Vegan Chocolate Banana Cake makes for perfect little indulgence for all of you chocolate lovers! Put those overripe bananas to a good use and make it today! Moist, chocolatey, rich yet light, it's eggless, dairy-free & so incredibly tasty!
Did you know that those overripe bananas in your fruit bowl can be turned into most delicious chocolate cake?
Oh yes!
My vegan chocolate banana cake is super moist, very chocolatey and will most definitely satisfy your need for a chocolate treat!
You will love how easy it is to make and I bet your bottom dollar that you already have most of the ingredients in your cupboards.
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✔️ Why you should try this recipe?
- Quick and easy to make vegan chocolate cake
- Eggless and dairy-free
- Easy to adapt - snack cake without a glaze or more indulgent dessert topped with chocolate glaze
- No unusual ingredients and egg replacers
- Kids' favourite
- Rich and indulgent yet surprisingly light
- More exciting than banana bread
🍌 How ripe should bananas be?
Really ripe! Overripe! The riper the better!
You want them to be really yellow with lots of nice spots on the skin.
If they're going slightly black, that's ok too.
🥘 Ingredients
Overripe bananas - See above
Plain Flour - Feel free to substitute with your favourite gluten-free flour if you want.
Cocoa or Cacao Powder - Both unsweetened and pretty good for you with cacao slightly upping cocoa on nutritional scale. Either one is good here.
Make sure you don't use sweetened chocolate drink powder here by mistake.
Baking Powder & Baking Soda - Our raising agents. Ensure they're certified gluten-free for gluten-free baking.
Vegan Chocolate - I use Callebaut dark chocolate callets 54.5% in my baking but you could use even darker vegan chocolate if you want.
Neutral Oil - I like to use cold-pressed rapeseed oil or light olive oil which is perfect for baking. You could also use sunflower oil or any other neutral tasting oil you like.
Brown Sugar - For that extra sweetness.
Soya Milk - My favourite milk to use in baking as it gives best results but you could use any neutral plant milk
Apple Cider Vinegar - To make the chocolate cake light and fluffy and help it raise all at the same time. You could also use white wine vinegar or lemon juice.
Vanilla Extract - Optional but recommended.
Salt - It works really well with chocolate. Make sure to use good quality salt like sea salt or pink Himalayan salt not table salt.
🍽 Equipment
Great thing about this vegan chocolate banana cake is that all you need is couple of pans, bowl and spatula. No fancy mixers or food processors required.
As for the baking tin you must know me and my thing for traybakes by now. They make portioning so much easier!
To bake this cake I use my favourite rectangular spring form tin 28x18cm and I highly recommend it.
💭 Top Tips
- Use small whisk to mix your dry ingredients. It will give you the same result as if you have sifted them into a bowl.
- I often melt my chocolate directly in a pan over a low heat stirring constantly so that it doesn't burn. However, if you don't feel comfortable with that approach feel free to use microwave (20 sec increments and stir until melted) or bain-marie method (bowl over a pan with simmering water).
- Try and mix your cake batter as little as possible. Incorporate wet and dry ingredients together by gently folding them in. As long as there is no dry flour mix visible it is fine.
- Once batter has been mixed in cake should go into the oven as soon as possible to take advantage of chemical reaction that is happening that will make it raise. Make sure you've got your oven preheated at the right time.
- Make sure you let the cake rest in the tin for 10 minutes once out of the oven. It will make it easier to release out of the tin once the time is up.
🥡 Storing and freezing
Vegan chocolate banana cake will keep in the airtight container on the counter for up to 3 days.
If it's really hot in your kitchen or it's middle of summer I would recommend popping it in the fridge.
As this cake taste best at room temperature, make sure to take it out of the fridge at least half an hour before serving.
Leftover cake can also be frozen in the freezer safe container for up to three months.
To defrost simply take it out of the freezer and let it thaw on the kitchen counter.
📖 Variations
This delicious cake taste as good with icing/chocolate glaze as it does without.
Chocolate glaze definitely makes it more of a dessert. (see: How to make easy vegan chocolate glaze)
More often than not I keep it plain which makes it great for lunchbox treats or simply as a little snacking cake.
You could also sprinkle a good handful or two of chocolate chips on top of the cake before it goes in the oven for that extra chocolatey boost (then you will definitely not need any icing at all).
❓ FAQs
This cake can be easily adapted to be gluten-free. Simply use your favourite gluten-free flour and make sure that baking powder and baking soda are also gluten-free.
You can use any tin you want to bake this cake in but depending on the size baking time will need to be adjusted accordingly.
Yes. The cake is freezer friendly for up to 3 months.
🔪 How to make Vegan Chocolate Banana Cake?
Ingredient quantities & detailed instructions to be found in recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4, lightly grease and line the bottom of baking tin with baking paper.
In a large bowl mix together flour, cocoa/cacao powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. I like to use a whisk but you could sieve all the ingredients into the bowl first.
Peel and mash the bananas.
Add apple cider vinegar to soya milk and stir it in. Vinegar will curdle soya milk which is what's supposed to happen. It's your soya "buttermilk" that will help the cake rise and be light and fluffy.
Gently melt the chocolate in a small saucepan (you could also do it in a microwave or in a bowl set over a small pan with gently simmering water).
Once melted add sugar, oil, soya milk/vinegar mixture and vanilla extract (if using) and give it all a good mix until well combined.
Once combined mix in mashed bananas.
Next, add chocolate banana mixture into the dry flour mix and fold it gently until there are no dry flour bits left. Take care not to overmix.
The batter will be pretty lumpy because of mashed bananas which is how it's supposed to be.
Pour the cake batter into prepared baking tin and bake in preheated oven for approximately 30 minutes until skewer inserted into centre comes out clean.
Let the cake sit in a tin for 10 minutes before removing it onto cooling rack to cool completely.
🍫 How to make easy vegan chocolate glaze?
Put vegan chocolate chips or chopped vegan chocolate in a small pan together with coconut oil.
Melt both over low heat stirring constantly.
Take the pan off the heat and add icing sugar.
Whisk it into the chocolate mixture until well combined and you're left with nice and smooth chocolate glaze.
Let it cool slightly before pouring over the cake.
***This glaze is pretty runny to start with! It will thicken as it cools but it's best to leave it to cool naturally.
Putting it in the fridge will make it harden rapidly and you will need to repeat the process and melt it again.
You can pour it over cooled cake when still pretty runny as once on the cake it will set nicely into soft glaze.***
Have you tried my Vegan Chocolate Banana Cake recipe?
Please consider giving it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating in recipe card below.
😋 More delicious recipes using bananas
Healthy Vegan Banana Bread
Pumpkin Banana Bread (Vegan)
Healthy Banana Flapjacks
Healthy Banana Muffins
Vegan Banana Ice Cream (Nice Cream)
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📋 Recipe
Vegan Chocolate Banana Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
Cake
- 200 g plain (all-purpose) flour feel free to use gluten-free variety
- 25 g cocoa/cacao powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- pinch of salt
- 350 g really overripe bananas peeled weight
- 100 g vegan chocolate
- 100 ml rapeseed/sunflower/olive oil
- 100 g brown sugar
- 100 ml soya milk see notes
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar see notes
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract optional
Chocolate glaze
- 100 g vegan chocolate
- 20 g coconut oil
- 25 g icing sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4, lightly grease and line the bottom of your baking tin with baking paper.
- In a large bowl mix together flour, cocoa/cacao powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. I like to use a whisk but you could sieve all the ingredients into the bowl first.
- Peel and mash the bananas.
- Add apple cider vinegar to soya milk and stir it in. Vinegar will curdle the milk which is what's supposed to happen. It's your soya "buttermilk" that will help the cake rise and be light and fluffy.
- Gently melt the chocolate in a small saucepan (you could also do it in a microwave or in a bowl set over a small pan with gently simmering water).
- Once melted add sugar, oil, soya milk and vinegar mixture and vanilla extract (if using) and give it all a good mix until well combined.
- Once combined mix in mashed bananas.
- Next, add chocolate banana mixture into the dry flour mix and fold it gently until there are no dry flour bits left. Take care not to overmix. The batter will be pretty lumpy because of mashed bananas which is how it's supposed to be.
- Pour the cake batter into prepared baking tin and bake in preheated oven for approximately 30 minutes until the skewer inserted into centre comes out clean.
- Let the cake sit in a tin for 10 minutes before removing it onto cooling rack to cool completely.
Making chocolate glaze
- Put vegan chocolate chips or chopped vegan chocolate in a small pan together with coconut oil.
- Melt both over low heat stirring constantly.
- Take the pan off the heat and add icing sugar.
- Whisk it into the chocolate mixture until well combined and you're left with nice and smooth chocolate glaze.
- Let it cool slightly before pouring over the cake.
Notes
- Nutritional information is approximate, per serving based on 12 servings and without chocolate glaze. It should be treated as a rough guideline only.
- Feel free to use any neutral tasting plant milk although I think soya is best when it comes to baking.
- White wine vinegar or lemon juice can be used instead of apple cider vinegar.
- Keep your cake in the airtight container on the kitchen counter for p to 3 days. If really hot store in the fridge but bring to room temperature before serving.
- Freezer friendly for up to 3 months.
- Use small whisk to mix your dry ingredients. It will give you the same result as if you have sifted them into a bowl.
- I often melt my chocolate directly in a pan over a low heat stirring constantly so that it doesn't burn. However, if you don't feel comfortable with that approach feel free to use microwave (20 sec increments and stir until melted) or bain-marie method (bowl over a pan with simmering water).
- Try and mix your cake batter as little as possible. Incorporate wet and dry ingredients together by gently folding them in. As long as there is no dry flour mix visible it is fine.
- Once batter has been mixed in cake should go into the oven as soon as possible to take advantage of chemical reaction that is happening that will make it raise. Make sure you've got your oven preheated at the right time.
- Make sure you let the cake rest in the tin for 10 minutes once out of the oven. It will make it easier to release out of the tin once the time is up.
Wendy says
Fantastic! I decreased the sugar to 60 grams and added some chocolate chips on top. It was very fudgy and moist and I liked the texture of mashed bananas rather than puréed.
joskitchenlarder says
Hi Wendy, Thank you so much for your lovely comment. I'm so pleased you liked the cake! 🙂