You will never believe this banana cake is made with healthy, whole food ingredients like yogurt, olive oil, eggs and whole wheat flour, oh, and of course bananas. It is fluffy, moist and perfectly sweet, but not too sweet. It makes the cutest little 6 inch round cake.
We seem to always have over-ripe bananas kicking around our kitchen. I’m not mad about it at all. There is literally no better way to make your house smell amazing than to bake something with bananas, like banana bread, banana muffins, and of course banana cake.
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This whole wheat banana cake recipe is great for special occasions like; kids birthday parties or a smash cake for your 1 year old. It is also great if you just want a dessert that is on the healthier side. You can add whatever frosting you want or just top it with whipped cream.
You know the saying “you can’t have your cake and eat it”? Well that’s not the case with this wholemeal banana cake! It is made with “better for you” ingredients, but still feels like you’re eating cake!
You get healthy fats from olive oil. You get fiber from the whole wheat flour. Protein from the eggs and yogurt, natural sweetness from the bananas, minerals from coconut sugar and a whole lot of nutrients from them all.
Our favorite flour to use in this easy banana cake is fresh milled soft white wheat. You can use store bought whole wheat pastry flour also. We have a few tips for baking with whole wheat flour here, if you’re new to it.
What’s Cool About This Recipe
- Moist and fluffy: Beating the eggs and sugar together (like you would for a sponge cake) makes this cake extra fluffy, and yogurt helps keep it moist. Making it the best banana cake ever!
- 100% whole grain: This cake is made with all whole grain flour and has far more nutrients than a cake made with all purpose flour that has been stripped of all the nutrients.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Whole wheat pastry flour We usually use fresh milled soft white wheat but store bought whole wheat pastry flour works great too. If you want an extremely light cake then we recommend Living Sky Grains Ultra Fine White Whole Wheat Flour.
- Coconut sugar or Organic cane sugar We have used both these sugars and they each make a lovely cake, but the cane sugar makes a lighter colored cake. We go for a fine grained raw cane sugar like Florida Crystals.
- Nutmeg: This is optional but pairs really well with the banana (because banana and nutmeg are basically BFF) and gives the cake a little extra flavor. Feel free to skip it if it’s not your thing.
- Overripe banana: Use well ripened bananas, with several brown spots. The more ripe they are, the more banana flavor you will get.
- Plain Greek yogurt: You can use unflavored and unsweetened Greek or whole milk yogurt.
- Olive oil: Avocado oil would also work, or whatever oil you preferer to use in your baked goods
- Egg
- Vanilla extract
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
See recipe card for quantities.
Top tip
Make sure your bananas are overripe (lots of brown spots). Over ripe bananas are sweeter and have more banana flavor.
Instructions
- Line a 6" or 9" round cake pan with parchment paper. The 6” inch cake will be approx. 1 ½”-2” tall. The 9” will be ¾”-1” tall.
- Mash the banana very well.
3. In a small mixing bowl whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg together.
4. In another small mixing bowl whisk the yogurt, mashed banana, olive oil, and vanilla extract together.
5. In a medium size mixing bowl, with an electric hand mixer, beat the sugar and egg together until lightened in color and thickened.
6. Add the wet ingredients and stir gently a few times with a rubber spatula until partially mixed. Add the dry ingredients and stir gently just until combined. Pour cake batter into your pan and bake in a preheated oven at 325° F.
Serving Suggestions
- Topped with whipped cream, fresh bananas and nuts; pecans, walnuts or slivered almonds. You can toast the nuts for extra flavor.
- Frost the cake with cream cheese frosting, or dark chocolate frosting.
- Topped with whipped coconut cream.
Storage
Store the cake itself covered at room temperature for 2-3 days.
If the cake has frosting, such as cream cheese frosting, then it should be stored in the refrigerator.
FAQ
Usually banana bread is made by mixing all the dry ingredients together then, mixing all the wet ingredients together and combining the two. Some recipes mix all the ingredients together in one bowl. Banana bread is baked in a loaf pan. Banana cake is made by creaming either sugar and fat or sugar and eggs together to make them light and airy. Then, carefully adding the rest of the ingredient so as to not lose the airiness. Banana cake is usually baked in a wider, flatter pan.
Honestly, that depends on personal opinion. Talking just “flour” then a cake made with whole wheat flour is far more healthy than a cake made with all purpose white flour. Whole wheat flour contains all the natural fiber and nutrients of the whole grain which is stripped away in the process of making all purpose white flour.
📖 Recipe
Whole Wheat Banana Cake
Ingredients
- ¾ cup (90 g) Whole Wheat Pastry Flour soft white wheat
- ½ teaspoon (2 g) Baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon Nutmeg optional
- ⅛ teaspoon Baking soda
- ⅛ teaspoon Sea salt
- ⅓ cup Mashed ripe banana 1 medium banana
- ⅓ cup (75 g) Plain Greek yogurt
- 2 Tablespoons (26 g) Olive oil
- ½ teaspoon Vanilla extract
- ½ cup (100 g) Coconut sugar or Organic cane sugar
- 1 large Egg
Instructions
- Position oven rack to center, then preheat to 325° F. Line a 6 inch round cake pan with parchment paper (see notes for different size pans).
- In a small mixing bowl combine the first 5 ingredients.¾ cup (90 g) Whole Wheat Pastry Flour, ½ teaspoon (2 g) Baking powder, ⅛ teaspoon Nutmeg optional, ⅛ teaspoon Baking soda, ⅛ teaspoon Sea salt
- In another small mixing bowl combine the rest of the ingredients except the sugar and egg.⅓ cup Mashed ripe banana, ⅓ cup (75 g) Plain Greek yogurt, 2 Tablespoons (26 g) Olive oil, ½ teaspoon Vanilla extract
- In a medium size mixing bowl beat the sugar and egg together on medium/high speed for about 2 minutes or until lightened in color and thickened.½ cup (100 g) Coconut sugar or Organic cane sugar, 1 large Egg
- Add the banana mixture and stir gently a few times until partially combined. Then add the dry ingredients and stir just until combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 37-41 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool for a 2-3 minutes in the pan. Turn onto a wire rack, remove parchment paper. Cool completely before frosting with your favorite frosting.
Video
Notes
Baking time for 9 inch round is 25-30 minutes.
You can double the recipe and bake in two 9 inch round pans for a layered cake. Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe
Did you make this recipe? We would love to hear from you!