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Treat yourself to a healthy snack that feels like an indulgent dessert with this easy Gluten-Free Banana Snack Cake! It’s finished off with a light and fluffy cream cheese frosting made with Greek yogurt.
Ultra Moist Banana Cake with Fluffy Cream Cheese Frosting
This gluten-free snack cake is a total treat for everyone. It looks like cake, it tastes like cake, but it’s healthy enough to eat for breakfast. It’s incredibly moist and tender, and the vanilla frosting on top is super soft and fluffy.
Since the cake is made with oat flour and almond meal to keep it as nutritious as possible, it does have a slightly denser texture than your average cake – it feels a little bit more like moist banana bread. And like banana bread, it tastes amazing on its own! Although I do highly recommend adding the frosting.
Not only does the Greek yogurt frosting add a lovely finishing touch for your taste buds, but it also provides a whole lot of protein without much additional sugar. I could eat it with a spoon! You’ll definitely want to cut yourself a generous slice of this gluten-free cake – and there’s no reason to feel guilty about it.
What You’ll Need
Gather the following ingredients and get ready to whip up a healthy delight. Both the cake and the frosting keep it simple.
For the Banana Snack Cake
- Almond Flour or Meal: Both have been used in this recipe.
- Oat Flour: Store-bought or homemade. Be sure your oats or oat flour are certified gluten free, if needed.
- Tapioca Starch: In a pinch, you can try using potato starch, but you should be able to find tapioca starch in the baking aisle at your local supermarket.
- Granulated Sugar
- Baking Powder
- Kosher Salt
- Bananas: Mashed.
- Large Eggs: Bring these to room temperature.
- Vegetable Oil: Or canola oil.
- Milk: Also brought to room temperature.
For the Cream Cheese Frosting
- Cream Cheese: Room temperature.
- Greek Yogurt: I suggest sticking with plain yogurt – any added flavors will come through in your frosting and make it too sweet.
- Vanilla Extract
- Powdered Sugar: For sweetnes and structure.
How to Make Gluten-Free Banana Snack Cake
This gluten-free snack cake is a cinch to throw together. Here’s how it’s done:
Prep for Baking: Preheat the oven to 350°F and spray a 9-inch square cake pan with cooking spray.
Combine Dry Ingredients: Whisk together the almond meal, oat flour, tapioca starch, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl until thoroughly combined.
Combine Wet Ingredients: Whisk together the bananas, eggs, oil, and milk in a medium-sized bowl.
Fold Mixtures Together: Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and fold gently to combine the two mixtures.
Bake: Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake the cake for 30-35 minutes, or until it’s slightly browned and firm to the touch.
Let Cool: Place the pan onto a rack and let the cake cool for 10-15 minutes, then remove the cake from the pan and cool it to room temperature directly on the rack.
Make Frosting: While the cake is cooling, add all of the frosting ingredients to a medium-sized bowl. Beat them together with an electric mixer until the frosting is thoroughly combined and smooth.
Add to Cooled Cake: Use an offset spatula to spread the frosting onto your completely cooled snack cake.
Tips for Success
Sometimes you have to make something multiple times to get it just right – well, not when it comes to this banana snack cake! These tips will help you get flawless results on your first try.
- Make Your Own Oat Flour: You can buy pre-packaged oat flour if you’d like, but it’s super easy to make at home with old-fashioned rolled oats. Simply use a high-speed blender or a food processor to grind them into a powder and sift out any larger chunks. Make sure the oats are certified gluten-free if neeeded.
- Use Overripe Bananas: Don’t be afraid of overripe bananas with lots of brown spots on the peels – these are actually ideal for baking. As long as there’s no mold on the bananas, they’re safe to use.
- Bring Your Ingredients to Room Temperature: Be sure to bring your refrigerated ingredients to room temperature before using them in the cake or the frosting. If they’re cold, they’ll be difficult to combine with the other ingredients.
- Let the Cake Cool Completely: Don’t frost your cake until it has cooled all the way down to room temperature. You don’t want the frosting to melt and make a mess.
Can I Make This Ahead of Time?
This gluten-free cake can be baked, cooled, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and stored in the fridge up to 2 days in advance. You could also keep it in the freezer for 2-3 months, adding a second layer of plastic wrap to prevent freezer burn. Defrost it prior to serving it, then add the frosting and enjoy!
How to Store Extra Cake
Leftover snack cake should be refrigerated in an airtight container. It will last for up to 5 days! Since the frosting has yogurt and cream cheese in it, avoid leaving it out at room temperature for longer than a couple of hours.
Can I Freeze This?
You can! Even with the frosting on top, this cake can be frozen for up to 3 months. First, freeze it on a baking sheet for 1 hour, or until the frosting is solid. Then wrap the cake tightly in two layers of plastic wrap and store it in a freezer-safe container. Unwrap it and thaw it out in the fridge before digging in.
Topping Ideas
Whether you’d like to enjoy this gluten-free cake as a healthy dessert or just dress it up in general, feel free to throw on your favorite toppings. Have fun with it!
- Fresh Banana Slices
- Chopped Nuts
- Chocolate Shavings
- Toasted Coconut Flakes
- Sprinkles
- Fresh Berries
- Orange or Lemon Zest
Things You’ll Need
GLUTEN FREE INGREDIENTS: For this recipe, I often use Bob’s Red Mill products, including their Almond Flour, Tapioca Flour, and Certified Gluten Free Oat Flour.
BAKING DISH: I like to make this banana snack cake in a square glass baking dish, like the one from Pyrex.
Gluten Free Banana Snack Cake
Equipment
- Oven
Ingredients
For the Banana Snack Cake
- 1/2 cup almond meal
- 1 cup oat flour certified gluten-free if necessary. Make your own by using a blender/food processor to grind rolled oats into a powder, sifting out any chunks
- 1/4 cup tapioca starch
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder certified gluten-free if necessary
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup mashed bananas about 3 small, very ripe bananas
- 3 large eggs at room temperature
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil or canola oil
- 1/4 cup milk at room temperature
For the Cream Cheese Greek Yogurt Frosting
- 4 ounces cream cheese at room temperature (I used light)
- 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt I used nonfat
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9-inch square cake pan with cooking spray or mist with oil.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the almond meal, oat flour, tapioca starch, sugar, baking powder, and salt until thoroughly combined.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the bananas, eggs, oil, and milk.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and fold gently to combine.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until slightly browned and firm to the touch.
- Let cool completely to room temperature in the pan on a rack.
- Combine all of the frosting ingredients in a medium-sized bowl and beat with an electric mixer until thoroughly combined and smooth.
- Frost the completely cooled cake, cut into slices and enjoy.
Notes
- To Store: Refrigerate extra cake in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- To Freeze: Freeze cake on a baking sheet for 1 hour, or until frosting is solid. Then wrap tightly in two layers of plastic wrap and freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Unwrap and thaw before enjoying.
Did you make this?
Leave a rating below and tag @cupcakekalechip on Instagram and hashtag it #cupcakesandkalechips
More Healthy Gluten-Free Treats to Try
Want more sweets and treats that don’t contain any gluten? You’ve gotta try the recipes below.
Looks amazing – can’t wait to try! Can you sub apple sauce for the oil?
Thank you, Christina! Apple sauce is a great low fat substitute for oil. I bet the muffins will taste delicious with the apple flavor added to them!
Thanks for the link love!
Oh hello magically moist cake that I want to shove in my face ALL DAY and night!
Looks so yummy! I made a gluten fee pumpkin banana bread that I loved, so I bet this one is just as delicious!
xoxo Sarah Grace, Fresh Fit N Healthy.
Oooh, that does sound good!
Do you know of a way to substitute another type of flour for the almond flour? This looks amazing and I’d love to make it for my son’s first birthday but several family members have various nut allergies so I’m trying to stay “nut free”. Thanks!!
Sorry for the delay – I got behind on comments around the holidays. I would think you could use coconut flour, though a lesser amount because it absorbs more moisture. I have not tried.
I’m confused about about the first part. Do you oil the pan then put parchment paper over the top of the oiled pan?
A bit of oil in the pan helps hold down the parchment and helps the cake and parchment slide out.
This cake looks super yummy! Thanks for sharing your recipe on the Monday Funday Party!
This looks very tasty and I would make it for my friend (who is a celiac victim, as so many others are), but for the fact that it contains oat flour. She cannot tolerate oats and, like me, finds it very frustrating that so many gluten-free recipes contain oats. Is this because many people who are eating gluten-free food do so for reasons other than gluten intolerance? She reacts to oats the same way as to any other wheat product, and it is not a good thing.
Oh wow! I’ve heard of people reacting to oats because of cross contamination with gluten, but not the oats itself, if you can find certified gluten free oats. I eat pretty much gluten free because I have an intolerance, but it isn’t severe, so trace gluten isn’t an issue for me. So while I’m not gluten free just to be “trendy”, I also don’t have the same concerns as someone with celiac.
Thank you for sharing my zucchini bread! I can’t wait to make this banana cake for my kids!
You post whatever you want! It’s good to have a little variety sometimes. But this cake is also amazing-like the perfect treat!