Gluten Free Banana Cake
This gluten free banana cake is a one bowl recipe that only takes about 10 minutes of prep! With a light, moist and fluffy texture, the perfect banana flavor with hints of cinnamon and finished off with a simple chocolate cream cheese frosting.
I am on a major cake kick. I have over 10 other gluten free cake recipes on my list and will be spending the next several months testing and perfecting and share all of them!
First up, this gluten free banana cake. It’s not like banana bread which is pretty dense. This cake is light, fluffy, moist but still has the perfect banana flavor. With hints of cinnamon and a bit of chocolate from the frosting. Ohmygosh so good and even dairy free!
This recipe makes the perfect amount if you’re feeding a small group or just want something sweet to enjoy throughout the week! Before we get started, just make sure your bananas are ripe. Same goes if you’re making my banana bread cookies!
They should be brown and spotty which means they’re naturally sweet since this recipe doesn’t have a ton of added sugar. Just the right amount! If you love this recipe, try my banana bread cookies, gluten free bundt cake or red velvet marble cake next!
How to make gluten free banana cake
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray and line the bottom of an 8×8 baking pan and set aside. Spraying and lining will ensure the cake slides right out when it’s done baking.
Add the bananas to your blender and puree. Measure out 1 cup worth in a measuring cup.
For some reason, even if the banana hits the 1 cup mark on your blender, actually measure out 1 cup in a proper measuring cup, mine never end up the same! Go by what your measuring cup says, not your blender.
Also, be sure to actually puree the banana, don’t mash it! Pureeing will give the cake a light, fluffy and airy texture whereas mashing the banana can make it dense and gummy.
Add the pureed banana to a large bowl with all wet ingredients. Beat with an electric mixer.
Add in the dry ingredients, making sure to spoon and level the flour. Beat just until combined.
Transfer to your pan and bake for 28-32 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Let cool in the pan for about 15 minutes, then flip onto a cooling rack, peel off the parchment paper on the bottom and let cool completely. If you want to speed up the process, stick it in the fridge for about 90 minutes. Try my banana bread bars next!
WANT TO SAVE THIS RECIPE?
Enter your email below & we’ll send it straight to your inbox. Plus you’ll get great new recipes from us every week!
Ingredient swaps & variations
SUGAR. You can use any kind of granulated sugar you want in this recipe, such as coconut for a refined sugar free option. I used half white, half light brown, but if you use coconut keep in mind the color of the cake will be darker.
OIL. You can use any kind of neutral flavored oil here. Vegetable, refined avocado, refined coconut oil (melted) or even swap for butter. Butter will yield a slightly denser texture, but will add a really nice flavor.
FLOUR. You only need gluten free all purpose flour for this recipe. I used the Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Baking Flour, which I recommend. If you use a different blend, just make sure it has xanthan gum! I do not recommend oat, almond, coconut or other alternative flours here. If you want something with oat flour, try my oat flour banana bread or oat flour cake.
MILK. I used almond milk because that is what I usually have on hand, but any kind of milk works, either dairy or non-dairy.
Can I make it vegan?
I haven’t tested this recipe with any sort of egg replacer so I’m not sure how it would turn out! I would be inclined to use either more banana or a store bought egg replacer.
Flax eggs aren’t great because they don’t provide any rise to the cake, which you need for the fluffy texture. You can instead try my gluten free vegan banana cake. However, this cake is naturally dairy free, just use dairy free butter and cream cheese for the frosting.
Does it keep?
Once prepared and frosted, this gluten free banana cake will store for about 3-5 days at room temperature. I like to store it in a glass container with the lid very slightly ajar. Because the frosting contains cream cheese and butter, it can get a bit too moist if left in a completely air tight container. You can also store it in the fridge, but the cake will get a bit firm so keep that in mind.
You can also freeze the gluten free cake after it bakes and cools before your frost it! Just wrap very tightly in plastic wrap (once totally cool), then wrap again and freeze for up to 1 month. Let thaw and then frost and enjoy!
Other cake recipes to try!
- Red Velvet Cake
- Gluten Free Chocolate Cake
- Vegan Funfetti Cake
- Almond Flour Chocolate Cake
- Mini Chocolate Cake
- Gluten Free Coffee Cake
- Gluten Free Lemon Cake
- Gluten Free Pumpkin Cake
Lastly, if you want more recipes straight to your inbox, be sure to subscribe to my email list. If you make this recipe, be sure to tag me on instagram and leave a comment below!
Gluten Free Banana Cake
by: claire cary
Ingredients
Wet
- 1 cup pureed banana about 2-3 very ripe large bananas
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons oil I use avocado, any neutral oil works
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar I like half light brown half white, but any kind works!
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- ½ cup non-dairy milk I used almond, any kind works
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Dry
- 2 cups gluten free all purpose flour I used Bob’s Red Mill 1:1
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 ounces plain cream cheese room temperature
- ¼ cup butter room temperature
- 2-3 cups powdered sugar
- ¼ cup cocoa powder* see notes
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1-2 tablespoons milk as needed
- small pinch salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Spray and line the bottom of an 8×8 baking pan and set aside.
- Add the bananas to your blender and puree. Measure out 1 cup worth in a measuring cup.
- For some reason, even if the banana hits the 1 cup mark on your blender, actually measure out 1 cup in a proper measuring cup, mine never end up the same! Go by what your measuring cup says, not your blender.
- Add the pureed banana to a large bowl with all wet ingredients. Beat with an electric mixer.
- Add in the dry ingredients, making sure to spoon and level the flour. Beat just until combined.
- Transfer to your pan and bake for 28-32 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Let cool in the pan for about 15 minutes, then flip onto a cooling rack, peel off the parchment paper on the bottom and let cool completely.
- If you want to speed up the process, stick it in the fridge for about 60-90 minutes.
- To make the frosting, beat together the room temperature butter and cream cheese for about 30 seconds. Beat in the cocoa and powdered sugar until smooth. Beat in the vanilla, salt and milk if needed to thin.
- Once the cake has cooled, add the frosting and serve. You can slice from anywhere between 9-16 slices.
Notes
Comments
-
very good cake, worked for my kind of gf flour. tasted amazing!
i dont have a hand mixer so i also blended the eggs lol, worked!
-
So glad that worked well!
-
-
Tasted like banana bread with icing — delicious! I underbaked by accident (something weird going on with the oven, half was done and the other half was still underbaked), and it was still delicious. I cut the cake in half and turned it into a double layer cake. 1.5x the icing but I think just the regular batch would have been enough for me. I liked that the cake was not too sweet.
-
Sounds delicious! Ovens can be finicky- just make sure you’re baking on the center rack.
-
-
Great gluten free recipe! This is my new favorite. I used coconut oil and my own gluten free flour blend that used oat flour as a base. I put the wet ingredients in the blender for a few minutes which helped quickly mix everything then added the dry ingredients and created the perfect batter.
-
This is the best cake I’ve ever made! Yum! Thank you for the recipe.
-
Thank you, Rose!
-
-
This is the best banana cake I have ever tasted. I usually don’t leave ratings, but this cake deserves to have many 5 star reviews. Even though my bananas weren’t super ripe (only had a few brown dots), the cake was full of banana flavor. I did use Preppy Kitchen’s hack of throwing them in the oven a few minutes, but I think the blending was what brought out the flavor. I used Bob’s Red Mill baking flour as recommended, and I didn’t notice any grittiness that other GF flours have. I used whole dairy milk, and I used a buttercream frosting because the cake was decorated. I also boosted the amount of vanilla, but that was because my friend left me several quarts(!) of Mexican vanilla. The cake is delicious and moist without frosting.
-
Love it and love the baking banana hack too! So glad you enjoyed this recipe.
-
-
Absolutely love this recipe. I only make 1/3 of the frosting for this size cake. I do use the frosting on other cakes because it’s so good. Thank you
-
Does the frosting really call for 2 to 3 cups of powdered sugar? It must mean 2/3 cup, right?
-
No it is 2-3 cups. That is standard for a buttercream.
-
-
If I wanted to make this in a 9×13 to make it bigger, would I need to 1.5 the recipe or double it? Also what would be the baking time? Thanks!
-
You will want to double it! I’d probably start with 40 or so minutes and adjust from there.
-
-
How long can I store the cake?and is there a specific way of storing it.
-
I explain that in the post!
-
-
I made this recipe using a GF flour mix that I make myself (otherwise followed the recipe as written). Turned out wonderfully and no one could tell it was GF! Stays moist for a couple days after. This is a keeper!
-
Live it! Thanks, Michelle!
-
-
This was excellent. So bouncy with a moist crumb. The lightness made it feel like it wasn’t gluten free. Best GF cake I’ve made.
-
Best GF banana cake ever!! Thank you for the recipe. I didn’t have cream cheese for the icing and I just made a powered sugar glaze without the choc. Delicious!!
-
Sounds delicious! Thanks, Cindy!
-
-
Perfect measurements awesome turn out
Thank you so much-
Thank you, so glad you love it!
-
leave a comment and rating