This cake was a very pleasant surprise. It was a super healthy vacation recipe we modified from Vanilla and Bean.

It’s loaded with sweet cherries and crunch pecans, really light and delicious. It’s also gluten-free and sugar free.

Ingredients:

2 cups dark sweet cherries (1/4 cup cut in half, 1 3/4 cups cut into quarters)
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest

3/4 cup quick rolled oats
1 cup almond flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt

1 cup pecans, chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Mix all wet ingredients except cherries together

3. Mix dry ingredients together and then add into wet ingredients

4. Fold in 1 3/4 cups of chopped cherries and pecans

5. Add mixture into a greased 8” cake pan and put remaining 1/4 cup cherries on top of cake

6. Bake 35 - 40 minutes of until top is lightly browned and toothpick in center comes out clean

7. Cool for 10 minutes (if you can) and enjoy. We often can’t wait for baked goods to cool before trying them but they are far less crumbly after cooling a little.