This soft and fluffy banana cake is so moist and rich with flavor, and is made in just one bowl! No eggs, no dairy, and easily gluten free, this easy banana cake is topped with a creamy dairy free peanut butter cream cheese frosting.

plate of vegan banana cake with a bite taken from it

If you’re a fan of all banana desserts (looking at you, BEST vegan gluten-free banana bread, fluffy vegan banana pancakes, and the ultimate vegan banana cream pie), then you’re going to love this gluten-free banana cake. 

It’s like a snack cake with an unbelievable peanut butter frosting that will leave you speechless (and going for spoon after spoon). Very similar in flavor to my vegan banana bread cinnamon rolls too 🙂

NOTE: If you’re looking for more of a classic cake recipe, rather than a lightened up snack cake, try this vegan banana cake, that can be easily made as a gluten-free cake as well!

No eggs and no dairy is needed to make this fluffy banana cake.

You’re just going to absolutely adore this easy gluten-free banana cake!

And if you like cakes: Be sure to check out some other amazing gluten free vegan cakes!

sliced vegan banana cake

What’s the difference between banana bread and banana cake?

Often, banana bread and even banana muffins, such as this fluffy vegan banana bread that’s easily gluten free, is much denser and definitely not as sweet. They’re very comparable, but banana cake I find tends to be lighter in texture, and of course, is topped with a delicious frosting.

Ultimately, I think it’s best you have both recipes in your life 😉

Ingredients:

What’s really cool about this banana cake is that you can use a gluten free flour blend OR even use all purpose flour if you’d really like! The cake will come out absolutely delicious.

For this banana cake, you’ll need:

  • Flour: I personally recommend using King Arthur’s Measure for Measure or Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 gluten-free baking flour blend. These two gluten free flour blends are my favorite: both contain xanthan gum, which is necessary for this cake recipe, and both are vegan-friendly (so no dairy). Please DO NOT use the Namaste flour blend. It will not work. 
  • Vegan buttermilk: This helps our cake to rise and become super fluffy. You only need your favorite dairy free milk and apple cider vinegar or lemon juice.
  • Bananas: well, of course you need bananas! For this recipe, since there is no oil nor applesauce, the bananas basically replace both, yielding the most moist banana cake you’ll ever taste! Make sure your bananas are extra ripe for added sweetness- if you need to ripen yellow bananas, check out this trick here!
  • Brown sugar & sugar
  • Vanilla extract
  • Dairy free yogurt: Just a touch to add moisture and richness to the batter.
  • Vegan Peanut Butter Frosting: this is a lovely combination of peanut butter, vegan butter, vegan cream cheese, and powdered sugar. Absolutely delightful!
slice of vegan banana cake on parchment paper

Overview: How to make a one bowl banana cake:

There’s a reason why this is called an easy gluten free banana cake recipe! It’s so simple and quick to make that you’ll be making it every week, guaranteed (because who doesn’t love eating a banana sheet cake whenever?!).

To start, make sure that your bananas are mashed and that you’ve mixed your dairy free milk with the apple cider vinegar to create the buttermilk reaction.

Now we get to make the cake!

  1. Preheat your oven to 350F and grease a 7×11″ or 8×13″ cake pan with some coconut oil or olive oil and line with parchment paper.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the vegan butter, mashed bananas, brown sugar, sugar, dairy free yogurt, vegan buttermilk, and vanilla. Then whisk in the dry ingredients. 
  3. Pour the batter into the baking dish and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the toothpick comes out clean.
banana cake batter
banana cake batter before it bakes
baked banana cake

Then let the cake cool before you begin to make your vegan peanut butter frosting!

Optional gluten-free banana cake add ins:

  • Chopped walnuts
  • Vegan chocolate chips
  • Chopped pecans
  • Extra cinnamon
  • Vegan white chocolate chips
  • Ground nutmeg
  • Orange zest
frosted vegan banana cake
sliced and decorated vegan banana cake

Tips for making moist banana cake

Now, from time to time, you might have some issues with vegan baking. It happens! Like with my vegan vanilla cake, you’ll want a nice and light texture, but because this recipe is devoid of any eggs, you need to do some culinary magic (i.e. the tips I’m about to share 😉 ).

  • What happens if your cake is gummy? This happens when your ingredients aren’t fully to room temperature. If your ingredients are still cold, it alters the gluten, yielding a gummy texture.
  • Why is my cake too dense? Similar to gumminess, a dense banana cake is no good! To prevent this, make sure that you’ve sifted the flour. This helps to capture some air rather than having clumps of flour that you have to beat apart.
  • Help! My cake didn’t rise! This may actually be the quality of your leavening agents. Baking powder stops working after a while. Make sure that your baking powder isn’t sitting out open and is fresh (within the past month!).
  • What if I want to swap in other ingredients? Please only follow the swaps that I suggest down below in the recipe card. Otherwise, I really can’t guarantee the results, and I don’t want you to be unhappy with your baking experience. Ingredients I’ve personally tested and can say work: you can use any dairy free milk.
  • Can I make this nut free? Absolutely! That’s my last swap: swap in sunflower seed butter for the peanut butter and you have a wonderful nut free gluten free vegan banana cake recipe!
slice of vegan banana cake on a plate

I hope these tips help! These are some of the most common errors when experimenting with vegan baking, and I really would love your healthy banana cake to come out the best it can be 🙂 So make sure to check out these tips before you begin!

fluffy banana cake with cookie crumbs on frosting

You’re just going to love this easy vegan gluten-free banana cake recipe! I seriously cannot get over how light it tastes, and that it’s oil free, yet is so sweet and moist! My fork kept finding its way to another bite…and another bite…and another!

I can’t wait to see your beautiful banana sheet cake creations on Instagram and Pinterest!

Happy baking and frosting!

Want to save this recipe for later? Add it to your favorite recipe board on Pinterest!

One Bowl Easy Vegan Banana Snack Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting (No Eggs! Gluten Free!) pinterest pin

If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below. This helps others to find the recipes! As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there as well!

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fluffy banana cake with cookie crumbs on frosting

One Bowl Easy Vegan Banana Snack Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting (No Eggs! Gluten Free!)

★★★★★ 4.7 from 6 reviews
  • Author: Britt Berlin
  • Prep Time: 10
  • Cook Time: 35
  • Total Time: 45 minutes
  • Yield: 12 1x
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: American
Print Recipe

Description

This soft and fluffy banana cake is so moist and rich with flavor, and is made in just one bowl! No eggs, no dairy, and easily gluten free, this easy banana cake is topped with a creamy dairy free peanut butter cream cheese frosting.

Ingredients

Scale

Vegan Gluten-Free Banana Cake:

  • 3 cups (375) g all purpose flour or gluten free 1:1 baking flour*
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
  • 1/2 cup (113 g) unsalted vegan butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
  • 3/4 cup (150 g) brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
  • 1 1/2 tbsp dairy free yogurt, room temperature
  • 1 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 2 large bananas, mashed
  • 1 cup (240 mL) vegan buttermilk, room temperature 
  • 1 batch of Vegan Peanut Butter Frosting

Instructions

  1. Prep: Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a 9×9″ or 8×13″ baking pan with parchment paper greased lightly with oil.
  2. Make the batter: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the vegan butter, mashed banana, brown sugar, sugar, dairy free yogurt, and vanilla extract. Add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt, along with the vegan buttermilk, and whisk until just combined. 
  3. Bake: Pour the banana cake batter into the prepared baking pan, and bake. For 9×9″, you’ll bake for 35-40 minutes, for 8×13″, you’ll bake the cake for 28-30 minutes. 
  4. Cool: Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Then transfer the cake to a cooling rack to cool completely before making the frosting. 
  5. Make the peanut butter cream cheese frosting: In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer, cream together the vegan cream cheese, vegan butter, and peanut butter. Add in the powdered sugar in 1 cup increments, using 1 tbsp of dairy free milk at a time to help achieve a super fluffy and creamy texture.
  6. Frost the cake: Spread the peanut butter cream cheese frosting onto the cooled gluten-free banana cake. Sprinkle with extra peanuts and banana coins. Slice and serve!

Notes

Gluten-free flour options: I love using King Arthur Measure for Measure flour, which is very similar in weight to all purpose flour. If you’re using Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 baking flour, you’ll need to use 490 g. If you’d like to use just oat flour, you can use 440 g or 4 1/2 cups gluten-free oat flour.

Not gluten-free? You can swap in all purpose flour easily.

Sugar: You can also use maple syrup instead of coconut sugar or granulated sugar. Use 1 cup (240 mL) maple syrup.

Oil-free peanut butter frosting: replace the vegan butter and vegan cream cheese with 1 cup vegan Greek-style yogurt. You can also swap in maple syrup here for the powdered sugar as well.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 square
  • Calories: 282
  • Sugar: 22.5 g
  • Sodium: 259.5 mg
  • Fat: 8.8 g
  • Saturated Fat: 1.6 g
  • Carbohydrates: 46.4 g
  • Fiber: 3 g
  • Protein: 6 g
  • Cholesterol: 0 mg

Keywords: gluten-free banana cake, gluten free banana cake, vegan gluten free banana cake, banana cake with peanut butter frosting, healthy banana cake, vegan banana snack cake

pinterest image for healthy banana cake
pinterest image for healthy banana cake