almond extract
  • 1/2 tsp. dried, ground cardamom
  • 1/8 tsp. salt (Use the code kitchenstewardship for 15% off of your first purchase)
  • 1 tsp. lemon juice or 1/2 tsp. lemon or orange zest, optional
  • 1/2 c. chocolate chips
  • 1/2 c. fresh cranberries, roughly chopped

Instructions

  1. Grease an 8×8 glass baking dish. Preheat the oven to 350F.
  2. Put everything but the chocolate chips and cranberries into a food processor, and process until absolutely smooth. Do a few extra seconds so rogue bean skins won’t freak people out! 😉
  3. Fold in the chocolate chips and cranberries (or you can sprinkle both on top in the pan).
  4. Pour the batter into the greased pan and bake for 30-40 minutes (less with honey, more with sucanat).
  5. The cake will bounce back in the center and a toothpick or butter knife will come out clean.
  6. Serve warm and store in the refrigerator if keeping more than a day or two; this cake is very moist.

Notes

Cardamom Cranberry Christmas Cake Nutrition Info


Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 square
  • Calories: 119
  • Sugar: 11.6g
  • Sodium: 36g
  • Fat: 5.8g
  • Saturated Fat: 4.3g
  • Carbohydrates: 15g
  • Fiber: 1g
  • Protein: 2.6g
  • Cholesterol: 32mg

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @kidscookrealfood on Instagram

Need a little help getting healthy food on the table every day? Real Plans takes the stress out of meal planning and puts the nourishing food BACK on your table. There’s a plan for every diet type, including GAPS, Paleo, AIP, Whole30, vegetarian and more! You remain totally in control: use your own recipes, accept theirs, and teach the system what your family likes…Check out how powerful it is here!

Cardamom Cranberry Christmas Cake grain free and delicious

The best way to make sure you remember to make this cake – which is so easy it only takes 10 minutes while you’re making dinner – is to link it as a “prep note” in Plan to Eat with another recipe using white beans, like this white sauce that we had over rice last week. You can use prep notes for things like “soak beans” or “thaw meat” but this would be a cool technique too, to remind yourself to make connected recipes that use the same ingredients.

Make it Easier with your Pressure Cooker

I LOVE bean based dishes because a bag of beans is SO incredibly affordable. Gone are the days of having to soak and then boil dried beans, now I rely on my Instant Pot to keep a dish like this quick to make. My no soak method is perfect when you forget to soak them or decide last minute to make this cake.

Click to request access to the Instant Pot Guidebook from Kitchen Stewardship!

Make your Instant Pot work for you!

I won’t tell if your Instant Pot is still in its box, pinky swear. 😉

I left mine abandoned in the basement for almost a YEAR because I have a new-thing-instructions phobia, but now I have TWO Instant Pots and they’re both in constant use!

Turns out it’s so easy, a kid can do it — I’ll send you a quick video of my children unboxing and setting it up when you grab your FREE download mini eBook:

Get the Instant Pot Guidebook for FREE!

What’s in the Guidebook?

You’ll love the simplicity of your Instant Pot, and the free downloadable guidebook will help you:

  • Adapt your own favorite recipes from the slow cooker
  • Cook FROZEN ground beef
  • Hard boil eggs perfectly
  • Cook squash, steam veggies, and make applesauce in your IP
  • Make dry beans in an hour and perfect rice without boiling over
  • Steam veggies al dente and make Paleo cauli rice in minutes
  • Cook a whole chicken and make FAST bone broth

Whether yours is still in the box or you’ve used it a little but want to know more about those techniques, or if you’re still pining for an IP on your wish list, I can’t wait to give you these simple baby steps to success!

Can you Make this Breakfast/Dessert Egg-Free?

I’d been wanting to try “gelatin (use the coupon KS10 for 10% off!) eggs” in something since I read other bloggers successfully using gelatin as an egg substitute. I finally tried it when our 1yo was allergic eggs but also hadn’t had grains or legumes before age 1. Most grain-free baked goods with coconut flour can’t be made with egg substitutes because there are too many eggs involved, but I thought this one might be a likely candidate that Gabe could actually eat.

Unfortunately, I was wrong:

gelatin egg attempt on white bean cake fail

My kids called it bean pudding, and it was actually delicious (Gabe couldn’t get enough) but it was pretty ugly! After cooling, it did “gel” up and could be picked up with your hands, but I’m not sure it was a successful experiment. I used this method of gelatin eggs but might be curious to see if this version that includes heating the gelatin would behave any differently.

I’d say, just make this one:

Grain Free Cardamom Christmas Cake

Share this one with a friend – maybe they’ll make it for you!
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Filed Under: Real Food Recipes Tagged With: beans, cake, Christmas, cranberries, dairy-free, desserts, gluten free, grain free, honey, nut-free

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About Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship®

Katie Kimball, CSME is a trusted educator and author of 8 real food cookbooks. She is passionate about researching natural remedies and making healthy cooking easier for busy families. She’s been featured on media outlets like ABC, NBC and First for Women magazine as well as contributing regularly on the FOX Network.

See more of Katie Kimball, CSME in the Media.

Over the last 10 years, Katie has spoken prolifically at conferences, online summits and podcasts and become a trusted authority and advocate for children’s health.

Busy moms look to this certified educator for honest, in-depth natural product reviews and thorough research. She often partners with health experts and medical practitioners to deliver the most current information to the Kitchen Stewardship® community.

In 2016 she created the #1 bestselling online kids cooking course, Kids Cook Real Food, helping thousands of families around the world learn to cook.

Certified Stress Mastery Educator BadgeA mom of 4 kids from Michigan, she is a Certified Stress Mastery Educator and member of the American Institute of Stress.

See all blog posts by Katie Kimball.

10 Bites of Conversation So Far

  1. Linda says

    January 15, 2019 at 10:14 pm

    I love your blog and recipes! Thanks for making our meals so much healthier and really delicious.

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  2. Cathy says

    December 24, 2018 at 7:40 am

    I made this cake for dessert at a Christmas dinner but added 1 tbsp. of coconut flour to the batter when it looked very thin. Since I haven’t made the recipe as was printed, I can’t be sure, but suspect the added flour gave the cake more “body” or firmness. It was delicious and I am making again for another Christmas event. Thank you for this great recipe!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  3. DeAnn Milly says

    December 20, 2018 at 12:56 pm

    This refined sugar and grain-free recipe has become a favorite! Thank you!

    ★★★★★

    Reply
  4. Laura says

    December 18, 2018 at 2:51 pm

    so when you say cooked beans – I can just use beans out of the can, right? This looks wonderful and is PERFECT for Christmas morning! so excited to try this!

    Reply
    • Laura Snell @ Kitchen Stewardship says

      December 19, 2018 at 11:55 am

      Yes, you can definitely use canned beans for this. Enjoy!

      Reply
  5. Dawn says

    December 21, 2015 at 11:23 am

    If cranberries have been frozen, can they will be soft when thawed out. Di you think they will still work in this recipe?

    Reply
    • Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship says

      December 5, 2018 at 2:28 pm

      Absolutely Dawn, frozen fruit is great in baked goods. I always freeze cranberries and use them throughout the year! 🙂 Katie

      Reply
  6. Susanne says

    December 21, 2015 at 6:45 am

    I didn’t waste a moment in trying this one out last night. The verdict: delicious, with thumbs-up from my family. They declared it a “keeper”, and no one suspected beans in the ingredients.

    Reply
  7. Bethany W says

    December 20, 2015 at 5:52 pm

    Oh my goodness! I cannot wait to try this!!!!! Do you think raisins work in place of the cranberries?

    Reply
    • Katie Kimball @ Kitchen Stewardship says

      December 5, 2018 at 2:29 pm

      For sure, Bethany – you can skip the cranberries or substitute with any dried or fresh fruit, really. Flexible! 🙂 Katie

      Reply

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