This healthy Banana Snack Cake is a delicious way to use up any overripe bananas you have on hand. It has an unbelievably fluffy texture, without using any flour or oil!
Why You’ll Love It
It’s fruit-sweetened. There’s no added honey or sweeteners required for this banana cake, since the mashed banana provides natural sweetness on their own. (Just make sure you’re using ripe bananas, with lots of black spots on the skin.)
It’s easy to customize. If you don’t have peanut butter on hand, you can use almond butter, cashew butter, or any other nut or seed butter you like. You can also add any mix-ins you like, such as fresh raspberries, blueberries, or some chocolate chips. (The chocolate chips turn this into my kids’ favorite healthy dessert!)
It’s gluten-free. Since this recipe doesn’t call for any flour, it’s naturally gluten-free. It’s also paleo friendly, if you swap the peanut butter for almond butter.
It’s easy to make. All you need is 1 bowl and about 10 minutes of effort to stir this cake together. Since it bakes all in one large dish, it’s quicker than making muffins!
It’s perfect for meal prep. Once you slice this banana cake, you can store the slices in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. It makes a quick snack or breakfast on the go!
Ingredients You’ll Need
The combination of mashed banana, peanut butter, and eggs give this cake its structure, without using flour. The fluffy texture is like magic!
This recipe originally called for baking soda, but over the years I’ve found that baking powder makes the cake rise slightly better. I’ve included notes in the recipe below, if you prefer one over the other.
Feel free to add in any other mix-ins you’d like for extra texture, such as pecans or walnuts, which would pair nicely with the banana flavor. You can also add in dried or fresh fruit!
How to Make Banana Snack Cake
1. Mash the bananas.
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. In a large mixing bowl, add the peeled bananas and mash them will with a fork. They don’t have to become perfectly smooth, but the better you mash them, the more consistent the batter will be later.
2. Mix the batter.
To the large bowl, add in the eggs, peanut butter, vanilla extract, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Stir well, until the batter looks relatively smooth. (It’s okay if there are still some visible chunks of banana.)
Fold in a 1/2 cup of chocolate chips, if you like, or a handful of chopped nuts or dried fruit.
3. Bake.
Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with oil (use spray oil if you prefer). Pour the batter into the prepared pan, then use a spatula to smooth the top, and sprinkle a few extra chocolate chips on top.
Bake until the center feels firm to the touch, about 30 minutes at 350ºF. You can also test the center with a toothpick, to make sure it comes out clean.
4. Enjoy!
Let the banana snack cake cool completely in the pan, then it’s ready to slice. Slice it into 12 to 15 slices, and serve it slightly warm or at room temperature. It is reminiscent of banana bread, only it bakes faster!
Leftover cake slices can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. This cake is quite moist, but it will dry out if you leave it uncovered at room temperature for too long.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, feel free to experiment with other fruit or veggie purees! You can try applesauce for an apple spice flavor, or use pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice for more of a Fall recipe.
This flourless cake releases from the pan easily if you grease it well, but there will be a thin film that sticks to the pan. You can line the pan with parchment paper for easier clean-up, if you prefer, but it’s not 100% necessary with this recipe.
Flourless baking is very tricky when it comes to egg substitutes, so I don’t recommend using flax eggs instead of real eggs. Try my Vegan Banana Bread recipe if you want a gluten-free & vegan option.
If you are looking for a fruit-sweetened birthday cake, this is a great low-sugar option. You can frost it with Date-Sweetened Chocolate Buttercream, Vegan Ganache, Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting, or Coconut Whipped Cream, if you want an easy smash cake idea. You could even use date caramel as a filling!
Yes, if you don’t have the 9-by-13-inch pan, you can use two 8-inch cake pans, instead. In that case, the cakes might bake a little faster, in just 25 minutes or so.
Banana Snack Cake
Ingredients
- 3 large bananas , mashed (about 1 3/4 cup mashed)
- 1 cup peanut butter or almond butter
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3/4 cup chocolate chips (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and grease a 9-by-13-inch pan with oil or cooking spray. In a large bowl, mash the peeled bananas with a fork until they look relatively smooth.
- Add in the nut butter, eggs, vanilla, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt and stir well, creating a slightly lumpy, cake-like batter. Fold in a 1/2 cup of chocolate chips, if using. (Reserve the rest for the top)
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and use a spatula to spread it evenly across the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle the remaining chocolate chips on top, then bake at 350ºF for 30 minutes, or until the center of the cake feels firm to the touch.
- Let the banana cake cool completely in the pan, then slice it into 12 to 15 slices, depending on how large you'd like them to be. The slices can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
If you try this banana snack cake recipe, please leave a comment and star rating below letting me know how you like it.
I just made this, and it tastes good but it’s very soggy. Do I need to bake it longer?
Yes, this shouldn’t be soggy, so I would bake it longer.
Love them
After trying so many failed gluten free recipes, this one was so delicious!!!!
There is no flour in this recipe is this correct?
Yes, that’s correct. It turns out amazingly fluffy, though!
It was good. Much better with the chocolate chips. I used half almond butter and half cashew butter. Thanks for sharing.
Could I cook this in two 8-inch pans? Or should I double the recipe?
I’ve made it in two 9 inch round cake tins before and doubled the recipe – there was a little extra mixture leftover which I baked in muffin cups (maybe about 4 muffins I can’t remember exactly). Not sure if this helps! For the cake I put raspberry jam in between the two layers and topped with a cacao/date/coconut butter frostng – delicious!
Hi Megan, Have you tried freezing this? My three year old loves this recipe we make it all the time (in muffin cups) and I am due with our second in a few weeks so wanting to get some things baked and in the freezer for easy toddler snacking when we are in the hectic newborn phase! Thanks 🙂
Love this recipe! I made it in muffin tins and they came out great! Baked at 350 as in recipe but for only 25 minutes. Put walnuts in instead of chocolate chips as I wanted them for breakfast. Thank you for sharing your recipe!
In your opposition to agave, I came across an article you might want to read:
Why Agave Nectar Is Not Worse Than High-Fructose Corn Syrup
https://explore.globalhealing.com/agave-nectar/
Would this work with one cup BUTTER instead of nut butter?
I want to make this, but the person has nut and seed allergies.
Thank you,
No, butter won’t work the same way because it doesn’t have fiber the way the nut butter does. I’d try my healthy banana muffins, which are nut-free (if you don’t add nuts on top!).
Make this yummy cake every week
Just made this and it’s amazing! I subbed raisins for chocolate chips and it was still good! All these ingredients are always stocked in the kitchen too – very convenient. Both kids loved it🙂
Would it work if I tried making muffins out of this recipe?
I love this recipe so much! It’s super easy and a family favorite. The chocolate chips are the best!
Amazing recipe. So fast and easy. And I never thought you could get a cake-like consistency without using flour, so thank you!
Thank you for the free recipe!
This recipe was such a hit in my house! I’ve been trying out recipes without sugar to have some better options for the family and all 4 picky eaters + a hubby all requested for it to be made again – the batch didn’t last the day!
This recipe was easy, and tasted delicious. I will definitely make it again. I made it with three bananas this time, but thinking it would be good with pumpkin, applesauce, or any other type of fruit you might desire. I’m surprised at the high calorie four 1/15 serving, but I’m not going to worry about that! A nice alternative to a sugary snack.
I received this today in Megan’s meal planner email (which I love receiving). This particular recipe is perfection! I made it with almond butter and unsweetened chocolate chips and it is fluffy and delicious. I expect that it will be in breakfast rotation with different nut butters for quite a while!
I love this recipe as I am lactose intolerant and gluten sensitive. I don’t miss the dairy or the flour and I don’t feel deprived when I eat this cake because it doesn’t taste like anything good is missing. Every time I make this for friends who want ‘healthy’, they are always impressed and always ask for the recipe. I’ve shared this link many times. Thank you for putting in the time to come up with just the right ingredients (I like the baking powder version too). Much appreciated!
This recipe is so delicious and easy!
Delicious recipe and even better the second day…
So good! I only had 1 banana so cut recipe by a third. The batter fit into 4 muffins and I baked just over 15 min. So yummy.
Thank you for yet another great recipe! This cake was moist and chocolatey with a banana flavour. Both kids gobbled this up. And it was so easy to make!
My favorite dessert! I make this often. Wondering if I could make it in an air fryer since I hate turning the oven on during the summer. Any thoughts?
Love this cake – it’s easy to make, healthy and all 3 kids love it. I’ve been making it on the regular.
Super yummy and so easy to make ! I didn’t have chocolate chips so I used walnuts and it was delicious.
Awesome as always. Hard to believe no sugar or flour. My 84 year old father loved it! Thanks for another great recipe!
Hi! I’m vegan, so I used flaxseed “eggs” instead of eggs. But it came out a little gooey on the inside and didn’t rise well. The flavor was still great! I might’ve also had too many bananas. Have you ever tried a vegan version of this?
In my experience, vegan baking requires some sort of flour for structure to replace the eggs. I’d start with my Vegan Banana Bread recipe (which is also oil-free) if you want an already tested option.
Really delish! I only had 2 bananas so I used the metric converter on your recipe to adjust the other ingredients accordingly and it turned out absolutely perfect! Because I had a smaller amount I used a round 8” cake pan.