Chocolate Chip Banana Cake is made from simple, healthy ingredients. It’s gluten-free, packed with nutrients, and topped with delicious chocolate chips. It tastes so great that your friends and family will never guess that it’s healthy! Let’s get baking 🙂
The secret behind baking with bananas
Fun fact about me, I used to hate bananas. I’m not sure what exactly I didn’t like about them, but overall the texture really threw me off. So, anything that had banana in it, I refused to eat. I don’t know when this changed, but right now, I am truly obsessed with bananas. I love buying them fresh, cutting them, and freezing them to make my smoothies. I also love letting them get super brown and baking with them.
Because here’s the secret to baking with bananas: the riper, the better. The more brown and soft the banana, the sweeter it will be and, in turn, the sweeter your recipe will turn out. Topped with dairy chocolate chips, this banana cake may be one of my all time favorite recipes.
Yep, it’s true. This chocolate chip banana cake dessert is made with 100% paleo-approved ingredients. But, despite all ingredients being paleo, it’s not one of those cakes that tastes healthy. You know what I mean? The truth is, once you taste it, you probably won’t believe that it’s diet-friendly!
Ingredients for chocolate chip banana paleo cake
To make the best banana paleo cake on the planet, you’ll need a selection of ingredients. Here’s a complete list of everything used to make this deliciously moist and fluffy cake.
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2 eggs (sub 1/2 cup applesauce to make them vegan)
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2 ripe mashed bananas
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1/2 cup honey
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1/4 cup almond butter
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2 tbsp applesauce
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1 tsp vanilla
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2 cups almond flour
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1 tsp baking powder
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top with 1/2 cup chocolate chips
Kitchen tools used to make this paleo dessert
To make this cake, you’ll only need 3 items! I promise, it really is that simple! First, you will need one mixing bowl and one mixing utensil, I used a fork because I honestly don’t like whisks lol. Then, you’ll need an 8×8 brownie dish for baking. That’s it!
How to make paleo chocolate chip banana cake
Mash two ripe bananas in a bowl
Add in the other wet ingredients and mix well
Add in the dry and whisk until a smooth batter is formed
Pour the batter into a lined brownie tin and top with chocolate chips
Bake for about 55 minutes at 350 or until the top and edges are golden brown
Cut into squares and enjoy 🙂
What makes this banana cake healthier
I used a few select ingredients to achieve a delicious but healthier cake.
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Almond flour: I typically use almond flour rather than all-purpose. It contains less carbs and provides a great amount of protein! Also, it makes the cake gluten free which is perfect for me and anyone else that has issues digesting gluten.
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Honey: Honey is an all-natural sweetener that tastes great and eliminates the need for added sugar.
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Almond butter: I prefer to use almond butter in place of peanut butter because it’s more nutrient-dense. Plus, it tastes great and I don’t like peanut butter lol.
Through trial and error and carefully combining ingredients, I was able to achieve a mixture that’s not only nutritious, but tastes wonderful. I love the ingredients I used, but know that there are always options for certain ingredients if you don’t have them on hand or you prefer not to use them.
Substitution options for the banana cake
I’m often asked about ingredient substitutions. Below are some easy swaps! Feel free to try any that you’d like, noting that there are a few that may change the taste a bit (such as making the recipe vegan by using applesauce instead of eggs.)
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Applesauce: Applesauce is used as the oil substitute in this recipe. Applesauce can be replaced with canola, almond, or vegetable oil, or any similar fat (coconut oil works great too!)
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Almond butter: You can use any nut butter in this recipe.
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Chocolate chips: Substitute chocolate chips with the mix-in of your choice.
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Eggs: For a vegan banana cake, you’ll need to substitute the eggs. To replace both eggs, you can use 1/2 cup of applesauce, or try using chia seeds or a flax egg. Just google flax egg recipe to try this one out!
Looking to frost this cake? I have a few frosting recipes you can use here!
Chocolate Chip Banana Cake
Ingredients:
- 2 eggs (sub 1/2 cup applesauce to make them vegan)
- 2 ripe mashed bananas
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/4 cup almond butter
- 2 tbsp applesauce
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 cups almond flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- top with 1/2 cup chocolate chips
Instructions:
How to cook Chocolate Chip Banana Cake
- Mash two ripe bananas in a bowl
- Add in the other wet ingredients (eggs, honey, almond butter, applesauce, and vanilla) and mix well
- Add in the dry (almond flour and baking powder) and whisk until a smooth batter is formed
- Pour the batter into a lined brownie tin and top with chocolate chips
- Bake for about 55 minutes at 350 or until the top and edges are golden brown
- Cut into squares and enjoy 🙂
Calories
199.58
Fat (grams)
11.48
Sat. Fat (grams)
1.89
Carbs (grams)
22.88
Fiber (grams)
3.25
Net carbs
19.63
Sugar (grams)
16.23
Protein (grams)
5.14
Sodium (milligrams)
41.13
Cholesterol (grams)
23.25
After the almond butter it says 2 Tbsp…. tbsp of what 😉
Good catch! Fixed it 🙂
What size pan should I use?
I used an 8×8 brownie dish 🙂
can you use a different flour or does it have to be almond?
Hi Lisa! I haven’t tried another flour, so I am not sure 🙂
Do you think a mix of almond and oat flour would work?