Double Chocolate Banana Cake
This lightened-up healthy chocolate cake has no oil, but gets its super moist crumb from bananas and applesauce. It’s also whole grain and lower in sugar than typical cake (with no need for frosting!) Go ahead and indulge!
Banana lovers, don’t forget to check out our Homemade Banana Pudding Recipe
Get the kids in here. We have some good news. Chocolate cake? It fits into your family’s balanced eating plan.
This cake is made from 100% whole wheat flour, sweet ripe bananas, and two kids of chocolate. The bananas and applesauce make it tender and moist without the need for added oils. And we’ve reduced the amount of sugar in this cake compared to a typical cake by about a quarter cup (you can actually reduce it further, if you like.)
Not only does this healthy chocolate cake taste amazing and mesh well with a healthy lifestyle, it’s also super easy to make. So gather up those ripe bananas and let’s bake.
What Makes Our Healthy Chocolate Cake So Good
- It’s healthier than typical chocolate cake. This cake is free from added oils, sweetened with fruit, and has less added sugars than typical cake. It’s also made from delicate white whole wheat flour, which is a 100% whole grain flour.
- It’s quick and easy to make. Really, all you need to know how to do here is mash bananas, dump ingredients into a bowl, and stir. It’s really simple! And we bake it in a square pan to halve the baking time compared to baking in a loaf pan.
- It’s moist, sweet, and chocolatey. If you’ve ever made a “healthy” dessert that just didn’t satisfy in the flavor department, this is your cake. You and your kids will love the indulgent double chocolate taste.
- You can freeze it. Satisfy your future chocolate cravings by stashing a few squares of cake in the freezer.
Tips for Baking This Cake
- We used a stand mixer to combine the mashed bananas and sugar. If you don’t have one, a hand mixer works just as well. Don’t have one of those either? Break out a big fork and put those wrists to work!
- If you don’t want to grease the pan, you can cut a square of parchment paper (or a long rectangle, to make a “sling” and put it in the bottom of the pan instead.
- Use an 8×8 baking dish for a healthy chocolate cake that bakes quickly and evenly. You can also use a muffin pan.
Sweet Serving Suggestions
This cake is very good warm, so don’t be afraid to cut yourself and your kids a square soon after it comes out of the oven. (Give it 20 minutes to cool so it doesn’t burn anyone. Not even chocolate is worth a burn.)
Since this cake has no oil in it, you might like to pair it with a glass of whole milk, especially when you’re serving your kids. Milk and cake taste great together, and milk also balances the nutrition in their dessert.
Finally, give yourself permission to ENJOY. Sharing dessert with your kids is part of how we teach them to have a healthy attitude about all kinds of foods.
More Healthy Chocolate Treats
Check out more tasty and healthy chocolate treats. Some of the ones below have no added sugars whatsoever. Neat!
Thick and Creamy Chocolate Mousse
Homemade Chocolate Milk
Healthy Chocolate Hummus
15 Delicious Healthy Chocolate Desserts
Double Chocolate Banana Cake
Ingredients
- 3 medium banana
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup applesauce, unsweetened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup white whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder, unsweetened
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup chocolate chips, semisweet
- 1/8 cup mini chips chocolate chips, semisweet
Instructions
- In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix the bananas and brown sugar until the bananas are mashed and the sugar is dissolved. (Note: you can also use a regular hand mixer OR you can even fork-whisk these ingredients together.)
- Add the applesauce, vanilla, and egg. Mix together.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until incorporated.
- Fold in the semi-sweet chocolate chips. Pour batter into a greased 8×8-inch baking dish. Sprinkle the top with mini chocolate chips.
- Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 25 to 35 minutes. Check the center with a toothpick to determine doneness. Best eaten warm.
Video
Nutrition
www.superhealthykids.com
Natalie Monson
I'm a registered dietitian, mom of 4, avid lover of food and strong promoter of healthy habits. Here you will find lots of delicious recipes full of fruits and veggies, tips for getting your kids to eat better and become intuitive eaters and lots of resources for feeding your family.
Learn More about Natalie
Can you use this recipe with a gluten free coconut flour?
You can, but you need to increase the amount of eggs to 5 instead of 1 because coconut flour is drier and more absorbent than all purpose flour.
I just made this tonight and it was amazing! I will definitely be printing out this recipe to use it again!
That’s great to hear Ashley! Thanks for your review!
This looks so good my mouth is watering can’t wait to make it!
Thanks Charity! I hope you love it!
Can I use oats and almond meal in place of flour?
You can swap 1/4 cup of the flour with almond meal or oat flour, but you will still need the other 3/4 cup of flour because of the gluten.
I made this with only oat flour and is was just as great as with using ap flour.
Hi I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong but my cake is not looking light and fluffy like this one not saying it’s not good though… Help please….
Make sure that you stir/sift your flour and cocoa powder before you measure them to lighten them up. When they’re stored, they settle and you end up measuring more if you don’t give them a quick stir first, resulting in a denser product. I hope this helps!
Oh my gosh this looks amazing! Put this on my to-do list! 🙂
Thank you Heidi! I hope you enjoy it!
This is so decadent. We love it, especially warm with a bit of vanilla ice cream.
Do you think I could try an AP gluten free flour with some xantham gum?
Can this be frozen in portions?
I don’t see why not. Double wrap it to keep it from getting freezer burnt.
If you froze it, how did you do it – did you double-wrap before putting it in the freezer, or freeze pieces on a tray and then wrap after frozen (can you tell I’m new to freezing?! ), did you microwave to defrost, and for how long, and most importantly, was it still good? Thanks!
I haven’t frozen this particular cake, but you can freeze cake in general when individually wrapped. I would just let it come to room temperature, but you can microwave it too. I’ve done that with frozen cookies. Start with 30 seconds and go from there.
This cake was exactly what I needed today’s delicious and indulgent, and perfect to use overripe bananas and leftover applesauce. I used egg replacer (neat egg) and added a splash of almond milk to loosen batter a bit. Also added some PB to the top and swirled it. Baked for 35 minutes and it is delish!! I wanted to report my alterations in case anyone was in the same predicament. Great recipe, thanks!!
Sounds like some great additions! Thanks for sharing!
My son loves this cake and wants to bring it to school for his birthday celebration. Is it possible to make it as muffins?
Absolutely Kristi! I would bake them at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 to 20 minutes. The higher temperature helps them peak (round) at the top. Good luck!
About how many cupcakes does it make?
If I don’t have a stand mixer can I mix by hand? Thanks! Looks amazing!
Absolutely Karen! Just use a potato masher to mash the bananas by hand and then follow the recipe. Enjoy!
Is there a way to know the approximate fat and sugar carbs? Is it More diabetic friendly using the applesauce and brown sugar? Suggestions?
You can analyze recipes here http://nutritiondata.self.com/ As far as brown sugar, it will metabolize the same as other sugars. Applesauce does have pectin and some fiber which will slow down the metabolizing and would be more diabetic friendly 🙂
Hi. What can I do if I don’t have applesauce? Thank you!
You can use oil (vegetable, canola, coconut) with the same ratio (so 1/2 cup).
It’s in the oven now. Can’t wait to try it!
This is AMAZING. So moist and delicious!!! I put some peanut butter chips on it this time (I’ve made it a few other times) and that adds just that much more especially for those like me who love peanut butter.
Do you know the calories or fats, etc in this recipe?
Glad you liked it!
All the recipes we add to our membership site are analyzed for the calories, fat, carbs, fiber, and sugar. You can see more details here:
https://www.superhealthykids.com/meal-plan-memberships/
The other recipes we post for our blog can be calculated at http://nutritiondata.self.com/
Have you try this recipe as a cupcake or muffin?
Hi Tina,
This recipe should make about 12+ cupcakes and you would bake them at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 18 to 20 minutes.
I just tried a piece, delicious! What a quick and easy cake that doesn’t make me feel too guilty.
Wow delicious, I was looking for this everywhere.I’m definitely will make this next week end. Thanks
How long should cake bake if recipe is doubled in 9×13 pan????
It should bake about the same amount of time since it will be the same thickness. Maybe 30 to 40 minutes.
Hi Amber! Cant wait to try this recipe. Can i replace flour with wheat flour?
Absolutely!
I made the cake recently. I cooked it as long as suggested and tested it before taking out of the oven. However the cake was much gooey-er than I expected and I wondered if I undercooked it. That said, it sure did taste good. We had it again another night and warmed it in the microwave to melt the choco chips. It turned out well on the re-heat.
Hi Julie,
The size of your bananas might have effected the texture a bit. 3 medium bananas is about 1 cup mashed. You can try mashing the bananas finer next time too. Glad it reheated well for you!
Could this still be frosted? I’m thinking of trying it for a birthday cake.
It’s really moist and chocolatey as is, but you could frost it I suppose.
is it possible to leave out the brown sugar or sweeten with dates?
I used coconut sugar which is lower glycemic and it was really good. I would think dates would make it too wet but I’m not sure (I didn’t write the recipe, just trying to help! haha)
Yum! My family loved this! It was gone in 2 days. I substituted a sprouted gluten free flour blend for the flour, 1 flax egg for the egg and coconut sugar for the brown sugar. It was moist, fudge and delicious!
Could I replace applesauce with Low fat yoghurt?
I believe that would be just fine.
This recipe is truly fantastic! Thank you!!! I used half spelt/half AP flour and the cake was delicious. I will be making this often.
I’d like to make this for my son’s first birthday on Sunday. Can I make this today (Friday) or is that too far in advance? How would you store this cake to keep it fresh?
Obviously, it will taste better the closer you make it to when you want to eat it, but if you want to make it today, just be sure to cover it tightly and store it at room temperature it should be okay.
This cake looked so good I had to try it asap! I just made it with my son.? We added:
-2/4 c brown sugar and I/3 c sugar
-we put nutella in the middle of the cake. (Cake batter, nutella, cake batter.)
-we put extra chocolate chips on top
-cooked it for 30 mins
It smells so good in here!!
This recipe is wonderful! I had some bananas that I either needed to make something or throw out they couldn’t have lasted another day and love chocolate with bananas so found this. I made muffins out of it and baked on 350 for 15 min. They turned out fantastic!! Thank you!
hi! would this recipe work out if I made it in two 8” circle pans and stacked them? like birthday cake style?
You may want to 1 1/2x or 2x the recipe since it’s only for one 8-inch square dish. It’s really moist though. I worry about it being to heavy to stack. Good luck if you decide to try it out!
can you make this cake in (3) 8″ round pans and make it a layer cake?
I would definitely double it if you want 3 layers. Enjoy!
Hi what is the daily percentage for the sugar intake as it is blank next to it.
First time baked this and hmmmm…! Great taste! I made it for 6 servings and used a 13″x7″ pan and it took 40 mins. I also added walnuts, and used 1/4 cup of milk chocolate chips and whole wheat flour. We love it! ?
Made this for my brother in laws birthday. The entire cake was gone in a blink of an eye. Everyone loved it. The only change I made was to use coconut sugar instead of brown sugar. Baked in 8 inch pan took 35 min. Will most defiantly make again and again.
If you ditched the “All purpose flour” it would be healthier, not to mention less carbs, calories and SUGAR.
Looks yummy though
Easy and tasty. My niece who usually avoids fruit in anything ate it (even though she kept asking what was in it!)
This was so yummy. My kids loved it (& they’re picky). ?
Hello,
I’m wondering if the brown sugar can be replaced with maple syrup? Thank you 🙂
Wow. This was so rich and delicious. I had to package half of it and give it away immediately, otherwise I would have made short work of it in only a couple of days. My kid loved it, too. She’s already asking me when I’m going to make it again.
yummy! thank you!
really awesome! you have solved our sweet tooth problem! thank you!
I just made this it’s so delicious and moist my 3 year old daughter loves it too she kept asking for more but I had to stop her…lol
I have made this 3 times and it was delicious every time! I truly felt I was indulging in a dessert. I did not feel like I was missing out on the sweetness.
Super Healthy Kids! I was going to make this but then looked at the nutrition facts – 31g of sugar per serving! Straight away your child is getting 6g more sugar than daily allowance
That is why we don’t eat cake everyday 🙂
Delicious!!!
I made this cake today and it is amazing!!! S o moist and chocolatey almost like a mud cake but with fruit in it..So good..I will definitely be making this again!!
Thank you so much for this recipe. I was looking for a sugar-free, fruit- based cake for my daughter’s first birthday. I didn’t put the brown sugar, and added a banana (they were very ripped so very sweet)
She never had sugar or chocolate before, but she loves banana so I wasn’t sure she would love it . It was a success!! Both kids and adults loved it
I made the cake today and it was awesome. It was moist and chocolaty and really wonderful. My mom and daughter loved it. It’s a bit healthier than other cake recipes, needs no frosting and satisfies the chocolate cravings. Will definitely be making this again.
doesn’t get any better than this! ok, so I added walnuts and served warm with whip, and its sooo moist and delish. My current favorite dessert. Give it a try, you won’t be disappointed.
So I want to make this cake in an 8″ round Pan do I need to double the recipe or change the temperature?
No need to change the temp, just cook until it’s cooked all the way through.
Hi. I just made this for my girls afternoon tea, it’s so good. The smell when they walked in!!
I used greek yoghurt instead of apple sauce as that’s what I had in the fridge ( apple sauce is not a big thing here in NZ) turned out so moist, light and fluffy and fudgy all at the same time. We had it warm, not long out of the oven as we couldn’t resist ha ha. Great recipe , thanks!
Super yummy yum yum !!!!!!
Very yummy-very rich & chocolatey even without the mini-chips.
How can I skip the egg?
Can I leave out the chocolate chips or will it not be good that way?
You can leave it out!
What a recipe.!..taste ws awesome and soo easy to make ..thanks a tonne ?
I made this cake without the apple sauce as I did not have any but added Greek yoghurt as one lady in the comments suggested. I also only put the chocolate chips in the cake and omitted sprinkling the chocolate chips on top but did added fresh raspberries for added vitamins. I also did not put the sugar in but added a quarter of honey for sweetness. The cake has come out moist and gooey. It is not too sweet but I like it that way.
AMAZING!!!??? I am a fussy baker and truly wonderful!
So so good! Easy to make, family loved it! Thank you.
I was looking for something a little different as I had bananas too use up
I only have dark brown sugar
And no coco powder
But I have dark chocolate chunks and dark chocolate
chips! How would I adjust
Hi Doreen, I’m not sure how you could adjust this particular recipe to suit the ingredients you have on hand, but here are a couple other recipes you might like to use up your bananas:
Whole wheat banana bread: https://www.superhealthykids.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=44712&action=edit
Banana bread muffin: https://www.superhealthykids.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=34612&action=edit
Could almond flour be substituted for the AP Flour?
Hi Tracie! Thanks for reaching out. Almond flour has a different consistency than AP flour, and this post recommends perhaps adding an extra egg to help bind it. (See below.) We’re all about experimenting in the kitchen, so if you try something new, please come back and let us know how it turns out.
https://www.momables.com/ingredient-substitution-list-for-baking/
Can’t wait to try this! A couple of questions: did you use natural or Dutch processed cocoa? Also, what changes would I need to make if I’m using a 9” square pan? Thank you!
Hi Sara! You can use either kind of cocoa powder. As for using a 9″ pan, I would just check the cake for done-ness a few minutes earlier than the recipe calls for. Start peeking in at 20 minutes to see if the cake is firm in the middle. If not, check again at 25 minutes. I hope this helps!
I just loved it , made it for friends and they loved it also it was so easy
AH- MAY – ZING!!
I made this without applesauce, and it was still beautiful. I baked for 35 mins, Andy checked every 10 m or so
it was completely flat like a pancake. very disappointing. Children were doing it for their father’s birthday and no time to do another one.
I’m so sorry to hear this, Lucie! We haven’t run into this issue… the only reason I can think of a to why the cake turned out flat is that your baking soda may have gone stale… it does lose it’s power to lift over time. I hope the birthday celebration was happy nonetheless!
Hi
Can I use frozen banana ?
Thanks
Indy
Hi Indy, good question! I’m not sure if frozen banana will have a great texture in this cake (it tends to get a bit brown and slimy when thawed.) I recommend fresh ripe bananas if possible.
What is the nutritional breakdown
Hi there! We’re working on getting nutrition data directly on recipes on our site. In the meantime, all our recipes have nutrition facts attached to them in the Prepear app, which you can get for free: http://www.prepear.com
I unfortunately didn’t have applesauce so had to use oil. I ended up not using any chocolate chips as I felt the batter was sweet enough. My kids loved it! Will definitely be adding this recipe to the favorites!
Sorry not a baker so don’t know the toothpick doneness method? It’s in the oven right now!
Hi Lisa! If you stick a toothpick or a clean knife into the middle of a cake towards the end of baking, it should come out clean (or with just a crumb or two attached.) That’s how you know the cake is done. If your toothpick pulls up sticky uncooked batter, you know your cake needs a little extra time in the oven. I hope this helps!
Also, do you store in or out of the fridge? Thank you!
Hi Lisa, I would store this on the counter top for the first day or two, and refrigerate if it’s not all eaten up after that. 🙂
Absolutely delicious! Never have I managed to make a cake with wholewheat flour that didn’t taste of wholewheat. And it’s so moist! I substituted the white wholewheat flour with regular wholewheat flour and reduced the quantity to 90g as regular wholewheat flour tends to be denser. Worked out perfectly.
Thank you for such a delicious recipe! It was a hit with everyone who ate it!
Thanks, I’m glad you liked it!
This is my new favorite dessert! So moist and delicious! Definitely going to make it again.
Thanks Stephanie, so glad you like it!
This snack cake was delicious! My bananas were very, very ripe which means they were very, very sweet, so I cut the sugar down to a half-cup and thought it was still plenty sweet. I also cut the chocolate chips down to a half-cup, just to save the calories; I’m sure it would have been even more scrumptious with the full cup of chocolate chips! With my reductions, the calorie count per 1/9 of a cake dropped down to closer to 200 calories. This is a keeper; I will make it again. Thanks for the delicious recipe!
Thanks Sandra!
I changed it a little.
1/2 cup coconut oil instead of applesauce
3/4 cup maple syrup instead on sugar and I popped in an extra egg. Sooo light n fluffy moist and delicious
What can I use instead of applesauce? We dont have it here. Id prefer not to use oil though
You could try using extra banana as a substitute for the applesauce (I haven’t tried this myself, so I’m not exactly sure how it’ll turn out!)
This recipe is excellent! I’ve used it several times now. Always turns out moist and rich. Great way to use up bananas. Thanks!
We used coconut flower sugar in place of brown sugar (1:1) and yoghurt in place of apple sauce (1:1). Cake was good! Moist enough. Adults and kids loved it 🙂 thanks for the recipe. The message thread is really helpful too.
I made this last night, run out of apple sauce so I used greek yogurt Instead. It taste sooo good!
Love your recipes! Can I make it with no sugar?
Thanks Paulina! You can leave out the sugar but it will be quite a bit less sweet.
Does it taste like bananas?
Anna, it tastes a little like bananas, yes. We love it!
Hi..
Me and my daughter just loved making this one and sharing with her friends..
Such a wonderful recipe.:)
Are those 282 calories the amount for one slice of brownie or for 10
Hi Jasmin, that should be the calories per slice.
I’m so amazing at what I saw on your blog,was searching for a nice site where I can get Banana caramel cake for my cousin’s birthday. Your Banana caramel cake looks attractive and adorable .
I will like to you to bake a cake for my cousin’s birthday that is coming up next month
Does this cake doesn’t need oil or butter at all?
No, it’s not necessary in this recipe. 🙂
Can I prepare the batter the previous night and bake it the next day for a birthday party?
Hi Neha! I’m not confident that the cake will rise well if the batter is made a day ahead. This is one I would try to mix together just before baking if possible.
Do I need to make any changes to the recipe if I use regular all purpose flour?
Hi Kelli, I think a 1:1 substitution should work.
Made this over the weekend and not a crumble left after a day. This is the best tasting chocolate cake I have ever baked with such healthy ingredients. My boys love it. Thank you for such amazing recipes
My toddler doesn’t like chocolate, would not lick the spoon but devoured this cake!!
Thanks a lot for the recipe. I increased the amount of cocoa powder slightly and used 2 tablespoons of dark chocolate chunks instead of chips. 3rd time doing this cake and it is delicious!
Just made this recipe, it is amazing! So easy and so delicious. Will make this again.
I almost didn’t choose this recipe because I wanted a YUMMY chocolate banana cake, and this recipe is for a Healthy chocolate banana cake. So good and super moist! I don’t know why I would ever make a chocolate cake with butter or oil again.
I’m thinking cake pops! Could this work?
We haven’t tried this recipe as cake pops but it sounds like fun! Give it a try!
Hello
This has been my favorite for a long while now
My question is can we cook it in microwave? If yes, what would be the instructions?
Hi Sara, I have never tried making this in the microwave, so I can’t say whether it will turn out or not. You could try looking up cook times for “mug cakes” and spoon some batter into a mug to try it in the microwave that way. I hope this helps, have fun experimenting!
Tried it last weekend and it disappeared in a couple of days! I used half cup gluten free baking flour and half cup whole wheat flour along with only half a cup of coconut sugar. It turned out amazing! Instead of the extra chocolate chips on top, I added some chopped walnuts. This recipe is a keeper.
Absolutely delicious!! So moist and chocolatey. Will definitely make again.
This turned out super delicious. I substituted the sugar with one extra banana and 1/2 cup of maple syrup, applesauce with olive oil, AP flour with oat flour, and half the chocolate chips with chopped dates. So so good!
Divine & so easy to make.I replaced sugar with sweetener granules & used very dark cocoa & chocolate. Just to cut sugar a bit.was still delicious
I don’t have apple sauce, what can I substitute with??
Hi Jasmin, if you don’t mind adding some fat to the cake, you can use butter or oil in place of the applesauce.
Hey don’t I have to preheat the oven for this? Should I directly bake it without preheating
Hi Meghana, yes, you should preheat the oven first. 🙂
I made this cake the other day and though I read that it has no oil, I completely missed that there is no milk as well. I am lactose intolerant but I indulge in cake sometimes. But this was yummy and no milk. Going to make it again. Making muffins this time!
cool! my mom likes it
yum yum! so good and easy!!!!!!!!
Yes, I did…in fact it is still baking in rhe oven.
Such a great recipe! Thanks so much for sharing this. I’ve made it 3 times now and thoroughly enjoy the ease, taste and being able to use up my bananas in a healthy way
We’re so happy to hear that this recipe was such a hit with your family! Thanks for sharing your experience! 🙂
My son loved it!!! It’s a great recipe and even it has bananas, it tastes more like a chocolate cake.. I was worried as my son doesn’t prefer banana base dessert. ?
Brown sugar you mean the soft brown one? Thank you.
Yep! We used light brown sugar here. 🙂
This looks great . Can I replace whole flour with Almond flour?
We haven’t tried it, so we can’t say for sure- but we use gluten-free substitutes in many of our recipes with good results. 🙂
This was A M A Z I N G!!! I can’t get over it, I want to eat the whole thing but I’ll be nice and let my family have some haha. Thank you so much for making this recipe 10/10
Hello! Can you please tell me if this tastes like a normal chocolate cake, or, if you will taste the banana as well?
Thank you!
You can taste the bananas, but chocolate is the dominant taste. 🙂
Is it possible to use white flour?
Yep! You can sub all-purpose flour. 🙂
I just came across this recipe while trying to find some banana loaf/cake recipe variation earlier today. I was glad to find this and your website. I can try something using the apple sauce I made while on lockdown. I just tried it tonight. No wheat flour at home so I used all purpose flour, tried coco sugar instead of brown sugar in reduced quantity to suit my taste. I am soo happy and it turned out really good and delicious just perfect for my taste. very moist and yummy. By the way, I am from Cebu Philipppines. Thank you for sharing your recipes. I will be a regular visitor to your site now. 🙂
So happy you found us and this recipe worked so well for you!! Thanks for sharing!
I made the recipe as written. It was delicious!! The cake is moist and fudgy. I will definitely make this again.
The BEST Banana Cake Recipe ever encountered!
Simple, Healthy & ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!! Thank you so much for this recipe!
P.S.
I used very ripe banana plantains and oh my goodness, totally scrumptious!
So happy to hear it! Thanks for sharing!!
I made this cake together with my 3years old. It was my first time trying my hand at baking from scratch. So I did not have any expectations. I just wanted to fulfill my son’s urge to make a chocolate cake. Guess what, the whole family loved it. Almost half of it was finished even before it cooled down. AWESOME as my son said. Thank you for the recipe.
Yay!! So glad it worked and everyone loved it. 🙂 Mom win!
I’ve made this cake and it was perfect, delicious.
I want to make it again, but make it into a 2 layer cake (doubling recipe, baking 2)…do you think the cake will stand the height?
It should, yes! Let us know how that turns out for you!
What can I use instead of applesauce
The applesauce is used instead of oil- so you could use the oil instead of the applesauce. Or you could try another fruit puree!
I would like to make this cake for my son’s birthday but I wanted to use a 10.5″ bundt cake tin instead of a square 8″ dish. Would that work or would the cake be drier? Would I need to change the proportion, the temperature and baking time? Thank you
That should work just fine! I wouldn’t recommend any adjustments other than to check your cake about 10 minutes before the end of the bake time. 🙂
This cake is a staple dessert in our household with nut allergies, gluten-free and vegan diets! THANK YOU?
The flour is easily replaced with any GF options and an egg replacer used without even noticing.
Thanks for sharing your substitutions- and we’re so happy to hear that this recipe is such a hit with your family! Yay!!
I love this recipe so, so much! I’ve made it multiple times now, and my husband, daughter and I can’t get enough!
Yay!! Thanks for sharing!
Hi there, I have a child with some sensory challenges. I’m trying to find a creative way to get some banana into his diet every now and then. This cake looks amazing and very chocolatey. Does the chocolate somewhat hide the banana or is it very strong? Thank you!
It’s definitely more chocolate than banana. 🙂
This cake was amazing! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.
Can this cake be made in a 9 x 5 loaf pan?
Glad you loved it! You can absolutely bake it in a loaf pan- just watch the bake time!
This turned out great. Rich and moist
Great recipe! Now one of my regularly used recipes. Thank you.
This was to die for. The family just polished it off! Incredibly moist. The only thing I wish it tasted less banananish .. so thinking will add more coco ?
Just made this with my 3 and 5 year olds and had so much fun! We only used 1/2 cup of brown sugar and a cup of dark chocolate morsels. Thinking next time even less brown sugar and maybe 1/2 cup dark chocolate morsels. So rich and moist! Loved this and I hate cake! Definitely saving for another day!
I made this today and it was delicious. My kids loved it.
Hi ? what other kinds of flower can be used for this recipe?
You can experiment with any flour- you should get a decent result. 🙂
Thank you for this awesome recipe! It’s our go-to for making healthy-ish chocolate cake that the adults and kids in the house can enjoy – and no one can tell that it has bananas or WWF 🙂 I do reduce sugar by half as we don’t eat a lot of sugar and sub the applesauce with 1/4cup oil + 1/4 cup curd… Delicious!
I made mine into cupcakes.And they look so good.I’m even starting a baking business!!?
OMG. This CAKE, holy moly. My kids liked this and my chocolate loving husband DEVOURED it. I’m eating the last piece with some tea as my treat after kids went to bed and can say it’s a family favorite!! I’d absolutely make this over regular chocolate cake any day. I think the tip that it’s great warm out of the oven is spot on. I may have slightly undercooked it since I stuck with the 25 min time (a toothpick came out pretty clean though)It was perfect. Almost like lava cake tasting though firmer – think fresh brownie out of the oven. Cold it was good but warm was amazing. We kept reheating it for dessert all weekend. It was perfect as is, but still really sweet where if you wanted to be healthier you could probably play around with cutting down on the sugar.
Any chance you can give a weight or an approximate cup size for the bananas? I cut mine up and put them in the freezer lol
You are going to want about 1 cup mashed bananas. 🙂
Loved this recipe!!
I didn’t have the 1 cup chocolate chips, but my family did not miss them. I baked the cake into muffins (made exactly 12) and can’t wait to make more.
Made this today with my 8 year old daughter…. It’s delicious and so easy! Thank you!
This cake recipe turned out PERFECT! It had a great rise and was very moist and flavorful! Ten stars!! **********
This is so delicious. It is very moist and chocolatey. I feel like I am indulging in a not so good for you treat!
Decadent yet guilt free!!
My third grade niece made these under my watch and they turned out perfectly! These are moist, chocolaty, scrumptious!!
We doubled the batch with a 9×13 pan, only used 1 cup brown sugar, and only 2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips mixed in.
SCRUMPTIOUS!!! I SAY!!!
Don’t wonder. Don’t wait.
Bake these!!!
I forgot to mention (and I couldn’t reply to my own review)…
We used straight oat flour and it baked perfectly at about 35 – 40 minutes!!
Thank you for your great, healthy recipes! Do I need to substitute applesauce if I dint have any? What can Ibise as a substitute pls?
The applesauce is used as an oil substitute- so you could use oil instead.
I made these in muffin tins, the only change was to reduce cooking time to 18min. I sprayed the tins well with baking Pam.
They are like semi molten cakes because of the amount of chocolate chips. Very moist and not super strong banana taste.
I’m bringing them to a friends for dinner so this will make it easier to warm them in the microwave.
I plan to serve with banana ice cream!