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This healthier banana cake is made with whole wheat flour and topped with a creamy Greek yogurt chocolate frosting! Moist, delicious, and perfect for serving large crowds! The perfect banana cake when you want to indulge… but still keep things on the healthier side!
Healthier Whole Wheat Banana Cake
Last week I found myself bug-eyed and awake at the utterly unholy hour of 4 am. I stared at the ceiling, counted sheep, and tried thinking happy thoughts – only to come to the conclusion that I could-not-fall-back-asleep. Does this ever happen to you? It’s kind of the worst. But I’m an eternal optimist and decided to take my lemons and make lemonade. Or, more to the point, get my butt out of bed, take some mushy bananas, and make banana cake. With chocolate frosting, of course. Because anything done before 5 am deserves chocolate. At least that’s the law in these parts.
Oh what a banana cake it turned out to be! Silver linings are everywhere, I tell ya!
The banana cake base is dense yet delightfully moist and tender. Pretty amazing considering the fact this cake uses ALL whole wheat flour. Using 100% whole wheat flour can sometimes result in dry and disastrous baked goods, so I breathed a deep sigh of relief when I cut into this cake and peeped so many fluffy crumbs!
The cake gains its lovely texture thanks to 3 VERY ripe bananas, vanilla bean greek yogurt, almond milk, and eggs. I highly recommend allowing your bananas to get as dark, brown, and mushy as you can before using them in this recipe. Ugly bananas = Beautiful bread. You can quote me on that!
As far as substitutions come in this recipe, here’s what I know. You can definitely swap the whole wheat flour for all purpose flour – no problem there. You may also use regular cow’s milk in place of the almond milk and sour cream in place of the greek yogurt. That said, I don’t recommend making these changes if you want the cake to remain on the healthier side. I’m only noting these substitutions in case you can’t find the ingredients listed below and still really really want to make a banana cake.
Ok. So let’s move on to the frosting!!! Frosting gets three exclamation points because it’s:
Creamy
Chocolatey
Spiked with an exciting dash of cinnamon
Not-too-sweet
Made with NO butter
Silky smooth and luxuriously thick thanks to Greek yogurt
Can you tell I’m a fan of this frosting? I’ve actually been playing around with the idea of Greek yogurt frosting for a few months now. I made a Skinny Banana Cake with Maple Greek Yogurt Frosting back in the Fall and fell in love with the concept. When I was making this cake I decided to test out two frostings: one vanilla bean and one chocolate. Chocolate beat vanilla black and blue.
The great thing about this frosting is I’ve scaled down on the confectioners’ sugar (only 1/2 cup!), completely cut out the butter, and still managed to maintain that sweet, creamy taste and texture we know and love from frosting. I mean, I don’t normally toot my own horn, but… toot toot. This frosting is a winner winner.
Things you should know about this frosting:
It has a deep, rich chocolatey taste
It’s not too sweet
You can always add a little more confectioners’ sugar if you want to increase the sweetness action
I’ve included a pinch of cinnamon in the recipe; it adds depth and bonds with the banana flavor in a special way
The recipe calls for cream cheese; I highly recommend using full-fat or 2% – not fat-free.
Now, because I know this will arise somewhere in the comments at some point or another, let’s address the elephant in the room, shall we? I call this cake healthy… and I’m sticking to it. By healthy I do not mean low-calorie. I do not mean low-carb. Nor do I mean sugar-free, gluten-free, or paleo. What I mean is for cake – which this is (yay!) – it’s on the healthier side. It’s made with all whole wheat flour, it’s completely butter-free, it’s lower in sugar than 99.9% of the cake recipes out there, and it’s still a delicious and decadent CAKE. <— I write this out because I love you guys, value your opinion, and don’t ever want you to feel like I’m pulling one over on ya. I consider this healthy, but if you don’t, that’s cool too. I just want you to know the facts… and also that cake is delicious.
This banana cake is soft and luscious on the inside, creamy and chocolatey on the outside. Banana + Chocolate = Go on and get baking!
P.S. Keep any leftovers in your fridge! The chocolate frosting is a delicate flower and needs the chill of your fridge to keep it in check. xoxo
More Banana Cake Recipes:
- Chocolate Banana Cake with Espresso Fudge Frosting
- Banana Cake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
- Old-Fashioned Banana Cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
- Skinny Banana Cake with Maple Frosting
- Banana Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting
Healthy Whole Wheat Banana Cake with Creamy Greek Yogurt Chocolate Frosting
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Coconut oil, melted
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons packed Dark Brown Sugar
- 2 large Eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- 1 1/2 cups Whole-Wheat Flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 cup 2% Vanilla Bean Greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup Unsweetened Almond Milk
- 3 large VERY RIPE Bananas, smashed
For the Frosting:
- 1/2 cup 2% Vanilla Bean Greek Yogurt
- 4 ounces Cream Cheese, very soft
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 cup Confectioners' Sugar, Sifted
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons Unsweetened Cocoa Powder, Sifted
- 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Grease an 8x8 inch baking pan; set aside.
- In a large bowl whisk together the melted coconut oil and brown sugar. Beat in the eggs and vanilla; mix well.
- In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt; stir the dry mixture into the wet mixture just until combined. Gently fold in the greek yogurt, almond milk, and mashed banans. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool cake in the pan for at least 15 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
For the Frosting:
- In a large bowl beat together the Greek yogurt, cream cheese, and vanilla extract; beat well, until there is no lumps in the mixture.
- Place a fine-mesh strainer over the mixture and sift in the sugar, cocoa powder, and cinnamon. Taste and add more sugar if needed/desired.
- Place frosting in the fridge for 20 minutes before frosting the cooled cake. Cut into squares and serve at once, or store in the fridge until needed.
- Spread on cupcakes.
Hmm, ok if that’s how it’s supposed to be. I did it right then. Only was expectation was a bit different. But no problem, great recipe for sure!
If I develop a light and fluffy banana cake anytime soon I will be sure to let you know 🙂
Hi, the recipe looked so healthy and yummy that I made this within no time after reading it today, without the frosting though. However, I am not happy with the outcome because the cake turned out to be quite dense. I had to make 2 changes to the recipe as below given the availability at home at the time :
-used two very ripe bananas instead of 3
-used regular milk instead of almond milk
Could you suggest what could have caused the cake to be so dense? Or is that how it is supposed to be? If I want to make it nice and light, us there a way?
Hi Sangetta. This is meant to be a very dense and moist snack cake.
Baking soda actually will go flat if it is exposed to moisture or a humid environment, you could try adding more Baking soda or just buy an new box and use the old one for cleaning, etc. If you want a light cake, or to make one like this lighter, separate the egg whites and beat stiff, then gently fold in the whites during or after adding the wet ingredients. For that kind of cake I will “under” mix the wets then gently fold in the egg whites to evenly incorporate. The egg whites will “flatten” but they will still retain enough air to make a much lighter cake.
Hi there! Just made this on a Sunday morning and it came out deliciously. I didn’t use any sugar (just 1/4 cup of honey instead) and added a bit of ground almonds to sweeten even further. Now I’m eating it solo (without icing – it’s in the fridge still) with a cup of coffee and it is absolutely delicious and cinnamon-y. It is surprisingly a bit too sweet for me, so next time I’ll cut down on the honey. Nevertheless, absolutely delicious. Thank you for the recipe and happy baking to all!
Hi Natalie! I am so happy you made this cake and enjoyed it 🙂 And thank you for letting us know how your adaptions turned out – they’re always so helpful for other readers looking to make similar cutbacks/changes.
Following up on kayle’s comment. .did you try this for your baby? I’m liking fir healthy recipes for her smash cake. .but tell me ‘baker by nature’ would this cake work for tiny hans to smash through? It seems dense to me. .i love the idea of frosting. .threw Pruett day i made cream cheese frosting instead of butter or whipped cream frosting and in my opinion that was a healthier choice. .am not sure what the others think. .But yogurt frosting sounds even healthier! !Thanks
Hi Shweta. This is definitely a dense but moist cake. I’ve honestly never tried smashing it 😉 So I can’t say how that would go! It is quite healthy though. xo
This cake-and esp. that frosting-looks fantastic!!!! And-I know this is weird buuuut it would make a great smash cake for a baby! Pinnninggg
I go through bouts of insomnia and they are the WORST. I can totally relate, plus whenever I find myself in that kind of state, guess what I’m thinking about? The blog + food, of course!!
anyhoo, loving this recipe from the whole wheat cake to the greek yogurt frosting, delish!
Follow Up – I made this cake yesterday and I’m in love. I didn’t make the frosting, but it’s really delicious alone. I had two pieces before I went to work.
Yay! Erin – thank you so much for following up and letting me know this cake turned out great for you 🙂 I agree; I like it without the icing too. Both ways are yummay!
If it’s mostly healthy ingredients, that means this is healthy too, right? Alright! So, this has no butter – does the coconut oil act in place of it? I’m sure this tastes soooooo good. Bananas with a hint of coconut….nom nom nom
Yup! Coconut oil replaces the butter and adds just the slightest hint of coconut flavor. It’s delish!
I’m glad that someone else in the world defines healthy the same way that I do! I’m always looking for ways to make my desserts healthier without sacrificing flavor or adding in artificial sweeteners (yuck!). We used to sell a Reduced Fat Banana Coffee Cake at the Starbucks that I work at, but this looks a million times more delicious.
That looks awesome! Love how healthy it is…almost good enough for breakfast, eh? 🙂
Absolutely! Thanks sweet June <3