This Vegan Salted Caramel Chocolate Banana Cake (gluten free) tastes so good it is hard to believe that it is vegan with minimal added sugar. There were 3 bananas sitting on my counter quickly approaching rotten and I knew I needed to find a use for them. Initially I gravitated towards banana bread, but I decided to mix it up. Since I also had dates I thought of the idea to make a cake with a date frosting, and boy is it good.
To make this cake all you have to do is mix together your wet ingredients, pour in your dry ingredients and mix again. I do recommend mixing together your dry ingredients first so everything gets nice and combined. Then pour the mixture into a lined baking dish and bake. Then the frosting is made in your food processor. So easy, no hand mixer required.
I don't suggest making many subs to this recipe. Every component is important to the taste and texture of this cake. However, the almond butter can be subbed for any nut butter, and the maple syrup could be swapped for honey if you eat honey.
I made this cake as healthy as possible without affecting taste. The cake has minimal added sugar, with just a little maple syrup. The frosting has 0 added sugar and is sweetened with dates. If you wanted to have 0 added sugar in this recipe the maple syrup could be subbed out with milk. All of the healthy fats and fiber in this recipe from the oat flour, almond flour and nut butters help balance out the sugar. You can eat a slice of this cake and not feel like you need a nap after.
I love banana recipes! For more yummy banana recipes try my banana bread oatmeal bars, sweet potato banana bread or my pumpkin banana bread.
Why you'll love this recipe
- It is vegan, gluten free, dairy free and egg free.
- It is easy to make.
- It is made with healthier ingredients and refined sugar free.
- Oat and almond flour keep this recipe gluten free.
What ingredients do I need to make a vegan salted caramel cake?
- flax seeds
- bananas
- oil
- plant milk
- maple syrup
- vanilla
- apple cider vinegar
- oat flour
- almond flour
- arrowroot starch
- cacao
- baking powder
- dates
- almond butter
- coconut oil
- plant milk
- vanilla
- sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Make your flax eggs
- Mix together your wet ingredients. Pour in dry ingredients and mix again.
- Pour batter into a baking dish lined with parchment paper. Bake.
- Add all of your frosting ingredients to a food processor or blender. Blend until smooth.
- Let cake cool and top with frosting.
Substitutions
- maple syrup - can be subbed for honey or another liquid sweetener.
- almond butter - can be subbed with cashew butter or peanut butter.
- DO NOT substitute out the flours, this will negatively impact the texture of the cake.
Storage instructions
The extra cake can be stored in a sealed container in your fridge for up to 4 days.
Recipe pro-tips
For the best tasting cake make sure your bananas are nice and spotty.
Other vegan cakes to try:
If you try this Vegan Salted Caramel Chocolate Banana Cake (gluten free) please leave me a rating and review on this blog post. This is the best way to support me!
vegan salted caramel chocolate banana cake
Ingredients
Wet
- 2 tablespoon ground flax + 5 tablespoon water 2 flax eggs
- 3 mashed spotty bananas
- 2 tablespoon oil of choice
- ½ cup plant milk
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
Dry
- 1 ½ cups oat flour
- 1 cup almond flour
- 2 tablespoon arrowroot starch/powder or cornstarch
- ¼ cup cacao
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
Frosting
- 12 juicy medjool dates soak in water for 15 minutes if they are hard
- ½ cup almond butter
- ¼ cup coconut oil
- 3 tablespoon plant milk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- pinch sea salt for dusting on top, I like maldon flaky but you can use any
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Make your flax eggs by mixing flax and water. Let sit refrigerated for 10-30 minutes.
- Make your cake. Mix together dry ingredients and set aside. Mix together all wet ingredients including your flax eggs. Pour in dry ingredients and mix.
- Pour batter into a lined 8x8 baking dish. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a fork comes out clean.
- Now make your icing. Combine all frosting ingredients in a processor or blender. Blend on high until smooth, scraping down the edges occasionally.
- After cake has cooled, spread icing on top. Dust with sea salt. Refrigerate for 10 minutes to let the icing set. Cut into squares and enjoy.
Tamara Mostacero
I had three spotty bananas and I was searching through my saved recipes on Instagram. I saw this one and thank goodness I had all the ingredients in my pantry. It was definitely worth all the time it took to put this baby together because holy moly this has to be the best cake I have ever made !! That frosting is other worldly, you’d never know it’s vegan and gluten free ! I’m so incredibly happy I chose to make this cake ! Definitely going to be a staple at my house from now on !
Kristi
Thanks Tamara!
Zoe
LOVED this. I brought it to work and not one piece was left. I really did love the texture and taste. Quality ingredients. Will be making again and again. Thanks!