This banana cake is made with oil and without butter, milk, or buttermilk, making it dairy free. You can make the recipe plain and it will be delicious, but I love adding chocolate chips and walnuts for an even better flavor.
Growing up, we'd make this banana cake whenever bananas were in season.
While bananas go quickly in my family's house at the beginning of the season, by the end of we often have plenty of bananas that have gone soft.
Like many families, we've always done whatever we can to avoid wasting and would make recipes like Shakshuka and my mom's garlicky avocado dip to use up soft fruits and vegetables.
This cake is my family's delicious way of putting old, soft, spotted, and even blackened bananas to good use.
I have to admit, while this cake is good plain, I rarely eat it that way. Instead, we always add dark chocolate chips, making every bite so incredibly good.
Recently, we started also adding walnuts to the mix, which has made this banana cake practically addictive!
In fact, one of my brothers like it so much, that he even asks for it as his birthday cake.
This recipe is great for overly ripe bananas that are spotted but not mushy.
I find this cake comes out best when using half ripe or spotted and half mushy bananas.
Other recipes you may like to use up old bananas are my banana bread and banana chocolate chip muffins.
I actually have a lot of banana recipes on my site to solve this problem.
And, if you like this dairy free banana cake, you may also like my honey cake.
Or, you may like to try one of my many other dairy free desserts.
WHY USE OVERRIPE BANANAS?
There are a few benefits to using overripe bananas in baking.
First and foremost, older bananas give a stronger flavor than fresh bananas - the darker the better.
Secondly, they are easier to mash than fresh bananas.
Lastly, it allows you to repurpose them instead of having food wasted.
HOW TO HALVE THIS RECIPE
If you halve the recipe, you will need an 8-inch square baking pan.
The area of a square or rectangular pan is calculated by multiplying one side by the other side.
This recipe calls for an 9 x 13-inch rectangular pan, so a 9 x 13 = 117 square inches, whereas an 8 x 8 = 64 square inches. If you halve 117, it comes out to 58.5 square inches, which is close enough to 64 square inches.
HOW TO STORE
Let cool completely, then wrap tightly in plastic wrap or keep in an airtight container. Then, store on the kitchen counter at room temperature for up to five days.
How to freeze
Let cool completely, then wrap tightly in plastic wrap then wrap again in aluminum foil. Freeze for 2 to 3 months. After that, the cake is safe to eat, but the quality begins to degrade.
Banana Cake with Oil
This banana cake is made with oil and without buttermilk. It's moist, fluffy, and a great way to use up old, soft, and spotted bananas. You can have plain, with nuts, with chocolate chips, or with both, as my family does.
Ingredients
- 3 to 4 bananas, mashed
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup oil (235 milliliter)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (360 grams)
- 2 cups white sugar (400 grams)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup water (235 milliliter)
- 1 cup chocolate chips, optional (170 grams)
- 1 cup walnuts, chopped, optional (125 grams)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F or 175°C.
- Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl.
- Add bananas, eggs, oil, and vanilla. Mix to combine.
- Pour in water. Stir until well incorporated.
- Add chocolate chips and/or walnuts if desired. Use a baking spatula to mix until evenly dispersed.
- Pour the batter into a 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Sprinkle more chocolate chips and/or nuts on top.
- Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until a tester is inserted into the center and comes out clean.
- Remove and let cool before cutting.
Recommended Products
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
16Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 454Total Fat: 24gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 19gCholesterol: 47mgSodium: 214mgCarbohydrates: 58gFiber: 3gSugar: 35gProtein: 6g
Calorie count includes both chocolate chips and walnuts
I prefer to use a bundt pan. How much longer will the cake take to bake?
I haven't tested it, but the general rule is that you'd bake it for 30% longer if it's in a bunt pan. That would be about 12 minutes longer.
Can I use honey instead of vanilla?
Honey and vanilla aren't usually a replacement for each other so probably not
Thank you for your response about the bananas.
The cake is delicious!
For those who want to reduce their sugar intake, I reduced the sugar to 1-1/3 cups and it was still quite sweet. I think that next time I might even try to go to 1 cup.
I did put chocolate chips on top. They didn't sink.
I'm glad you liked it 🙂
When you say to use 3-4 bananas, can you give a more exact amount? I am in Israel, where the bananas are very small. Is it equivalent to 1/2 cup? Thanks.
In Israel I tend to use 4 bananas 🙂
Cake was delicious but all my chips sank to the bottom. How do I prevent that from happening.
This can sometimes happen if the cake is not put in the oven right away. Try putting the cake in the oven as soon as the oven is finished preheating. Let me know if that solves the problem 🙂
How long would I cook this if I only make it half size and cook it in an 8 inch square pan?
25 to 30 minutes should be enough
Can u recommend a frosting with thtis cake? I want to make it for guests
I'm always a big fan of chocolate ganache and it's easy to make.
Hi may I know can I use milk instead of water. Thank you
Sure
3 cups all-purpose flour (385 grams)
2 cups white sugar (400 grams)
How come 2 cups in grams is greater than 3 cups? Do I follow the cups or gram equivalent? Thanks.
Sugar weighs more than flour so 3 cups of flour will weigh less than sugar. You follow cups if you're more comfortable using cups or grams if you're more comfortable following grams. They measurements will be the same.
Oh yes yes. Thank you!!!
Happy to help 🙂
i like it even without choco chip and walnuts.
Happy to hear it! I agree that it's delicious without them too 🙂
I am trying out this recipe for the secound time with nuts ❤
First time i didt add nuts of choco chips and it was really good i did get a lot of compliments from my friends when i took it to college and the only difference what i made to this recipe was instead of a adding 2 cups of sugar i reduced it and added 1 1/2 cup of sugar since the bananas was over ripe and it worked perfectly for me .
This recipe is seriously a gem.?
I'm so glad to hear that you enjoyed my banana cake! Thank you for sharing that with me 🙂
Loved this cake so much the texture is amazing. Any way to turn it into a carrot cake? So yummy.
I'm very glad to hear it! Honestly, I haven't tried to turn it into a carrot cake but I'll try to figure out a carrot cake recipe for you.
Wow. I mean wow what a great set of ingredients and method and a really yummy product. . So easy. Mine has turned out really well. Yes, I used the choc chips and.walnuts and they really finish the cake magnificently. I used all purpose flour, 2 heaped tsp of baking powder and did 50/50 caster and brown sugar. I also used melted copha for the oil and used hot milk. Couldn’t resist the temptation to have a play with the recipe. So! it has come up fairly dense (a bit heavier than yours), a bit like Christmas cake, and has a nice fine moist crumb. Best sliced about 1 to 2 cm thick as I was rather heavy handed with the choc chips and walnuts. 🙂
Cake was moist and light. Did not use chocolate chips, but did use nuts. Wonderful taste. I will use this recipe again. Thank you.
Thanks so much Amy! I'm happy to hear you enjoyed it 🙂
Do I still need to pour in hot water even if I chose not to add chocolate and nuts?
Yes, it adds moisture to the cake. It may not need to be hot though, that's just the way my families always made it.
@ElissaBeth,
Can I use orange juice with milk instead of water?
Yes, that shouldn't be a problem.