Vegan Banana Cake

Name: Vegan Banana Cake
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 3 large overripe bananas; 1½ cup vegan buttermilk (1 ½ cup Almond milk + 2 tablespoons lemon juice); 1¼ cup organic sugar; 2 ¾ cup Whole wheat flour; 1 tsp baking soda; 1 tsp baking powder; ½ tsp salt; ¼ cup coconut oil; 2 tsp Vanilla extract or essence; 3 tbsp flax meal (+ 9 tablespoons of hot water); 3 cup powdered sugar; ⅓ cup vegan butter; 1 tsp vanilla extract

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Here's a cake recipe that will change the way you think of Vegan cake recipes forever! The most fluffy, moist, and tasty vegan banana cake you have ever tasted with less fat than any other cake recipe...

A tray is with vegan banana cake on the marble table

The magic in preparing an exquisite cake lies in the ingredients and the procedure. For this cake recipe, the ingredients do not get any simpler.

This super moist and rich fluffy banana cake, topped with a delicious dairy-free vanilla frosting, will be your favorite vegan banana cake recipe ever!

My Moist vegan banana bread inspired this recipe. Also, check vegan banana oat muffins, chocolate banana loaf cake, Mangalore buns if you are a lover of banana-like me 🙂

For most of us, Cakes are too good to pass but also comes with a load of guilt.

I hope this Vegan Banana Cake recipe will change your opinion or at least reduce your guilt.

That's because you are looking at a cake with no all-purpose flour, no cholesterol, and best of all, less added oil, Zero animal cruelty, Zero compromises in taste.

Prepare this as a sheet cake and 'wow' and entertain your guests. They will never guess that it is a vegan banana cake.

There is absolutely no compromise in taste, and my family can vouch for that.

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Ingredients note
How to make this cake
Common question
Expert tips
Equipment
Related Posts
📖 Recipe

Ingredients note

Baking tray is with banana cake ingredients like banana, oil, sugar, and baking powder.

Wheat flour: I decide to use wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour for obvious health reasons. The only difference you will notice from that is the cake can be slightly dense compared to the all-purpose flour but it rises equally well.
Sugar: I used white organic sugar for this recipe. But that's not the only way. You could also use a combination of both white and brown sugar.
Banana: This is an obvious ingredient, but look for bananas that have ripened well. That helps in mixing them with the batter after mashing them. You need roughly 3 medium bananas or 1 ½ cups.
Leavening agents: This is the magic behind the fluffy texture and it’s super important to make sure that your baking soda and baking powder are fresh (i.e. not expired!).
Vegan “buttermilk”: Much like the yogurt, vegan buttermilk adds a wonderfully velvety texture to this banana cake with Vanilla frosting. Check the details in my recipe to see how I prepared my vegan "buttermilk" with almond milk.

How to make this cake

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Spray a 9x13 sheet pan with non-stick spray and set it aside.

Wheat flour, baking soda is inside the sieve mesh.

Sift the flour into a mixing bowl and add baking powder, baking soda, salt, and mix.

Prepare the vegan buttermilk. Take 1 ½ cup of almond milk in a bowl and squeeze 2 tablespoon of lemon juice. Mix gently and allow it to settle for a minute to curdle.

Prepare your flax egg by mixing 3 tablespoons of flaxseed meals with 9 tablespoon Warm Water and allowing it to sit for a minute to thicken.

Place the banana in a bowl, mash it with a fork, add sugar, and mix well.

A bowl is with mashed bananas and flax eggs for banana cake

A big bowl is with wet ingredients like flax eggs and vegan butter milk

Add the flax eggs, vegan buttermilk, coconut oil, and vanilla extract. And combine well.

Now mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients and whisk until you get an even mix. (whisk with a hand whisk to remove any lumps.)

Vegan banana cake batter is inside the sheet pan

Pour the batter out into the sheet pan and spread out evenly.

Place into the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Check it at 30 minutes. The cake might be baked perfectly.

A sheet pan is with baked banana cake on the counter top.

Place the whole sheet pan onto a cooling rack and leave to cool completely before frosting.

A bow is filled with vanilla frosting for the banana cake

Prepare your frosting by adding the powdered sugar, vegan butter, and vanilla extract to the bowl of an electric mixer and starting at slow speed, gradually increase speed until perfectly thick and smooth.

If it turns out too thin, add more powdered sugar until it reaches the right thickness.

Frost the cooled vegan banana cake, and enjoy!

Hint - when I was preparing this banana cake recipe, the outside temperature was 90F.

All my frosting was melted when I was shooting my cake. So make sure you keep the cake inside the refrigerator if it is too hot outside the temperature.

Common question

Is wheat flour is good for making a cake?

Absolutely! Wheat flour is a great alternative for all-purpose flour, with barely any nutrients and is not easy on the digestive tract. Wheat flour, in comparison, comes out a winner in all aspects.
Note that the cake would turn out a little denser but still fluffy.

Can I use apple sauce as an egg substitute?

Yes, you could also use apple sauce in place of flax eggs. You can use ¼ cup of unsweetened apple sauce to replace one egg.

Can I use butter instead of oil in the vegan banana cake recipe?

Yes. Actually, vegan butter gives an equally nice texture to the banana cake. If vegan butter is an easier option for you, replace the coconut oil with an equal amount of vegan butter.

Expert tips

It’s very important that you use ripe bananas when you make this. They must be spotty! Don’t go using green bananas or even yellow bananas that don’t have any spots yet.
Ripe bananas bring the natural sweetness to the cake and you will need less added sugar
Keep leftovers covered in the fridge where they will stay fresh for up to 4 days.
If you prefer to use all purpose flour add ¼ cup more than mentioned the ingredient list in the recipe card.

Equipment

I used a non-stick 9x13 sheet pan, and I lined it with parchment paper. So that banana sheet cake will come out easily.

A sheet pan is filled with vegan banana cake and placed on the table

If you make this recipe or any of my recipes, don’t forget to rate it and comment below. I would LOVE to hear about your experience, and your comments make my day!

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📖 Recipe

UPDATE NOTE: This recipe was originally published in September 2017. It was updated in August 2021 with new photos and text.