This simple and easy Gluten-Free Banana Cake is vegan, allergy-free, and beyond moist and flavorful! This classic cake recipe is eggless and topped with a rich and creamy dairy-free cream cheese frosting! It's just 10 ingredients and is a perfect dessert for any occasion. Beginner and budget-friendly, healthy, and packed with sweet ripe bananas and a perfect amount of cinnamon!

Banana bread, but make it a cake instead! Unbelievably moist and rich with real banana flavor, you'll never guess this banana cake is gluten-free and vegan! Pair it with a sweet and tangy cream cheese frosting, and every bite sends you to banana heaven. We're taking the old-fashioned cake recipe that grandma always used to make and transforming it into an easy, everyday, all-occasions, allergy-free dessert everyone can enjoy.

Why This Is The Best Banana Cake Recipe

This gluten-free banana cake is everything you love about the old-fashioned snack cake but it's healthier, eggless, and just 10 simple, budget-friendly ingredients! Baking with bananas is one of the best and easiest ways to ensure you have perfect, no-fail gluten-free and vegan desserts. The overripe bananas act as the perfect egg replacement, provide insane moisture to what could be a dry gluten-free baked good, natural sweetness so you can use less added sugars, and wild amounts of delicious flavor. You get to use less oil, less sugar, and keep it eggless and dairy-free. My homemade banana cake recipe is 100%:

Gluten-Free
Vegan & Vegetarian
Allergy-free (Dairy-Free, Soy-Free, Egg-Free, Nut-Free, Peanut-Free, Wheat-Free, Sesame-Free, Corn-Free, Coconut-Free)
Kid-Friendly, Beginner-Friendly, Budget-Friendly
Quick, Easy, Simple 10 Ingredients
Make-Ahead & Freezer-Friendly
Perfect Dessert Year-Round For Any Occasion

Ingredients For Gluten-Free Vegan Banana Cake

Gluten-Free Flour + Baking Powder + Baking Soda: Your favorite gluten-free all-purpose flour with the addition of baking powder for maximum fluffiness and baking soda that will react with the vegan buttermilk for a perfect soft gluten-free cake crumb.
Overripe Bananas: Super sweet overripe bananas! The riper they are, the sweeter they are, and the easier they will be to mash up. They're also at their most flavorful when super ripe, so fear not when you have some browning bananas on the counter that need to be used (in something other than banana bread).
Brown Sugar + Granulated Sugar: You are still going to want additional sweetener in this cake. I like to use dark brown sugar for a deeper, richer molasses flavor, but you can also use light brown sugar. You also know I suggest using sugar-free sweeteners, so sugar-free brown sugar sweetener and sugar-free granulated sweetener are 100% perfect in this cake.
Cinnamon: I mean, I can't imagine making a banana cake without cinnamon. Warm, cozy, aromatic!
Vanilla Extract: Same goes for vanilla. This is a cake y'all, and we gotta have vanilla notes!
Vegan Buttermilk: Vegan buttermilk is just your standard plain unsweetened non-dairy milk you have in the fridge and either white vinegar or lemon juice. Simple, easy, and perfect for a moist and fluffy sheet cake.
Oil: A little bit of a neutral-flavored oil will add just the right amount of fat to the cake to preserve the moisture and help stabilize that gluten-free cake crumb.

The Best Frosting For Gluten-Free Banana Cake

Banana cake is similar to carrot cake and that means the BEST frosting to use is...cream cheese frosting! My vegan cream cheese frosting is the sweet and tangy dairy-free frosting of your dreams. It's thick and creamy and so easy to make. A simple mixture of vegan cream cheese, vegan butter, powdered sugar sweetener, a splash of lemon juice, and vanilla extract! If you don't have a vegan cream cheese on hand, you can make my simple vanilla vegan buttercream frosting instead (or chocolate!). Alas, if you are short on time, you can always opt for Miss Jones store-bought allergy-free frostings!

How To Make Gluten-Free Vegan Banana Cake

In a large bowl, add the gluten-free flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, granulated sugar, and brown sugar.
Whisk the dry ingredients together so the mixture is smooth and fully combined.

Mash the ripe bananas in a separate bowl until mostly smooth with no large chunks of banana.
Add the vegan buttermilk, oil, and vanilla extract to the mashed bananas and mix everything together.

Pour the wet ingredients into the large bowl of dry ingredients and mix everything together for a smooth lump-free cake batter.
Pour the banana cake batter into a greased 9x13-inch baking dish.

Bake the gluten-free banana cake in a pre-heated oven for about 50 minutes, until the top is golden brown. Remove the cake and allow it to cool completely.
Once the banana cake has cooled to room temperature, you can add the vegan frosting in a thick layer to the top.

Top the cake with extra banana slices (this also helps cut even portions!).
Cut your banana cake into 12 large slices or 16 small slices and enjoy!

Recipe Tips & Tricks

This recipe calls for 3 overripe bananas, but make sure to have a fourth, less ripe banana, that you can slice up to decorate the top before serving!
Make sure to grease your cake pan well so that the cake is easy to slice and scoop out. This banana sheet cake was meant to be served in the pan.
On that note, make sure the cake is completely cooled before frosting! I allowed the cake to cool on the counter and then covered it with plastic wrap overnight. I frosted it the next day.
The cake should be golden and nicely browned on top. 50 minutes was perfect for me, but always check around 45 minutes that the top isn't getting too dark.
After frosting the cake, I prefer to chill it again to allow the frosting to set. It makes slicing the cake cleaner and easier. Serving the cake chilled is also my preferred way to enjoy it! While it is a "countertop cake", once it's frosted, it does need to stay in the fridge.

Can You Use A Different Baking Pan?

8x8 Baking Dish: To use a smaller 8x8 square baking dish, you'll need to halve the recipe and shorten the baking time to about 25-30 minutes.
Round Layer Cake: You can also use two 9 or 8-inch round pans and a layer cake. Make an extra batch of frosting if so! If you do this, decrease the baking time to about 30-40 minutes.
Classic Texas Sheet Cake: To make a Texas sheet cake, you can spread the batter in your 18x13-inch sheet pan (jelly roll pan) and decrease the baking time to 22-25 minutes.
Cupcakes: This batter will give you about 20-24 standard cupcakes. Bake the cupcakes for about 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean!

Storage Instructions

Storage: You can store the unfrosted cake, covered with plastic wrap, on the counter for 3-4 days. Store the frosted cake in the fridge, covered, for 1 week. You can serve the cake chilled from the fridge (the way I love it!) or bring it to room temperature first if you want the flavors more pronounced.
Make-Ahead: You can bake and frost the cake ahead of time, ideally within 2 days of serving. Store it in the fridge like you would any leftovers.
Freezing Instructions: You can bake, wrap, and freeze the unfrosted cake for up to 6 months. Let it defrost in the fridge overnight before frosting and serving. If you plan on freezing the frosted cake, I recommend slicing it beforehand and using it within 3 months for quality.

More Gluten-Free Vegan Cake Recipes:

Gluten-Free Banana Cake (Vegan)

Print Recipe

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Author: Rebecca Pytell
Prep Time: 5 Minutes
Cook Time: 50 Minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes
Yield: 12 Servings 1x
Category: Dessert
Method: Bake
Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale

Banana Cake:

3 Cups Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour
2 Tsp Baking Powder
1 Tsp Baking Soda
½ Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Cinnamon
1 Cup Granulated Sugar (or preferred granulated sweetener)
½ Cup Dark Brown Sugar (or preferred brown sugar sweetener)
3 Overripe Large Bananas (about 1 ½ cups mashed)
1 Cup Vegan Buttermilk (1 Cup Plain Unsweetened Non-Dairy Milk + 2 Tsp White Vinegar or Lemon Juice)
½ Cup Neutral Flavor Oil
1 Tsp Pure Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Extract

Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting:

8 oz Plain Vegan/Allergy-Free Cream Cheese (softened)
1 Stick Vegan/Allergy-Free Butter (cubed, softened)
4 Cups Powdered Sweetener (or preferred powdered sugar)
1 Tsp Pure Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Extract
1 Ripe Banana (optional, to slice for topping)

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Instructions

Make The Cake:

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the gluten-free flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and sweeteners until there are no clumps.
In a small bowl, use a fork to mash the 3 bananas until smooth before adding the vegan buttermilk, oil, and vanilla. Mix well to combine.
Now add the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients and mix well to combine until you have a smooth cake batter.
Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish and pour the cake batter in. Smooth it out to evenly fill the pan.
Bake the cake in the preheated oven for 45-50 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean from the center
Allow the cake to cool completely to room temperature before frosting and slicing.

Make The Frosting:

Combine the softened vegan cream cheese and butter in a stand mixer or a large bowl using an electric hand mixer. Beat the cream cheese and butter together until combined before slowly adding in the vanilla and powdered sweetener, whipping the frosting together until fully combined.
Once the cake is cool, spread the frosting over the top in a thick layer and add extra banana slices, if desired. Chill the cake for a few minutes to allow the frosting to set and make cutting easier.
Cut into 12 large squares or 16 smaller squares and serve chilled or at room temperature.

Notes

Storage: You can store any leftover unfrosted cake, covered with plastic wrap, at room temperature for 3-4 days. Store frosted cake in the fridge, covered, up to 7 days.
Make-Ahead: You can bake and frost the cake ahead of time, ideally within 2 days of serving. Store it in the fridge like you would any leftovers.
Freezing Instructions: You can bake and freeze the unfrosted cake for up to 6 months. Let it defrost in the fridge overnight before frosting and serving. If you plan on freezing the frosted cake, I recommend slicing it beforehand and using it within 3 months for quality.
Frosting: If you don't want cream cheese frosting, you can try my simple vanilla vegan buttercream frosting instead (or chocolate!). You can also opt for store-bought Miss Jones allergy-free frostings!

Nutrition

Serving Size: 1 Slice

Carrot cake will always be my favorite cake, and Funfetti, but banana cake is not to be slept on! So good, simple, and just a more desserty version of cozy banana bread! Add the layer of cream cheese frosting and banana slices...sounds like breakfast to me!

So tell me:

+ What is your favorite "any-occasion" simple cake recipe?

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