The Best Banana Cake Recipe

This is the best banana cake recipe with no eggs or dairy,  but you can adapt it with regular milk if you’d like. I changed the type of flour, substituted coconut oil and decreased the sugar. Feel free to add in oats, flax seed or chopped toasted pecans if you’re up for it! As long as you keep true to the marriage of chocolate and banana, this cake is sure to be a lovable addition for your recipe box.

Chocolate and banana complement each other well, don’t you think? When I was a kid, there was an ice cream shop that drizzled dark chocolate over bananas and froze them for a tasty summer treat. Yummo! Ever since then, I’ve loved the combination of sweet banana with more savory chocolate. When combined with nutritious ingredients like whole grain flour and coconut oil, you’ve got a scrumptious and moist cake – perfect for a healthy dessert, mid afternoon snack or energizing breakfast. Just this morning, my daughter gobbled up a big piece with a glass of milk. My favorite part of this recipe is the low sugar content.  Just two ripe bananas add enough sweet that only an additional half cup of sugar is needed. This cake is also just as easy as a quick bread (no mixer required!) but it is served in a 13×9 pan – large enough for a hungry crowd.

Are you ready to make a moist and delicious chocolate chip banana cake with me?

Here is what you’ll need! I like to use white whole wheat flour, but regular whole wheat or all-purpose will work just fine. You will also need milk, coconut oil, sugar, salt, baking soda and powder, ground spices (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves), vanilla extract and our celebrities – two ripe bananas and semi sweet or dark mini chocolate chips. A tip to quicken the ripening of a banana is to stick it outside in a brown paper bag.  I’ve adapted this recipe over the years from the original chocolate chip banana cake over at Chef Chloe’s.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together 2 cups of your preferred flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 tsp. baking powder, 1/2 tsp. baking soda, 1 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. ground ginger, 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg and a dash of ground cloves.

Next, mash your two peeled bananas with a fork and stir in 1/2 cup melted coconut oil, 1 1/4 cup milk and 1 1/2 tsp. of pure vanilla extract. Pour this wet mixture into your bowl of dry ingredients.

Add in 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips and fold them around. It’s like they were meant to be there! Pour the complete batter into a greased 13×9 pan and proceed to lick the bowl clean 😉  There are no raw eggs and the batter is really, really delicious.

Bake the cake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick test comes out clean. You will see a golden color with small cracks on the edges.

Sprinkle the warm cake with some powdered sugar or a dollop of whipped cream if you’d like! It’s delicious right out of the oven,  room temperature or cooled. If you are making the cake head, I suggest storing the cooled cake in your refrigerator, especially during the warm summer months.

Enjoy!

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