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If you love banana bread, you’ll absolutely love this vegan banana cake! It has all that sweet, banana-forward flavor, but with a lighter more delicate crumb. Topped off with a generous amount of dairy-free cream cheese frosting, a slice of this snack cake is just too good to pass up.
Why This Recipe Works
This vegan banana cake is adapted from my tried-and-tested vegan banana bread, but a few key changes give it a softer more cake-like texture.
- Cake flour keeps the crumb delicate. Swapping the all-purpose flour for lower-protein cake flour helps create a more tender crumb.
- Slightly less banana keeps the cake light. Using about one less banana adds banana flavor and moisture without weighing down the batter.
- More soy milk creates an airier batter. The extra liquid loosens the batter and adds moisture, helping the cake bake up soft and fluffy rather than dense like banana bread.
Ingredients
Ripe Bananas
Use very ripe bananas with lots of brown spots for the best flavor and natural sweetness. The riper they are, the easier they’ll mash into the batter and the stronger the banana flavor will be.
You’ll need about 2-3 medium bananas but always be sure to measure with cups or even better…a digital scale!
Cake Flour
Cake flour has a lower protein content than all-purpose flour, which helps give this cake its softer texture.
For the most accurate measurement, spoon the flour into your measuring cup and level it off, or sift it before measuring if it’s clumpy. Avoid scooping directly from the bag, which can pack in too much flour!
Baking Powder
I tested this cake with a combination of baking powder and baking soda, but ultimately preferred the baking powder-only version. It keeps the ingredient list simple and gave the cake a more uniform crumb.
Neutral Oil
Use a neutral-flavored oil like canola, vegetable, or sunflower oil. Avocado oil also works well as long as it has a mild flavor.
I don’t recommend swapping in coconut oil or vegan butter here since they’re solid at room temperature and will give the cake a firmer, denser texture once cooled.
Brown Sugar + Regular Sugar
Two sugars balance flavor and texture. Brown sugar adds moisture and a subtle caramel-like flavor, while granulated sugar helps keep the flavor cleaner so the banana can really shine through.
How to Make Vegan Banana Cake
Exact ingredient quantities are in the recipe card below!
Mash the bananas in a large bowl until they are very smooth and almost liquidy.
Whisk in the sugars, then add the remaining wet ingredients.
Mix to combine, then add the dry ingredients on top.
Whisk the dry ingredients together, then mix into the wet to form a batter. Avoid overmixing!
Transfer to a parchment lined square baking pan.
Bake at 350F for 35-40 minutes.
Let the cake cool and scoop dairy-free cream cheese frosting on top.
Spread the frosting over the cake. Then, slice and serve!
Decorating + Storage
Once the cake is completely cool, I definitely recommend frosting it with my vegan cream cheese frosting. I ended up using a full batch for a nice thick layer, but you can halve it if you prefer a thinner layer of frosting.
For a little extra decoration, swirl vegan caramel or butterscotch sauce over the top. Right before serving, you can also add a few slices of fresh banana. I like using a less ripe banana for this so the slices hold their shape better.
Also, if you’re not a fan of cream cheese frosting, you can swap in my vegan vanilla buttercream, vegan chocolate frosting, Biscoff frosting from my Biscoff cake recipe, or strawberry frosting for an extra fruity combo.
The unfrosted cake can be wrapped well and stored at room temperature. Once frosted, store the cake covered in the fridge.
Helpful Tips for the BEST Banana Cake
- Use Very Ripe Bananas: The riper, the better! Mash them really well until they’re almost liquidy for the best flavor and texture.
- Measure the Bananas + Flour With a Scale: A kitchen scale keeps the moisture-to-flour ratio consistent, which is especially important in banana cake.
- Mix Until Just Combined: Stop mixing as soon as the flour is incorporated. Overmixing can make the crumb denser/chewier instead of soft and fluffy.
More Vegan Banana Recipes
Best Vegan Banana Cake – Soft & Moist!
Rate this RecipeIngredients
- ¾ cup mashed very ripe bananas, 200g – about 2-3 medium bananas
- ½ cup light brown sugar, tightly packed – 100g
- ½ cup granulated sugar, 100g
- ¾ cup unsweetened soy milk, room temperature
- ½ cup neutral oil, 100g – like sunflower, vegetable or canola
- 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract, 12g
- 2 ¼ cups cake flour, 240g – spooned (not scooped) into the measuring cup and leveled off
- 2 tsp baking powder, 8g
- ¾ tsp fine salt, 4g
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon, .5g
- 1 recipe vegan cream cheese frosting
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8-inch metal baking pan with parchment paper.
- Mash Bananas & Whisk Sugars: In a large mixing bowl, mash the bananas until very smooth and liquidy. Add the sugar and whisk until combined.
- Wet Ingredients: Add the soy milk, oil, and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth and combined.
- Dry Ingredients: Add the cake flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon on top. If the cake flour is clumpy, sift it into the bowl first. Mix until just combined, with a few small streaks of flour still remaining around the edges.
- Bake: Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35–40 minutes, until the edges are lightly browned and the top springs back when gently pressed. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
- Optional: If desired, drizzle 1 tablespoon of vegan caramel or butterscotch sauce over the frosting and gently swirl it in. Top with slices of banana.
Did You Make This?
Leave a star rating and a comment below to let others know how it turned out for you!
Did You Make This Vegan Banana Cake?
I’d love to know! Leave a star rating and comment below!