Chocolate Chip Banana Cake

Recipes, Sweets

January 21, 2020

Hey there I'm Chen.

Welcome to Chen's Plate, a food and lifestyle blog sharing gluten and dairy free recipes along with the ups and downs of my life in NYC. Hope you find what you're looking for. So excited to have you here :)

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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.

  • 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

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.

  • 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.

  • Honey: Honey is an all-natural sweetener that tastes great and eliminates the need for added sugar.

  • 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.)

  • 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!)

  • Almond butter: You can use any nut butter in this recipe.

  • Chocolate chips: Substitute chocolate chips with the mix-in of your choice.

  • 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 Orange Frosting

Cream Cheese Frosting

Vegan Cashew Vanilla Frosting

Dairy Free Vanilla Frosting

Chocolate Chip Banana Cake

Chocolate Chip Banana Cake
Yield: 16 slices

Author: Chen’s Plate
Prep time: 10 MCook time: 55 MTotal time: 65 M
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 🙂

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

  1. Mash two ripe bananas in a bowl
  2. Add in the other wet ingredients (eggs, honey, almond butter, applesauce, and vanilla) and mix well
  3. Add in the dry (almond flour and baking powder) and whisk until a smooth batter is formed
  4. Pour the batter into a lined brownie tin and top with chocolate chips
  5. Bake for about 55 minutes at 350 or until the top and edges are golden brown
  6. 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

Did you make this recipe?
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Comment on this post

  1. Amylee says:

    After the almond butter it says 2 Tbsp…. tbsp of what 😉

  2. Samantha ramirez says:

    What size pan should I use?

  3. Lisa says:

    can you use a different flour or does it have to be almond?

  4. Emi says:

    Do you think a mix of almond and oat flour would work?

Hey there I'm Chen.

Welcome to Chen's Plate, a food and lifestyle blog sharing gluten and dairy free recipes along with the ups and downs of my life in NYC. Hope you find what you're looking for. So excited to have you here :)

about Me

Categories

morning delights

savory eats

snacks

sweet tooth

shop now

Follow me on Instagram