Last night we went out with our friends Debbie and Mike. They are quite the non-profit duo. Debbie founded the timely and super innovative Wellness Initiative, while Mike runs Progress Now. Two cutting edge organizations out to make the world a better place. What could be cooler?
Here’s what. Their son Lee will celebrate his first birthday next week. And they have another little one due any day now! We talked about children and of course, my favorite topic delicious, healthy food. They asked if I had any ideas for their son’s birthday cake and told me that little Lee loves bananas.
Here’s what I came up with. Bake it in a loaf pan and it’s a delicious, healthy gluten free banana bread; bake it in a and it’s a delicious, healthy gluten free banana cake. Either way, enjoy!
Banana Cake
Ingredients
- 3 cups blanched almond flour (not almond meal)
- ½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ cup agave nectar or honey
- ¼ cup grapeseed oil or palm shortening
- 3 large eggs, whisked
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 bananas (about one cup) mashed
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix together almond flour, salt and baking soda
- In a small bowl, combine agave, grapeseed oil, eggs and vanilla, then stir in bananas
- Mix wet ingredients into dry
- Place batter in either a 9 inch springform pan or two small 7.5 x 3.5 inch magic line loaf pans
- Bake at 350°F for 40 minutes
- Remove from oven and allow to cool
Enjoy this delicious gluten free, dairy free banana cake plain or indulge with some cream cheese frosting for a super rich dessert. Either way, happy birthday!
Jan Vail says
This cake was awesome. I used the almond meal flour from Trader Joes. I substituted coconut oil for the grapeseed oil. Instead of using agave nectar I used three bananas instead of two and added a little honey in with the bananas. I topped the cake with Betty Crocker whipped Vanilla butter cream frosting (which happens to be gluten free. I baked it for 40 minutes in a 9 inch round cake pan. This tasted awesome and the smell was divine!
Kathleen says
Just wanted to say that my cake was done after about 30 minutes, so make sure you are paying attention! Smells delicious. Going to put Elana’s Chocolate Ganache on top :-)
Dawn Scaramozzino says
I ran out of grape seed oil and substituted applesauce this time. Also I used 4 ripe bananas instead of 2 because they were garbage bound if not, I did compensate with 3 1/2 c of almond flour to make up for the moisture of the banana. I decided to do cupcakes so that I could add some fresh blueberries to 1/2 the mix and raspberries to the other half. I think the point I am trying to make is that this a wonderful base recipe that you can add all sorts of things to and always come out with a great product. So don’t be afraid to let yourself go with this recipe.
claire says
Hi Elana,
You have great recipes but I noticed that you put a lot of vegetable oils in your recipes. Vegetable oils are already questionable when raw ( heat extracted, rancid at room temperature) and I thought they were not supposed to be heated…In other words are they safe to cook with? also they have a high rate of omega-6 fatty acids.
Thank you.
Peg says
I agree. I would prefer to use coconut oil or even butter.
Elana says
Peg, I used oils more often in my older recipes. This isn’t a problem for me because I’ve been strictly grain-free since 2001 and my omega-6’s are extremely low. Here’s a link to a Banana Bread recipe made with palm shortening for you:
https://elanaspantry.com/paleo-banana-bread/
Enjoy!
Elana
Andrea says
All I can say is, this lady knows what she is doing… Unbelievable recipes so far! Becoming a fan taste after taste…
Jamila says
After I originally left a comment I seem to have clicked the -Notify me when new comments are
added- checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get four
emails with the same comment. Is there a way you can remove me from that service?
Thanks a lot!
Sandra Goergen says
an autumn alternative to your banana bread recipe…
I exchanged the bananas with fresh crisp apples out of
our garden. After making some fresh apple cider, I had a few cups of
apple pulp left.
I used 11/2 cups of the fresh apple pulp, 2 cups ( instead of 3) of almond flour and
I used coconut oil instead of the grapeseed oil and canadian maple sirup instead of the
agave nectar….really yummy
oh, yes and I served it with coconut ice cream
Malka says
We had extra bananas going bad, and searched for a healthy banana recipe. So glad we found this recipe! We made them as cupcakes and they are awesome, great texture and flavor.
Thank you :-)
Sarah Newitt says
Just tried this recipe and it’s great. So moist compared to recipes that use a gluten free flour, and so much healthier than most recipes too. You’ve got me hooked and I’ll be trawling your blog for many more recipes!
Andrea says
I love your recipes! Just discovered you last night and made the Banana Cake. I made a couple of small changes. I used pure Maple Syrup instead of Agave (I don’t tolerate Agave well), used regular sea salt (I think the only difference is it’s not as fine as the one you recommend), added 1/2 c chocolate chips, and made these as cupcakes. Everyone in my house (that likes bananas…) loved them including my son who always turns his nose up at g-free baking! The pan of 12 was gone within 1 hour. I also made your regular muffin recipe (1/2 with chocolate chips for my daughter) and am very happy with those as well. I am excited to get your cookbook (I ordered that last night just based on reviews!) and I NEVER bother with ordering cookbooks. Yours looks exceptional. I appreciate the time and expense you’ve put into these recipes because I don’t have the time (and often the desire) to do it! Thank you so much and know that I will be encouraging all of my g-free and Paleo friends to order your cookbooks!