Lee’s Banana Birthday Cake
Gluten Free Banana Bread. Gluten Free Banana Cake. What's the difference?
Last night we went out with our friends Debbie and Mike. They are quite the non-profit duo. Debbie founded the timely and super innovative Wellness Initiative, while Mike runs Progress Now. Two cutting edge organizations out to make the world a better place. What could be cooler?
Here's what. Their son Lee will celebrate his first birthday next week. And they have another little one due any day now! We talked about children and of course, my favorite topic delicious, healthy food. They asked if I had any ideas for their son's birthday cake and told me that little Lee loves bananas.
Here's what I came up with. Bake it in a loaf pan and it's a delicious, healthy gluten free banana bread; bake it in a cake pan and it's a delicious, healthy gluten free banana cake. Either way, enjoy!
3 cups blanched almond flour
½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup agave nectar
¼ cup grapeseed oil
3 eggs, whisked
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 bananas (about one cup) mashed
- In a large bowl, mix together almond flour, salt and baking soda
- In a smaller bowl, combine agave, grapeseed oil, eggs and vanilla, then stir in bananas
- Mix wet ingredients into dry
- Place batter in either a cake pan or two small 7.5" x 3.5" loaf pans
- Bake at 350° for 40 minutes
- Remove from oven and allow to cool
Serves 12
Enjoy this delicious gluten free, dairy free banana bread plain or indulge with some cream cheese frosting for a super rich dessert. Either way, happy birthday!
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Posted on October 21, 2007 in desserts by Elana
you might also like: Flourless Chocolate Banana Cake
or Roasted Banana Coconut Ice Cream
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30 comments
hi i just found out that i have celiac disease.
could you help me get started. thanks so much.
Angel,
You could look at my essential posts on celiac disease. There's also a section devoted to celiac disease on my FAQ page.
Elana
Hi Elana,
I am so excited that I found this site. I eat gluten free and recently have eliminated grains from my diet, except for sprouted, whole oats and quinoa. Anyways, I have been searching for a long time for a site like this. These recipes are truly healthy, not just "so-called" gluten free, etc. I hated baking with brown rice and sorghum flour as they are still grains, and eliminating grains has changed my life for the better.
I made the banana cake tonight, and it came out great. My husband liked it also, but he did not think it was sweet enough. I thought it was perfect, but he likes it sweeter, and I dont want to add any sugar. If I added another banana, or more agave, would it make the batter too liquid, or would it be OK?
Thank you so much again for this site. I am going to spread the word about your blog. I am a student at the Clayton College of Natural Health and I will post the word about it there. I feel like I found a gold mine! I can teven tell you how excited I am about this. I can actually eat all of these things without guilt and adverse health reactions. Thanks again!
Jenna
Dear Jenna,
Thanks so much for your feedback, I really appreciate it.
In terms of sweetening up the cake, I am not sure how your idea would turn out, though I like it and think it might be worth a try.
If you do experiment, please stop back by and let us know how it goes!
Thanks,
Elana
I just had to tell you that I made this cake Sunday and we loved it. We did make the frosting too which is very yummy! The frosting does allow for a little more sweetness which is what my kids are all about but one of them ate it without the frosting and the other one loved it with the frosting. Even my husband enjoyed it which is saying a lot! Thank you for your yummy and smart recipes! I was thinking it would be fun to make cupcake or muffin style. Have you done that and do think it would work? Thanks again!
Jenni - Thanks for your comment; glad you liked the cake. Here is a delicious vanilla cupcake recipe for you to try. I haven't made this banana cake into cupcakes or muffins; if you do so please let us know your results.
I've been making banana bread since I was a kid, and this tastes just as delicious as the white flour kind! You are my hero :). I made them as muffins and in a regular size muffin tray they took about 25 min. to bake at 350 and were fantastic. Oh and I had to use maple syrup (not a whole 1/4 cup) because I was out of agave. Thanks again!
Katie,
Thanks so much for your kind comment and for letting us know about the changes you made to the recipe.
Take Care,
Elana
Love this website !!!
I tried this receipt this weekend with just a bit of an adjustment. I used a loaf pan for banana bread and added a shredded apple with some cinnamon and nutmeg to help kick off season. (also have way too many apple to use up) And other then needing to cook it a bit longer, it was wonderful.
sandy,
Thanks, glad you liked it!
Elana
Hi Elana,
I have tried a few of your wonderful recipes, my favorite is the Pumpkin Pie Muffins (which I made twice!), recently I made your Simple Bread and added some apples, walnuts, and cinnamon- it didn't turn out that great, but it's okay! I am trying to find another gf/sf recipe for all these apples I have- I did make your apple crisp and it was great, but I wanted to try something more pie/galette-like. Do you have a recipe for pie crust? I am also going to make the Banana Cake this weekend! Thank you so much for sharing all of your creations! It definitely makes avoiding sugar and gluten a lot easier!!!
Sincerely,
Laney (Portland, OR)
Laney,
Thanks for your comment. Yes, the Simple Bread is very so-so, not one of my favorite recipes. I will have better bread recipes in my cookbook (coming out next fall). I do have a pie crust recipe, though I'm not a big fan of apple pie with this crust (the apples make the crust soggy), I think the apple crisp is much better. What about making apple sauce? It's so easy to prepare and very easy to eat too.
Hope this helps.
Elana
This is so delicious! One of my new favorites! And so easy to make:)
Laney,
Glad you liked it!
Elana
[...] days have passed. I know … it’s happened to me.) Elana of Elana’s Pantry baked a Banana Birthday Cake. (Like most of Elana’s recipes, that one looks good for any occasion.) The Chef whipped up a [...]
i just made this banana bread today.
it tastes amazing, i am in love.
i substituted the grapeseed with coconut oil,
and the agave with raw honey.
when the loaf is ready...
i heated some raw honey, butter and a dash of salt
to use a a spread.
it is to die for, thank you so much !
jml -Amazing! Yum :-)
A new favorite recipe for us for sure! My daughter is just finishing up her second mini-muffin for her afternoon snack. The 24 mini-muffins came out beautifully! (I don't remember how long I cooked them for - I just checked them every few min - that's kind of how I bake). Also added flax meal to a bit of the batter that didn't fit in the mini-muffin pan and made 4 larger muffins - also delicious. Thank you!!!!!
Here is another rave review for this wonderful bread. I've made it twice. The first time I followed the recipe with no changes. I underbaked it a bit but it was still very good. Today I made it for the second time. I used coconut oil instead of grapseed oil and added about 11/2 cups of toasted walnut pieces. It's a winner.
Thank you so much for this site.
katiebear
Lynn -So glad your daughter enjoyed and thanks for sharing the addition of flax --great!
katiebear -You are so welcome. I love the idea of using coconut oil in the banana bread.
We made these as muffins today for the second time and are definitely our favorite muffins I have tried since going GFCF earlier this year. Both my 3-year-old and my husband love them, which is saying a lot around here! I omitted the agave nectar and added an extra banana and they turn out delicious. They have better moisture this way without packing the almond flour down at all. Thank you for helping us on this new dietary path!!
Aileah, thanks for your lovely comment and also for sharing your delectable sounding alteration to the recipe!
Hi Elana,
i just discovered your website and excited to try out some of your recipes. My daughter has intolerance to all nuts so what can I substitude almond flour with?
Jay,
Thank you for your comment :-) Please see my faq's for the answer to your substitution question and other frequently asked questions.
Elana
OMG...I really have to stop trying your recipes..they are so good!!
I made this recipe into a loaf...just one regular sized loaf. I used half maple syrup, half honey instead of the agave and I used 3 bananas. I also added some 72% dark chocolate chunks....baked for an extra 10 min (50 min total) and it is lovely!! So moist and tender and tasty....
thank you!!
I made this into 1 regular sized loaf and it took 45 minutes. I used coconut oil. This came out so tender and moist! I've been having trouble with the almond flour bread recipe. Either it won't rise, or it sticks pretty badly or something. This turned out perfect the first try. BTW, Elena, you didn't put this on Zaar. Would you, so I can put it in my cookbook, either that or I'll put it in my private recipes. Thanks.
Hi Elana,
I baked this banana bread/cake recipe as muffins tonight (25 minutes at 350ºF). I packed down the almond flour (I think you do too) and otherwise followed the recipe as written. In the future, I would grease the muffin tin a bit. Otherwise, they are excellent and just what I was looking for with 2 very ripe bananas, and the need for portable weekend travel snacks that are not too sweet (and these are high in protein to boot!).
Next time, I think I'll add chocolate chunks (cut up chocodrops) or Enjoylife mini chocolate chips and/or cinnamon or chai spice (my homemade blend that I use for applesauce). Maybe spread some almond butter on top too. :) Thanks for another family favorite!
This is the most awesome website ever. Your almond bar are to die for, and all my friends always want to know if I have any in the fridge. I've given them the recipie and your website so they can make them as well. I was wondering if I can make your banana bread with Almond Meal? I'm making these for our trip this weekend.
Thanks,
Petrina
Just made this with coconut oil. Delicious, thanks! You have single handedly inspired me to develop a cooking hobby.
Just made these into muffins, followed the recipe exactly except I folded in about a cup of chopped pecans. Baked on the low rack in a 350 oven for 23 minutes and they came out great! I think next time I will use part agave nectar and part maple syrup to give it a little extra umph. Thanks to everyone who has posted suggestions here as it has given me some great ideas on how to modify this in the future!
Elana,
I love this banana bread! I used Ener-G egg replacer to make it vegan and it worked out perfectly! The second time around I added crushed walnuts and cinnamon and that was delish too! Thank you for introducing me to Almond Flour. I do not have Celiac but I keep getting cysts and they believe Gluten and over production of Insulin causes it, so no more gluten for me. So thank you so much!
I do have a question - can I substitute a cup of apple sauce or say 1/2 cup apple sauce and 1/2 cup apple chunks instead of the banana? Wasn't sure if you've experimented in this area :)
Thanks so much!
Teresa