Hello, my name is Angela and I hoard black bananas.
(Eric made me tell you this today.)
Every time I go to the grocery store, I head straight for the ‘Reduced’ produce section just so I can see if there are any bananas that I can save. I see people passing by perfectly good bananas and I want to leave a sticky note on the bananas saying ‘I’m great for BANANA BREAD!’ or ‘try me in a GREEN MONSTER!’ and then hide behind the bins to see their reactions. I’m afraid they would ban me from my beloved grocery store and that would never be a good thing for a food blogger.
When I finally admitted to Eric that I had a problem, I agreed that the bananas were beginning to pose a health risk to all parties involved. I had several spotted bananas on the counter and a stash of black bananas in a paper bag in the fridge.
Over 10 of them…solid black and starting to leak juices.
When Eric exposed my stash of bananas in the paper bag I knew it would all be over soon if I didn’t take action.
But health risk or not, these babies are at the PEAK of their lives! Yesterday morning, I celebrated by making a chocolate chip banana cake. It would taste so delicious our heads would spin.
Because you really can’t screw up a banana cake when using bananas that look like this…
It’s just not possible.
Rustic Chocolate Chip Banana Oat Cake with Peanut Butter Banana Glaze
Yield
8-10 servings
Prep time
Rest time
15 minutes
Cook time
Total time
This rustic looking banana cake blew our socks off with an intense banana flavour and sweet bites of chocolate. It has a wonderful chewy texture from the oats and a little bit of crunch from the nuts. You’d never guess it has just two tablespoons of oil and it can easily be made gluten-free by using GF oats!
Ingredients
For the cake
- 2 cups regular oats, processed into a flour
- 1/2 cup regular oats (not processed)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed firmly
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/8th tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/16th tsp ground cloves (optional)
- 2 tbsp cane sugar (or regular white)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tbsp coconut oil, melted (or other light tasting oil)
- 2 medium very ripe bananas, peeled
- 1/3 cup applesauce
- 1/4 cup almond milk
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- Fold in: 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips; 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped; 1 ripe banana, cut into chunks
For the PB Banana Glaze (makes 2/3-3/4 cup)
- 1 ripe banana (but not too ripe, you still want it solid!)
- 2 tbsp peanut butter (I used White Chocolate Wonderful flavour)
- 1/2 cup icing sugar, sifted
- Pinch of kosher salt, to taste
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C) and lightly grease a 8 inch (4 cup) casserole dish or 8” cake pan. Take 2 cups of regular oats and process them in a food processor until flour like in consistency.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (processed oats, regular oats, sugars, spices, baking powder, and salt).
- In another bowl, mix together the oil, applesauce, almond milk, and vanilla. Add in the two peeled bananas and smash into the wet ingredients until smooth.
- Add the wet mixture to the dry and stir until just combined. Now fold in the chips, optional walnuts, and the chopped banana.
- Spread into prepared pan and bake for 36 minutes at 350°F (175°C) or until a toothpick comes out clean. The cake must be cooled for at least 15-20 minutes before attempting to remove.
- Once fully cooled, slice and top with PB Banana Glaze (see below). Store in the fridge for up to 3 days (without Glaze).
- PB Banana Glaze: Mash banana in a bowl until smooth. Add in peanut butter and mash until combined.
- Sift in the salt and icing sugar and stir until fully combined. Makes about 2/3 cup glaze. Store in fridge in a sealed contained for 1-2 days.
Tip:
The great thing about this recipe is that I used regular oats and processed them into a flour, so this recipe can be easily made gluten-free if you use GF oats.
It also contains just 2 tbsp of oil, but it is a very moist and flavourful cake. The unsweetened applesauce and ripe bananas replace most of the oil in this recipe. This is not your average banana cake by any means.
it takes just 10-15 minutes to throw it together and pop it in the oven.
Add wet to dry:
Fold in chopped banana, chocolate chips, and nuts:
Scoop into baking dish or cake pan.
My sister Kerrie gave me this baking dish on the weekend! Does she know me or what? I’m in love. :)
Bake for 36 minutes at 350F or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 15-20 minutes so it can firm up and set otherwise it will fall apart when you try to get it out.
While you are waiting you can make the delicious glaze.
After cooling, slice and serve!
This rustic cake turned out so much better than I thought it would, especially because I just winged the recipe by the seat of my pants. The result is a dense, moist, and extremely flavourful cake with a lovely chewiness from the oats and nuts.
Oh, and the bites of banana are out of this world!
If you want to make this into a dessert, serve it with the PB Banana Glaze.
If you want to make it into a breakfast cake, you can leave out the chocolate and use more nuts. Or just leave in all the chocolate! ;)
Eric said this one is ‘in the vault’…
Oh and I still have about 7 black bananas to use up….what to make….
Are you a banana fan? What are your favourite meals or recipes that include bananas?
Oh drool..how I love anything bananas but my allergy forces me to walk right by them.. I hate that so much.
I also horde bananas until they are past brown. I actually hide bananas from my hubby so that they’ll turn. He hates it and tells me it stinks up the whole place. I say, it’s my apartment too and I can stink it up if I want. I can’t wait to make this recipe. It looks out of this world delicious.
I just made this for dessert tonight, it was fantastic. I didn’t have any almond milk, so just used skim. It came out just fine. Thanks for sharing!
:D I just made your cake!!!! Can’t wait to try it….just a tiiiny bite for tonight, and a hunka slice tomorrow :P *droool*
that looks so good! it’s my bday next week and i wanted to make my own cake and this one sounds like a great idea since i love banana cakes =D
could i use plain flour for the oat processed flour? because i don’t own a processor..
Just made this, waiting on it to finish baking. The next 17 minutes are going to be the longest of my life!! Then I still have to wait while it cools!!
Hi Angela!
Did you read this interesting article about vegans and concern with heart health in yesterday’s
Globe and Mail?
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health/being-vegan-could-put-heart-health-at-risk-study/article1895285/?cmpid=rss1
Would love it if you would do a post about supplements you take if any and how you feel about them?
Thanks!
My fiance complains when bananas have ANY brown on them. I just don’t understand!
Little does he know, though, that I use those bananas in the breads and cakes he loves! Muw-ah-haha!
Peanut butter, banana, and chocolate? Best combo EVER.
That looks awesome! I love the reduced produce bin at my store too. I often score organic banana for .19/lb!
ahhahah rustic is right!! look at those mean bananas- that must have incredible flavor!
My favourite way to use up bananas is a modified version of this recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Banana-Chocolate-Chip-Muffins-101020
I use white whole wheat flour in place of all purpose flour, sucanat in place of sugar, almond milk, and organic chocolate chips. They are SOOOOO yummy!
Oh My Word! I must try this! I have some banana’s at home and as soon as they are VERY RIPE I will be making this! I will let you know how it comes out! Can’t wait!
angela- two questions.
#1- i already have oat flour. would i used two cups of oat flour to replace the oats GROUND into flour, or would it be less..like 1 1/2 cups?
#2- do you think this cake would freeze well?
Yes, it freezes well- I reheated mine in the microwave with a bit of milk.
O. M. G. This is probably the best darn thing I have ever tasted! The smell in the kitchen, tasting it when it is warm fresh from the oven, drizzling the sauce over…I bet if I made this for any guy i’d get a marriage proposal the next day! Now to eliminate that stash of black bananas in my freezer, and make lots and lots of this cake!
This is amazing! Looks so delicious too. I totally hoard black bananas as well. There are anywhere between 5-10 in my freezer right now. They’re also great as a snack or as banana “soft serve” or baking, like you said…now I really wish I could make this instead of working! :)
Just made this and omg so simple and addictly tasty, 2 of us ate it all in one day. I should be ashamed but actually Im proud! ^_^
That is too funny your husband made you say that. I am a black banana hoarder, too! Love everything with banana in it!
I have four ready right now. I will make this cake!
*Drool* I just made this…..BEST BANANNA CHOCOLATE CHIP CAKE I HAVE EVER HAD!!! YUMM-O! (I used flour instead of ground oats due to the fact it was late at night while making this and didn’t want to wake anyone up witht he food processor-worked wonderfully)
Did you use 2 cups of flour, or did you reduce it slightly? I’m making this for a friend coming in town this weekend and can’t take my eyes off my bananas, willing them to ripen even more quickly :)
I used about 1 and 7/8ths of a cup…only slightly less.
Love your style of writing, too funny! The cake looks heavenly.