Mix up a simple batter bursting with banana, whole grains, and flavor for a healthy Banana Cake to celebrate a kids birthday or special event. Bonus: The simple whipped cream cheese frosting seals the deal and the whole thing can be made ahead!
It’s always fun to make a cake to celebrate and share with the littles and this cake is one of our favorites for toddler birthdays or a first birthday party idea! It’s easy to make, includes nutritious ingredients, is super moist, and is just sweet enough. And grownups will enjoy it too!
This easy banana cake comes together in a food processor, so it’s super easy to make—even if you have the kids around while you are making it.
You can also make it ahead of time if that’s easier on your schedule.
I like to top it with Cream Cheese Frosting or Yogurt Frosting, because both pair so well with the banana flavor of the cake.
(You may also like One-Year-Old Birthday Cake, First Birthday Smash Cake, Sweet Potato Baby Cake, and Kids Birthday Cake recipes.)
Table of Contents
Ingredients You Need
To make this healthy banana cake for a kids birthday or any dessert you’ll need the following ingredients
- Ripe bananas: Very ripe bananas are key for the flavor in this recipe, so be sure that yours have lots of brown spots.
- Rolled oats: We use these in place of flour for extra nutrition and because they are super tender in the final recipe.
- Eggs: These help bind the ingredients together.
- Unsalted butter: I prefer to use unsalted butter so I can control the salt in the cake.
- Baking powder and baking soda: These help ensure that the cake rises and bakes through evenly.
- Cinnamon: This adds that classic banana cake flavor.
- Maple syrup: We use this as the sweetener in this recipe. You can also use honey for kids over age 1.
TIP: For the Cream Cheese Frosting, you simply need cream cheese, butter, vanilla extract and maple syrup or honey. So mostly pantry staples and too-ripe bananas!
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here’s a look at the easy process involved in making this healthy banana cake. Scroll down to the bottom of this post for the full recipe.
- Preheat the oven and gather your ingredients.
- Grind the dry ingredients into a coarse flour in a food processor or blender.
- Add the bananas and the remaining ingredients. Process into a uniform batter.
- Divide into the prepared baking pans and bake.
TIP: To make this cake without a food processor, mash the bananas very smooth with a potato masher or fork and use purchased oat flour.
Frequently Asked Questions
To make this cake without gluten, simply opt for certified gluten-free rolled oats when buying them at the store.
To make this cake dairy-free, use melted coconut oil instead of the butter in the cake. And nondairy Greek yogurt instead of the cream cheese in the frosting.
Sure! You can either bake just the cakes a day ahead or you can bake the whole thing and frost it ahead. I find it easier to store it if I just do the cakes ahead of time, so see the Notes section at the bottom of the recipe for details.
Healthy 1st Birthday Cake
This cake is perfect for a first birthday since the sweetness comes mostly from fruit and it’s super moist and easy for little ones to eat. You could even decorate it with fresh fruit or sprinkles if you want to!
How to Store
You can bake the healthy banana cakes up to a day ahead and after they’re cooled, wrap in plastic wrap and store in the fridge. Let sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before serving to allow the cakes to soften a bit.
Store any leftovers in an airtight container or wrapped tightly in the fridge for up to 5 days. We prefer this cake served cold.
Best Tips for Success
- Use very ripe banana with black spots for the best natural sweetness and flavor.
- Gluten-Free: Use certified gluten-free rolled oats.
- Dairy-free: Use melted coconut oil instead of butter and nondairy Greek style yogurt or nondairy cream cheese alternative in the frosting.
- Let the cakes cool completely before frosting.
- You can also use my Yogurt Frosting if you prefer.
Related Recipes
I’d love to hear your feedback if you try this recipe, so please comment below to share!
Healthy Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
Banana Cake
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (from about 3 medium)
- 3 eggs (lightly beaten)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter (melted and slightly cooled; or coconut oil)
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 recipe Cream Cheese Frosting
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 ounces cream cheese (softened at room temperature)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (softened at room temperature)
- 2 tablespoons honey (or maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 8-inch cake pans with nonstick spray and line with rounds of parchment paper. Grease again with nonstick spray.
- Place the oats, coconut, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon into the bowl of a food processor. Grind about 30 seconds, or until the oats resemble a coarse flour.
- Add the bananas, eggs, vanilla, butter, and maple syrup. Process for an additional 30 seconds or until the batter is smooth.
- Divide the batter between the pans. Bake for 28-30 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out cleanly.
- Place pans onto a wire rack and let cakes cool completely in the pan.
- Make the frosting: Use an electric hand-held mixer to beat together the cream cheese, butter, honey (or maple syrup), and vanilla extract. Beat until very smooth.
- To frost, place one cake onto a plate, top with 1/4-⅓ cup of frosting. Place the second cake on top and spread the remaining frosting over top.
- Slice to serve.
Video
Notes
- Dairy-free: Use melted coconut oil instead of the butter and nondairy Greek yogurt instead of cream cheese in the frosting.
- Gluten-free: Use certified gluten-free rolled oats.
- Let cakes cool in the pans on a wire rack to ensure that they stay together well.
- Discard parchment paper before frosting the cakes.
- To make ahead, you can bake the cakes up to a day ahead. Let cool, cover completely, and store in the fridge. Allow to sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before frosting.
- Store any leftovers covered with plastic wrap in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
This post was first published August 2018.
Can I make this 2 weeks ahead and freeze it???
Sure!
Hi can I use 2 x 6″ pans rather than 8″ to have a taller cake ? Would the bake time increase by a lot?
Yes, you’d need to bake longer so that the middle bakes through.
This recipe looks amazing. Can we omit coconut and just sub in more oats?
Yes, that’s fine. Enjoy!
This is great! How much does 1 recipe yield? Do I need to double the recipe to make a two layer 8 inch round cake?
The recipe is for 2 8-inch pans as is mentioned in Step 1. Enjoy!
Thanks. I must have overlooked that. I doubled the recipe in an attempt to make cupcakes and two 8 inch rounds and tan short. I assumed it was for two 8 inch but given the yield I experienced I wanted to clarify.
This looks delicious! If I don’t put coconut in, do I need to subsitute it for someting elese or can I just make it the same without it?
I would add more oats in place of the coconut if you leave it out.
I just have two 9 inch cake pans… will that work okay? Thanks!!
The cakes will be a little thinner and may bake through a little faster.
Hello, do you think this would work in a nordic ware cake mold?
I love your recipes and am hoping to make a fruit-sweetened toddler cake in the shape of a train.
Thanks so much!
Hi- do you happen to know the dimensions of the mold? If it’s fairly shallow, I think it would be fine. If it’s deep, that might be more of a challenge for it to bake through in the middle.
Thank you – the mold is 1.9″ deep so I guess that would be OK? I was also wondering if the cake would maintain the shape of the mold (I think it needs to be on the dense side). Thanks!
Any suggestions for making it egg free AND gluten free? I have much trouble baking with those two allergies
Maybe gf oats and a store bough egg replacer like Just Eggs or Bobs Red Mill?
Just made this tonight to use for my 1 year old’s smash cake tomorrow! Haven’t frosted it yet but the cake itself is super yummy. It’s definitely sweet, I think next time I will decrease the maple syrup since I’m feeding it to my baby, but it still isn’t as sweet as regular cake. I love it! My husband can taste the coconut (he’s not a fan), so keep that in mind if you are also crazy and dislike coconut. 😂
I doubled it and made 12 cupcakes, two 4inch cakes, and a 6 inch cake. They took pretty long in the oven, I just kept testing with a toothpick every few minutes until it came out clean.
Hi
Thanks for the recipe l!
My cake came out very yummy
but a little dense
how can I make it less dense?
Cheers,
Steph
Hi- I would check that your baking soda is fresh and active as that’s key to it having a normal cake consistency. I hope that helps!
This looks gorgeous! Could it be frozen without the frosting? I need to make two cakes. One for the birthday and the other for my little one’s party. Many thanks
That should work fine!
I have bananas but they are not overly ripe. Do you think it wouldn’t be sweet enough? I’m not well versed enough in baking to know what else too add or if it would be fine?
It tastes best with ripe bananas. If they aren’t super ripe, I might add 1/4 cup granulated sugar to ensure it tastes good.
Hi Amy,
I baked this cake for my 2y/o birthday last month and it was absolutely delicious! Thank you! I would like to make it this time as muffins, so we don’t feel obliged to finish it off quickly 😝. Would it work? Also, for the frosting, is there a unsalted cream cheese or similar that can be used? I added the maple syrup but could still feel the saltiness of the traditional cream cheese..
Thanks again 🌷
Hi Amy,
I baked this cake for my 2y/o birthday last month and it was absolutely delicious! Thank you! I would like to make it this time as muffins, so we don’t feel obliged to finish it off quickly 😝. Would it work? Also, for the frosting, is there a unsalted cream cheese or similar that can be used? I added the maple syrup but could still feel the saltiness of the traditional cream cheese..
Thanks again 🌷
Hi- I’m so glad to hear this. And yes, you can do it as muffins. For standard size ones, I think the baking time will be about 24 minutes or so. I am not sure that I’ve seen an unsalted cream cheese, but you could use a very thick Greek yogurt instead like the kind from Siggis (or maybe try a different brand of cream cheese?). Enjoy!
If I have two 9-inch square baking pans, could I still make the measurements in this recipe work? What would I change?
I think it would work similarly, though I haven’t tested it so I can’t say for sure.