The delightful sweetness of bananas meets the tasty nuttiness of peanut butter with this vegan peanut butter banana cake recipe which is sure to make a few people's stomach rumble just at the sight of it!
This is definitely one of the softest cakes that I've ever made and it takes less than 30 minutes to make. The moist banana cake is topped with a thin peanut butter glaze which compliments it perfectly.
If you love banana flavored treats, this is definitely a great place to start. Easy recipes are always a convenience and this one is no different. I can't wait for you to try it!
Some more banana foodie desserts that you'll be inspired by include my vegan banana brownies, vegan banana pudding poke cake, vegan cinnamon streusel banana bread and vegan pan fried caramelized bananas. They're all very different but equally as delicious.
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Why You Will Love This Cake
- Strong Flavors - Banana cakes are always strong in flavor but in this recipe, there is a perfect balance between the sweetness of the cake and the peanut butter glaze which neutralizes the taste of bananas just a little bit.
- Tasty Glaze - I didn't want to make it too thick, as I thought the peanut butter flavors would be too domineering. Therefore, it turned out to be quite thin and runnier than many of my other glaze and I love it this way! It suits the recipe perfectly.
- Great Texture - These loaf cakes are incredibly moist, light and airy which makes them a delight to eat every time. Some classic cake recipes such as, the vegan orange almond cake and vegan snickerdoodle cake use a very similar formula. The beautiful outcome is largely due to ingredients such as, the ripe bananas, the apple cider vinegar, the canola oil and the baking soda.
- Allergy Friendly & Plant Based - This vegan peanut butter banana cake recipe is fully vegan and dairy free.
Ingredient Notes
- Apple cider vinegar - This will be stirred into the soy milk in order to make the vegan 'buttermilk' mixture. The apple cider vinegar is arguably the most important ingredient as it chemically reacts with some of the other ingredients to create those light pockets of air that you can see inside the cakes.
- Very ripe bananas - The more ripe your bananas are, the best the flavor of your cakes will be. You know that they're ripe when they are covered with dark brown spots. I used ripe bananas when making the vegan blueberry banana cake and vegan banana chocolate chip cookies recipes. Although, they might appear as if they're going bad, these are the perfect bananas for baking with.
- All-purpose flour - Regular plain, white flour is by far the best type of flour that you can use for this recipe, as it creates the best consistency.
- Canola oil - Canola oil gives the cakes a super soft texture which is so delicious. If you weren't sure, I can confirm that this is the same type of oil as rapeseed oil. What you call it just depends on what country you're from.
- Peanut butter - I recommend that you use smooth peanut butter for the glaze. However, this is just a personal preference of mine.
See recipe card for full information on individual ingredients and quantities.
Substitutions & Variations
- You can make the peanut butter glaze thicker if you wish. To do this all you need to do is add extra powdered sugar to the mixture and possibly also a little extra peanut butter. By doing this the consistency will be more similar to the glaze on my vegan chocolate banana bread.
- Although I used smooth peanut butter for the glaze and I stand by it, you can use crunchy peanut butter too, to add that little bit extra on top. I know some people love and prefer the crunchy type so they're more than free to use it. In fact, if you would like to add any extra toppings on top of the glaze, whether that be fruit, nuts or something else, I'm sure it will be delicious!
How To Make Vegan Peanut Butter Banana Cake
For the full method, please refer to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
1: Grease two loaf cake tins with vegan butter.
2: Make the vegan buttermilk and let it curdle.
3: Mix together the dry ingredients and the ripe bananas inside a large bowl.
4: Add the wet ingredients and fold into a smooth batter. Pour into the cake tins and bake.
5: Let the baked loaf cakes cool in the tins.
6: Make the peanut butter glaze and spoon it over the cakes.
Expert Tips
Use ripe bananas - The riper the bananas are, the better the taste of the cake will be. I personally love to have a strong banana flavour inside my banana cakes. Ripe bananas also work as a very good vegan egg replacer which will give your loaf cakes an amazing, soft texture.
Make this cake nut-free - A great alternative for nut butter is sunflower seed butter as it has a similar texture. This could be because you have an allergy or you simply may not like peanut butter.
Don't over-mix the batter - We want our banana cakes to have the lightest texture possible. Over-mixing your cake batter will increase the chances of them to have a denser texture.
Recipe FAQs
Over-mixing your banana cake batter may detrimental to the outcome of the loaf cakes. If you work the gluten too much it will become dense and unappetizing.
Yes, it is! They are great for an energy boost, as well as being very filling. If you love snacks which are full of healthy fats, this a great option.
For short term storage, place this banana cake inside an airtight container and leave at room temperature for up to 3 days. Alternatively, you can store in the fridge for up to 4 days (also in an airtight container).
Yes you certainly can! Slice the peanut butter banana cakes and place them into airtight, freezer-friendly containers or ziplock bags. You can store the cake in your freezer for up to 3 months. You can stop the cakes from sticking together by placing a sheet of parchment paper between each slice.
More Vegan Banana Recipes
If you tried this Vegan Peanut Butter Banana Cake Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you go in the 📝 comments below. I love hearing from you!
Best Vegan Peanut Butter Banana Cake
Ingredients
For the banana cake batter:
- 200 ml soy milk
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 large, very ripe bananas mashed
- 200 g all-purpose flour sifted
- 150 g granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 0.5 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 50 ml canola oil rapeseed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For peanut butter glaze:
- 160 g powdered sugar sifted
- 2 Tablespoons soy milk
- 20 g peanut butter melted
Instructions
Preparation:
- Preheat the oven to 177 Celsius (350F).
- Grease two 20cm x 10cm loaf cake tins with vegan butter. Set aside.
Make the cake:
- Make vegan buttermilk by mixing the apple cider vinegar into the soy milk. Set aside for 7-8 minutes so that it can curdle. While you wait weight out your other cake ingredients.
- To a large bowl, add the ripe bananas, all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt. Mix well.
- Next, add the curdled soy milk, canola oil and vanilla extract. Fold the banana cake batter until it is smooth but don’t over-mix.
- Pour your cake batter equally into the prepared cake tins and bake in the center of the preheated oven for 25 minutes. A skewer will come out clean when they’re done.
- Let the cake loaves cool in their tins for 15 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool fully.
Make the glaze:
- To a small bowl, add the powdered sugar and the soy milk. Mix well.
- Next, pour in your melted peanut butter and stir again.
- Spoon the peanut butter glaze over the cooled banana cakes.
Video
Notes
- The riper the bananas are, the better the taste of the cake will be. I personally love to have a strong banana flavour inside my banana cakes. Ripe bananas also work as a very good vegan egg replacer which will give your loaf cakes an amazing, soft texture.
- A great alternative for nut butter is sunflower seed butter as it has a similar texture. This could be because you have an allergy or you simply may not like peanut butter.
- We want our banana cakes to have the lightest texture possible. Over-mixing your cake batter will increase the chances of them to have a denser textur
Harlee G says
The texture on this is amazing!!!