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    Home > Vegan Dessert Recipes > Vegan Cake Recipes

    Vegan Banana Cake With Peanut Butter Frosting

    Posted: Jul 27, 2019 ยท Updated: Apr 27, 2022

    Jump to Recipe Pin Recipe

    A tender and delicious and actually healthy vegan banana cake with vegan peanut butter frosting. The cake is made with whole wheat flour and has the goodness of bananas and applesauce baked in. On top goes a yummy peanut butter vanilla frosting that's to die for.

    A top shot of a slice of vegan banana cake with peanut butter frosting on a white plate with a fork and the full cake on a cake stand in the back
    In our home, we call this cake the Elvis Cake, for obvious reasons. And it really is all that.

    A big slice of vegan banana cake with peanut butter frosting on white plate wiht fork.

    The rock 'n' roll legend's love for food was well-known, and the infamous peanut butter and banana sandwich he adored, dubbed the "Elvis," is the stuff ofย  food excess lore. But there's nothing unhealthy about this cake. In fact, it is probably as healthy as cake can get, because it's made with all whole wheat and naturally sweetened with coconut sugar or turbinado sugar.

    Besides you already know that bananas, packed with potassium, magnesium, fiber and many more nutrients, are really good for you. And who doesn't have overripe bananas sitting in their kitchen during these dog days? Put them to good use.

    Photo of vegan banana peanut butter cake on cake stand.

    The cake has a very moist, airy crumb and every bite bursts with startling banana flavor. I made just enough peanut butter frosting to get a nice, satisfying layer between the two tiers and on top, but if you are the sort who likes gobs and gobs of frosting on their cake, double the recipe. Do keep in mind that peanut butter-- although healthy-- is high in fat.

    The first time I made this cake eight years back and shared it with you, I struggled with a personal food quirk -- a big one. I absolutely love peanut butter and can eat it out of the jar by the spoonful (I do.). But I hate it vigorously and vehemently when it's combined with anything sweet. I cannot stand peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches, I don't dare go near a peanut butter cup, and if you're my friend you would know better than to buy me peanut-butter candy

    But in this recipe, the peanut butter is absolutely amazing. So much so that this is one of the cakes I bake the most, and it is also a cake many of you have written to tell me how much you love. In fact, one of the reasons I wanted to bring it back to the front of the blog, and update with new photos and text, is because a couple of people recently wrote to say they couldn't find the recipe anymore and wanted to know where it was. Although I don't usually take old recipes down, some can get lost amidst all of the nearly 1,000 posts that are now on the blog.

    On to the cake, then. I hope you love it as much as we do, and if you make it, be sure to come back and tell me about it.

    Vegan Banana cake with peanut butter frosting on cake stand.

    Ingredients for the Vegan Banana Cake and the Peanut Butter Frosting:

    • Whole wheat pastry flour. You can sub half unbleached all purpose and half whole wheat flour if you prefer.
    • Bananas. These should be as ripe as possible. Sweeter is better.
    • Peanut butter. Use smooth preferably, I think this makes the nicest frosting.
    • Vegetable oil
    • Baking powder
    • Baking soda
    • Sugar. I use either coconut sugar or turbinado. Any other kind is fine, but unrefined sugars like these are better for you than white sugar.
    • Powdered sugar or confectioners' sugar
    • Nondairy milk (I use almond)
    • Vegan Butter
    • Pure Vanilla Extract

    Looking for more vegan cake recipes?

    • Vegan Mango Cheesecake
    • Vegan Blueberry Buttermilk Bundt Cake
    • Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Bundt Cake with a Lemon Glaze
    • Vegan Orange Cake with Orange Marmalade Buttercream
    • Vegan Zucchini Cake with Orange Marmalade Glaze
    • Vegan Chai-Spiced Pumpkin Bundt Cake
    • Vegan Cinnamon Cake with Cinnamon Streusel

    Vegan Banana Cake With Peanut Butter Frosting

    Vegan banana cake on cake stand with server next to it and a gray napkin.

    A top shot of a slice of vegan banana cake with peanut butter frosting on a white plate with a fork and the full cake on a cake stand in the back

    Vegan Banana Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting

    A tender and delicious and actually healthy vegan banana cake with vegan peanut butter frosting. The cake is made with whole wheat flour and has the goodness of bananas and applesauce baked in. On top goes a yummy peanut butter vanilla frosting that's to die for.
    5 from 14 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe Review Recipe
    Course: Cake/Dessert
    Cuisine: American
    Diet: Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegetarian
    Keyword: Vegan banana cake with peanut butter frosting
    Prep Time: 20 mins
    Cook Time: 30 mins
    Total Time: 50 mins
    Servings: 20 slices
    Calories: 333kcal
    Author: Vaishali ยท Holy Cow! Vegan Recipes

    Ingredients 

    For the cake (makes two tiers):

    • 3 cups whole wheat pastry flour (all-purpose flour is a good substitute-- it makes for an even more tender cake. Or you can use half whole wheat and half all purpose)
    • 1 teaspoon baking soda
    • 1 tablespoon baking powder
    • ยผ teaspoon salt
    • 1 cup sugar
    • ยฝ cup vegetable oil
    • ยผ cup applesauce
    • 4 large bananas (very ripe, mashed)
    • ยพ cup nondairy milk
    • 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

    For the peanut butter frosting:

    • 1 cup peanut butter (smooth)
    • 8 tablespoon vegan butter
    • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
    • 2 cups confectioners sugar (powdered sugar)
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions

    Make the vegan banana cake:

    • Mix the nondairy milk with the apple cider vinegar and set aside for a minute.
    • Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
    • Beat together the oil and sugar with a handheld mixer or in a stand mixer or with a whisk for about two minutes.
    • Add the nondairy milk and beat until just mixed.
    • Add the mashed bananas and applesauce and beat in. Make sure there are no big lumps.
    • Add the flour to the sugar-banana mixture in two batches, mixing well after each addition until the mixture is smooth. Don't overdo it.
    • Line the bottom of two 9-inch cake pans with parchment or wax paper. Oil and flour the pans.
    • Divide the batter equally between the two pans and bake 25-30 minutes in a 350-degree oven until a toothpick inserted in the center of each cake comes out clean.
    • Place on a rack to cool, about 10 minutes. Unmold, peel off the parchment paper, and leave on the rack to cool thoroughly before frosting.

    Make the vegan peanut butter frosting:

    • Have the peanut butter and vegan butter at room temperature. Place them in a bowl and mix with a handheld or stand mixer or whisk until everything's combined and smooth.
    • Add the sugar ยฝ cup at a time, beating in well after each addition. Confectioner's sugar can lump up sometimes, in that case pass the sugar through a sieve. If the frosting feels stiff, add in some nondairy milk, a tablespoon at a time, beating after each addition, until you have a smooth, frosting-like consistency

    Assemble the cake:

    • Place one cake on a cake stand or flat dish. Put about โ…“rd of the frosting (recipe follows) in the center of the cake and using a spatula spread it evenly across the surface.
    • Carefully place the second cake on top of the first one. Put the remaining icing in the center of the cake and evenly frost the top and sides.
    • Garnish with chopped, roasted peanuts.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1slice | Calories: 333kcal | Carbohydrates: 45g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Sodium: 193mg | Potassium: 322mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 27g | Vitamin A: 266IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 51mg | Iron: 1mg
    Tried this recipe?Please leave a comment and recipe rating below!
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    About Vaishali


    I cook and eat simple, tasty and nutritious plant-based food in my Washington, D.C. kitchen, but I never fight a craving for samosas or French fries. Read more about me here.

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Deb

      July 22, 2020 at 4:53 pm

      Can I add chocolate chips to this cake recipe?

      Reply
      • Vaishali

        July 22, 2020 at 5:37 pm

        Absolutely! ๐Ÿ™‚

        Reply
    2. Swati Jain

      July 20, 2020 at 2:42 pm

      5 stars
      This is a great recipe. Thanks for sharing. ๐Ÿ™‚
      I have one question - What is the substitution for apple sauce? Can we just not use apple sauce?

      Reply
    3. Tslil

      March 29, 2020 at 8:54 am

      Hallo!
      I haven't tried thia yet, but under this same web address there was a few months ago a vegan banana cake recipe that was my favorite, is it still available somewhere? ๐Ÿ˜‰
      Thanks!

      Reply
      • Vaishali

        March 30, 2020 at 10:43 am

        Hi there, I had consolidated some of my recipes. The banana cake in this recipe--the cake with peanut butter frosting--is exactly the same as the banana cake I had on the blog earlier. You can just make this cake minus the peanut butter frosting.

        Reply
        • Tslil Strauss

          April 05, 2020 at 4:20 pm

          Great, thank you for your response! Will try. I might be mistaken, I thought I remembered there was Balsamic vinegar. Thanks!

          Reply
          • Vaishali

            April 05, 2020 at 8:13 pm

            Yes, I just used apple cider vinegar this time, but balsamic is just as good or regular vinegar would work too!

            Reply
    4. Chloe

      February 02, 2020 at 1:06 pm

      Hello, the applesauce is called for in ingredients but thereโ€™s no mention of when to use it in the steps of the recipe?

      Reply
      • Vaishali

        February 04, 2020 at 9:02 am

        Step 5! With the bananas.

        Reply
    5. Dia

      August 01, 2016 at 8:17 pm

      5 stars
      This cake is AWESOME! Quick and easy to make and tastes DIVINE! It only needs just the slightest of frostings. Adding the crunch of the peanuts is a great way to go. Will make this again! ๐Ÿ™‚

      Reply
    6. Derek

      February 20, 2015 at 10:42 am

      This was very, very good. Prep time actually took me about 30 mins. I checked the cake at exactly 1 hour and it was still pure batter in the middle, I ended up baking it for 1 hr 20 mins and it was perfect. I too used the freezer trick and the cake was so moist! I spread a thick layer of the frosting on and still had quite a bit left, but that wasn't a problem as my DH ate the rest from the bowl! Again, this was a VERY good cake. I think I will turn it into our regular birthday cake!

      Reply
    7. Trish

      November 01, 2014 at 10:23 am

      5 stars
      I made this cake yesterday. The cake part was so deliciously moist and flavorful, however, my peanut butter icing did not turn out at all. It was more like fudge so I heated it up slightly to make it spreadable but even that didn't help much. Perhaps my peanut butter was at fault? I had an organic, no sugar-added type. I've made frosting/icings many times before so I'm not new to vegan baking. Still a great cake and I won't give up on the frosting just yet ๐Ÿ˜‰

      Reply
      • Vaishali Honawar

        November 10, 2014 at 5:09 pm

        Hi Trish, I find that the organic, no-sugar butter tends to be too oily at the top and no matter how much you mix it, it becomes rather dry at the end. If that was the case, your peanut butter could be at fault. I used the regular supermarket kind for this one. Glad you liked the cake! ๐Ÿ™‚

        Reply
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    Hi, I'm Vaishali! I cook, eat and share easy, tasty and nutritious plant-based recipes from my Washington, D.C. kitchen, but I never fight a craving for samosas or French fries. 

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    Vaishali Honawar, Holy Cow Vegan author, profile photo

    Hi, I'm Vaishali! I cook, eat and share easy, tasty and nutritious plant-based recipes from my Washington, D.C. kitchen, but I never fight a craving for samosas or French fries. 

    More about me โ†’

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