This Banana Cake Will Make You Forget All About Banana Bread

Elevate your overripe bananas into a delicious dessert

It seems like every single person on the Internet is baking banana bread right now. I get it — banana bread is comforting, tasty, and perfect for cozy mornings on the couch.

But maybe, just maybe, we’re all getting a little bit of banana bread fatigue.

So, why not try something a little different with your overripe bananas?

First, some nutrition facts: We all know bananas are a great source of potassium, but they’re also rich in fiber, vitamin C, and vitamin B6.

Also, bananas have different nutritional profiles depending on their level of ripeness. Unripe bananas are lower in sugar and higher in hunger-fighting starch, plus they pack a more powerful probiotic punch. On the other side of the spectrum, ripe and overripe bananas have a higher concentration of Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF), which has anti-cancer properties. Ripe bananas also have higher levels of antioxidants and can be digested more easily.

So, every time you buy a bunch of bananas, you can glean probiotics from the underripe ones and anti-cancer, antioxidant benefits from the overripe ones!

Of course, the best way to eat overripe bananas is in a baked good. When you’re tired of banana bread, it’s time to try something different. This banana cake can be eaten as a dessert alongside vanilla ice cream, as a breakfast topped with peanut butter, or just as a mid-morning or mid-afternoon snack with a bit of warm butter. It’s moist, fluffy, sweet, and oh-so-delicious.

Recipe: Viggy’s Best-Ever Banana Cake

INGREDIENTS

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup canola oil
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup cane sugar or coconut sugar
• 3 overripe bananas, mashed
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup chopped pecans, toasted
• 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter a 9x13" pan and set aside.
2. Using a hand or stand mixer, beat butter, brown sugar, and cane (or coconut) sugar together until fluffy.
3. Add in oil and continue beating until combined.
4. Add the mashed bananas and stir.
5. Add eggs, unsweetened vanilla almond milk, and vanilla and mix well.
6. In a different bowl, combine the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
7. Slowly add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until combined.
8. Fold in pecans and chocolate chips, if using.
9. Pour batter into 9x13" pan. Bake at 350F for 55–60 minutes.
10. Let cool completely, then slice and serve! I like using this 9x13" pan from PerfectSlice to make cutting even portions as easy as possible.
11. Enjoy! I like to top mine with a dollop of peanut butter and extra pecans.

Variations

Of course, there are many variations to this cake. You can try adding in:

• Different nuts: Walnuts, peanuts, chopped almonds, even pistachios would all be delicious
• Different chips: Milk chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, or butterscotch chips would be great
• Different mix-ins and spices: Shredded coconut, ground ginger, ground nutmeg, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds would work well
• Different toppings: I like peanut butter, but there’s also ice cream, cream cheese, butter, honey, maple syrup, and jam

Don’t settle for another loaf of boring banana bread (even though, I admit, it is delicious). Take those overripe bananas to the next level and try this cake as soon as you can!

Did you try this recipe? I’d love to hear how it went!