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Healthier Banana Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting

banana cake layered with peanut butter frosting
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★★★★★

4.7 from 7 reviews

Healthier Whole Wheat Banana Cake made dairy-free, refined sugar-free, and super moist. Topped with a 3-ingredient healthy peanut butter frosting. Your friends and family will be impressed with this one!

Ingredients

Scale

Dry Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups whole wheat white flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt

Wet Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (`4–5 small bananas)
  • 1 cup non-dairy milk of choice* + 1 TBS apple cider vinegar (or buttermilk)
  • 1 1/4 cups coconut sugar (or dry sweetener of choice)
  • 3/4 cup softened coconut oil*
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1/2 TBS vanilla extract

Frosting

  • 3/4 cup natural peanut butter*
  • 1 cup chilled coconut cream* (about 1 14oz can, see notes)
  • 1/3 cup honey

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 275ºF. Line two 9” round cake pans with parchment paper (cut in a circle), and grease edges of pan; set aside.
  2. Combine milk and vinegar in small bowl or large measuring cup, set aside for 5 minutes.
  3. In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
  4. In large bowl using hand mixer, or bowl of stand mixer using paddle attachment, cream together coconut sugar and softened coconut oil on high until light and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes. (Coconut sugar takes a bit longer to cream together than regular white granulated sugar.) Add in eggs one at a time, then vanilla and honey and mix on low-medium speed until fully combined.
  5. Start to add in flour, about 1/2 cup at at a time, mixing on low and alternating with milk/vinegar mixture. Once the flour and milk are fully combined, fold in mashed bananas with large spatula.
  6. Pour batter into prepared lined pans and bake for 25-35 minutes, turning the pans halfway through total time to ensure even baking. Cake is done when inserted toothpick comes out clean (no wet batter, but crumbs is okay). Check for doneness at 25 minutes, checking again every 3-4 minutes if necessary.
  7. Transfer pans immediately to freezer to cool, for 15-20 minutes. This allows the cakes to stay super moist. You can also cool in fridge for longer.
  8. While the cake is cooling, make your frosting: Using whisk attachment, combine peanut butter and honey. Add in chilled coconut cream (liquid poured into separate container) and whip until fluffy and thick. Transfer frosting bowl to freezer to thicken, about 10 minutes.
  9. Layer cake on stand or large plate and frost first layer, about 1/2” thick. Add second layer of cake and finish frosting. Top with fresh bananas if you’d like! Make sure to store cake in fridge until ready to serve**, and enjoy!

Notes

*I’ve used both non-dairy & regular dairy milk. Either will work, but always mixed with 1 tablespoon of vinegar to create a “buttermilk”.

Butter may be used 1:1 in place of coconut oil, but it should also be softened.

I used an all-natural peanut butter, nothing added. But whatever you have on had should work just fine.

I used a chilled overnight, 14oz can of coconut cream, which yielded about 1 cup of cream. There was still water in the bottom of the can, which I reserved for smoothies. You can also use chilled, full-fat coconut milk and scoop the cream off the top, but you will likely need two cans. If you can find coconut cream, I’d go that route.

FROSTING: Adapted from Minimalist Baker. I doubled the frosting recipe for the photos shown here. If you want a thicker layer in the middle as shown and plenty of frosting on the outside, double the recipe from what is written. With the coconut cream-based frosting, it will soften and “melt” slightly if kept at room temperature. Make sure cake is stored in fridge well before and after serving to keep thick frosting.

Nutrition

Keywords: banana cake, healthy peanut butter frosting, healthier cake recipe

Find it online: https://www.fitmittenkitchen.com/whole-wheat-banana-cake-peanut-butter-frosting/