Banana Cake is a delicious, one-bowl vegan recipe made from mashed ripe bananas and whole wheat flour. Tasty and healthier than traditional cakes, this quick and easy eggless banana cake recipe is refreshingly light, pillowy soft and incredibly moist.
Preheat your oven at 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit). If using a regular oven, heat both the top and bottom elements. For a microwave convection oven, just preheat the oven.
Making cake batter
Peel and chop the bananas. Add them to a bowl and mash them with a fork. You can also use a blender to mash the bananas.
Add sugar, oil and vanilla extract.
Mix thoroughly so that the oil mixes evenly with the banana puree and the sugar dissolves.
Sieve whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt directly in the bowl. You can also sieve these separately and then add them to the wet ingredients.
Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients very well.
Add the chopped walnuts and fold again. Apart from walnuts, you can also add raisins, pistachios or any nuts and dry fruits of your choice.
Pour the batter in a greased or lined loaf pan ( 7.5 x 4 x 2.5 inches) or round cake pan (7.5 x 2 inches).
Baking banana cake
Gently tap and shake the pan. Place the pan in the center rack if using a regular oven or otg.
Bake in the preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit) for 45 to 50 mins or until a wooden skewer or tooth pick inserted in the cake comes out clean.
If the top of the cake starts browning then cover the top with an aluminium foil or parchment paper while baking.
When warm or cooled, gently remove the cake from the pan. Slice and serve banana cake as is with tea or coffee.
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Notes
Batter: This banana cake batter has a medium-thick consistency. Depending on the quality or texture of flour, you may require to add liquids like water or almond milk or lite coconut milk if the batter looks very thick.
Flour: In place of whole wheat flour, you can easily use all-purpose flour in the same quantity as that of whole wheat flour. Both atta (that is whole wheat flour used to make roti) as well as whole wheat flour available in the US and Europe, work well in the recipe.
Folding: Use the cut and fold method to make the batter. Do not use a whisk and mix the ingredients.
Baking: Depending on the temperature in your oven and the size of your pan, the cake might take less or more time to bake. As the temperature varies from oven to oven so keep a note of this. The benchmark is that a tooth pick inserted in the banana cake should come out clean.
Oil: You can add sunflower oil or any neutral tasting oil. You can even add olive oil or coconut oil.
Vegetarian option: Instead of oil you can use butter. Melt the butter and use in the same proportion as that of the oil.
Flavorings: Chocolate chips or cocoa powder or cacao nibs can be added. Chopped nuts like pistachios, pecans, pine nuts, almonds and seeds like sunflower seeds, pepitas (pumpkin seeds), flax seeds and sunflower seeds can also be added. Lightly toast the seeds in a pan before adding them to the batter.
Spices: If you like spiced cakes, you can add about ½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon or ¼ teaspoon of ground nutmeg or 1 teaspoon of pumpkin spice mix.