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?
Just put the cake in the oven. As I didn’t have any apple sauce, I used 1/3 c extra milk and 2 Tbsp ground flax and goji mix. Also, my bananas were just half black, couldn’t wait longer! The batter tasted wonderful though, so I think it’s okay. Some of it _may_ have vanished into my mouth. ;)
I made thsi yesterday and it is to die for!!!! OMG! I didnt do the glaze but i ate mine as a snack in between meals. I ate two pieces during the day. Its almost all gone and im planning to make another one in a few minutes!! It keeps me full while at work!!!! I also used regular 2% milk. For those who are looking at suggestions…..MAKE IT NOW!!! YOU WON’T REGRET IT!
haha u are so cute! Thanks for the feedback :)
Sweet!!!! We have a potluck this weekend and I was asked to bring a dessert! Guess what i’m making…. :p
I’m putting it in the oven right now… The PB glaze sold me on it pretty much right away! :) Emily
I have been reading your blog for a while but have never actually made any of your recipes until this one. It is amazing! I also used skim milk instead of almond milk. I didn’t have the ingredients for the glaze, but it still tastes great without it. I will be trying many more recipes after this one!
I am a newer reader to your blog. I stumbled across it in my search for some vegan dessert recipes. I recently had to go milk-free because my baby has a dairy allergy (I’m breastfeeding so he gets what I eat!) and this was what I thought going to be a huge adjustment. It’s been 11 days and I’m feeling so good! I am finding some true love of the vegan recipes. In addition, my 4 year old loves what I’m making and she has no idea how good it is for her. We’re big oat and banana fans so I made this tonight. I actually used pumpkin puree instead of the applesauce with great results. This is incredibly sweet! I didn’t even use the chocolate since I don’t have any that I can have on hand and it’s perfectly delicious as is. Love the texture! Thank you so much!
I saw this recipe yesterday when you posted it and decided immediately that I had to try it! I made it in the afternoon and my husband and I have been munching on it ever since! DELICIOUS! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe!
Thanks for this yummy creation! I made it this evening…I didn’t have time to make applesauce but I did find that I had a can of Organic Sweet Potato Puree so I used 1/3 cup of that in place — turned out amazing!
I’m making this this weekend for a friend coming to town and have been thinking about it all week. I bought bananas on Monday and keep staring them down, hoping they’ll blacken quickly- they’re getting there. I’m also making your double chocolate torte, so I just stuck the avocados in a paper bag with the bananas. Multi-tasking dessert-ingredient-ripening at its finest :)
Does the 2 cups of oats process into 2 cups of flour, or would you use a little less flour?
katie- i had trouble with this, too. i looked it up-
2 cups of rolled oats, after being processed, equals 1 3/5ths cups..or approximately 1 1/4 cups + 1 tablespoon!
have fun making the cake!
Great, thank you so much, Caitlin!
I’m not sure as I didnt measure it after processing. I see someone answered your question though! Thanks :)
You sure know how to whip up a recipe by the seat of your pants, Angela! :) I just made this recipe this morning (minus the PB glaze because I only had enough bananas for the cake) and my son and I are enjoying it warm right now. It’s fantastic! I cut the cake into 12ths and even a small slice is satisfying and dense. I think I’m going to have to try a strawberry-banana version of this once strawberries are in season this May. Yum!
DUH I’m a banana fan! I love em straight out of the peel or in muffins, cakes, breads, stirred into oats, smothered in pb, sliced up over ice cream w/ caramel sauce. oh my i don’t understand how my roommate doesnt like bananas… I guess she’s bananas! (ok i know that was a cheesy joke lol)
Do you ever freeze your black bananas? I also have a black banana hoarding problem and when I cant get to them quick enough I freeze them so I always have a stash. Thanks so much for your blog, I am new to it but I have enjoyed reading your posts!
I dont freeze them when they are black because I find that they crystalize pretty quick. I do freeze spotted bananas though and use them for smoothies. :)
I LOVE this cake! Made it without nuts, glaze or chocolate (because I wanted this NOW, it’s raining, I had a bad day…you understand) and it’s delicious. De-li-cious. I feel better already!
(Love the idea of buying black bananas. They are reduced in price? We don’t have this concept here in The Netherlands, but I think it’s a great one!)
This recipe was bookmarked even before I read it!
I hoard black bananas like they’re going out of fashion too – I even took two of my mum’s the other day because they were so black she was going to throw them away… I love making banana bread with them but I just freeze them if they’re going over and they’re just as good to cook with :-)
My Mom is a black-banana hoarder too, so I took advantage while visiting today and made this cake for an afternoon snack. I really appreciated the ground oat idea because my Mom doesn’t fair well with gluten. Everyone really liked it, but as a huge banana-chocolate fan, I LOVED it.
I love bananas! I use them in my overnight oats and love to add dried banana chips to my nut mixes. Overripe bananas are the best for smoothies and baking. I nice way to save the bananas from becoming completely liquid is to slice them up and put them in individual baggies in the freezer. Perfect for smoothies or baking at a latter date :)
angela.. i just made this. i left out the chocolate to yield a more “breakfast” type bake, but i’m regretting that i did now. i couldn’t resist waiting any longer, i had a warm piece and it was beyonddd delicious. so moist!! this is definitely my newest go-to recipe for overripe bananas. LOVE it! thank you girly!
glad you like it…the chocolate is really good in it, but I can imagine it would be good as a breakfast cake too!
Hi Angela :) Love your blog and your recipes! You and I have so much in common! I too have dealt with weight/food/body image issues my whole life! I could go on and on about it! It is so nice to see a blog by someone who loves food and fitness and finding the perfect balance between the two. I am going to make this cake, like probably tomorrow! Question about the icing sugar? Is that similar to powdered sugar and would that work? Thanks!
Hi Angela, silly me, dumb question about the icing sugar – DUH! Haha I figured it out on my own, kinda had a brain freeze moment I guess. But I did also want to ask you about chia eggs. I am not vegan but do make many vegan desserts/recipes. Could I replace the chia egg with the flax/water combo or just a regular egg? Thanks!
Hi Lori, it really depends on the recipe whether you can replace a flax egg or not, so I wouldn’t be able to say with any confidence. (Unless of course I am ‘veganizing’ a recipe that previously used eggs, but I usually say so in the post if I do. Goodluck!
Thanks so much Angela, We’ll be making this today!!! I am so delighted and grateful to have found you, honestly, I’ve come to your website daily now for the last 3 months (at least)… I almost feel like I couldn’t function any more in the kitchen without you, and for most of my adult life, I was doing okay, even had a reputation of being a ‘good’ cook! You are a BIG blessing! LOVE LOVE LOVE the Overnight Oat Parfait recipes…. seriously, I’m addicted…
Penny, thank you for your comment….that is so sweet! :)