This deliciously moist vegan banana cake with pecan nuts is so good no one will guess it is vegan! No weird ingredients - find everything in your local supermarket.
🍴Why you will love this recipe
Hands up if you're secretly delighted when a bunch of bananas tip over the edge of ripeness in your fruit bowl, so they are good only for making cake? Oh good, I'm glad its not just me.
A slice of freshly baked vegan banana cake must be at least in my top three favourite things to eat with a nice cup of tea, (alongside my vegan victoria sponge and vegan blueberry muffins!).
Deliciously sweet and studded with pecan nuts, this lovely cake was so easy to vegan-ise. I used my usual substitution of soya yoghurt in place of eggs, and dairy-free margarine in place of butter. Bananas make a great egg-replacer in themselves too, so there's no need for any binding agent, this has a superb texture.
No one will ever guess it is 'free-from' anything, and there are no weird ingredients - everything can be found in your local supermarket.
📝 What you need
Ingredients
Bananas These are best if they are very ripe - soft flesh with skins turning brown, rather than still slightly green.
Dairy-free yoghurt I use soya yoghurt as it has the highest protein content of all the plant yoghurts, so it is the closest egg-replacer. But any other plant yoghurt will also work well - the bananas help with the egg-replacing too so it isn't as important as in my other cake recipes.
Vegan butter Do use a good quality block margarine, rather than a tub of spread. Block margarine has a much lower water content so it makes quite a difference to the finished cake.
Self-raising flour Did you know that you can make your own self-raising flour if you don't have any to hand? Simply use the same quantity of plain flour and add 2 teaspoons of baking powder. (You will still need the bicarbonate of soda specified in the recipe too).
Equipment
You will need a 2lb loaf tin (roughly 21 x 9cm).
- Loaf Tin Mine is this super-sturdy tin from by Jamie Oliver which I really like.
- Mini Loaves this cute Lakeland tin would be perfect for making mini banana cakes!
- Best for Batch Baking Sometimes I use my nifty adjustable cake tin to batch-bake two or even three banana cakes at once!
👩🏽🍳 How to make your vegan banana cake
For a full, printable recipe with ingredients and detailed instructions, scroll to the bottom of this page 👇🏼.
Mash three of the bananas, and finely chop the pecan nuts.
In a large bowl mix the dry ingredients - flour, sugar, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Melt the vegan butter and mix it into the yoghurt and mashed banana. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until completely smooth.
Stir the chopped pecans into the cake mix, and pour into the lined loaf tin. Slice the remaining banana in half lengthways and push the two halves into the cake batter. Cover with foil and bake for an hour, removing the foil for the last 10 minutes of baking time.
🔪 Top Tips & FAQs
This cake is even better after being left overnight in an airtight container, so do make it a day ahead if you can. The moisture works through the cake and the crust softens, so it becomes even more deliciously soft and moist.
If you only have three ripe bananas to use up, just leave off the banana on the top of the cake - it will still be delicious!
Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely! You can freeze it whole, or slice it and put a piece of greaseproof paper in between each slice. Wrap it up tightly in foil or freeze it in an airtight container.
This is so quick and easy to make that you can easily make two at the same time - one to eat and one to freeze!
If kept in an airtight tin or container this will keep for 4-5 days - it is very moist and so keeps well. If you still have some left over after that, (unlikely!), you can freeze it in slices as above.
How about trying one of these recipes from blogging friends:
Helen’s Easy Banana Scones from Family Friends Food
My Banana Pancakes with pecans
Jac’s Vegan Banana Pancakes from The Vegan Lunchbox
…or try my Vegan Banana Muffins – deliciously light and moist.
⭐️ Reader Testimonials
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "I’ve been making vegan banana bread recipes for months now and haven’t been happy with the texture/density so thought I would try a cake recipe. Stumbled across your gorgeous site and made your banana cake yesterday and it is divine. I’m off to the market today for more bananas to make a few more loaves to freeze." Q
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "I made a big double quantity of this cake to take out on a soup run that I volunteer on. I also made an apple cake but everyone chose the banana cake and were really disappointed when it was all gone! Next month I’ll just make 2 double sized banana cakes. Thank you for an excellent recipe; really easy for a not-usually-very-successful baker! 🙂" Rona
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "Love this recipe. It’s easy to follow and doesn’t take ages to prep and cook. The cake is yummy and moist. Will definitely be making again." Emma
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "This turned out so well I’ll be making it again tonight, a week later. I am not the most confident cook/baker, and I hate seeing recipes with too many ingredients, this one caught my eye as it is simple. My boyfriend was very complimentary about this, when normally he is very fussy 😉" Shadow
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "This recipe made the most amazing cake. I bake every ten years or so, so this is definitely a no fail recipe. Thanks for posting it 🙂" Sarah
🍽 If you liked that...
.... you might also enjoy these vegan recipes from The Veg Space:
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Banana Cake
Ingredients
- 4 ripe bananas
- 50 g pecan nuts or hazelnuts or walnuts if you prefer
- 220 g self-raising flour
- 160 g soft light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 100 g vegan butter / block margarine
- 125 g dairy-free yoghurt unsweetened - I used soya
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (fan) / 350°F / Gas Mark 4. Grease a loaf tin (a 2lb tin is ideal - roughly 21cm x 9cm).
- Mash 3 of the bananas with a fork until smooth.
- Chop the pecan nuts.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, bicarbonate of soda and salt.
- Melt the vegan butter/block margarine in the microwave or a small saucepan, and stir it into the vegan yoghurt and mashed banana.
- Add the yoghurt and vegan butter into the dry ingredients, and mix until completely smooth.
- Pour the mixture into your loaf tin, then peel the remaining banana and slice it in half lengthways. Press the two halves into the cake mix. Cover with foil, leaving room for the cake to expand in the oven.
- Bake for an hour or until an inserted skewer or knife comes out clean, removing the foil around 10 minutes before the end of cooking time. Leave the cake to cool in the tin.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Sar says
This was so quick and easy to make and the result was delicious and moist. This recipe is definitely a keeper
Rachael says
I forgot to mention in my review that I have a tip for lazy bakers! By adding the sugar when mashing the bananas, it is much easier to mash and I find that it gives a smoother result than mashing the bananas separately.
And as I submit this review, I have another two banana cakes in the oven!
Rachael says
I baked this using regular dairy milk and yoghurt as I’m vegetarian not vegan, but I don’t use eggs at all so I often use vegan recipes.
It turned out delicious and I will definitely be making it again.
Jo says
Lovely loaf. Just a quick comment on the nutrition values though. Cholesterol? Surely not. How about the trans fat from cooking the block? Or, are either of these values from an auto generated nutrition gizmo?
Regardless, this is such a delicious loaf. Thanks.
Tayler says
I’ve made this several times and it always turns out perfectly! So full of banana flavor!
Kate Ford says
That's great to hear, thanks Tayler x
Mairead says
I love how you used an extra banana sliced in half to decorate the top of this delicious loaf. It looks amazing.
Heather says
Such an easy moist banana bread recipe! Can't believe it was vegan!
Roxana says
What a great recipe. This was as good as any traditional banana cake, if not better. So easy to follow.
Elaine says
I just never get tired of a good banana cake. There is just something magical about it. Excited to try your take on it!
Linda Barron says
Great recipe. Made it again recently for friends who are not vegan. Appreciated by all. Thank you 😋
Kate Ford says
Brilliant! That's great to hear, thanks Linda.
Dianne says
There is simply too little flour and/or too many bananas in this recipe. I have made quite a number of banana bread recipes in my life and this was, by far, the worst. To describe it in one word: rubbery.
Kate Ford says
Sorry to hear that Dianne - you will see from the reviews that many others have really enjoyed the recipe, I've made it so many times myself and it has never turned out rubbery. Really sorry it didn't go well for you.
Daisy says
With respect, if yours turned out rubbery I think you over-whisked it and made it tough. But you can avoid that by preparing the recipe slightly differently. I once read that if you coat the flour with oil first when making vegan cakes etc, the oil coats the protein in the flour and slows the gluten, making the cake softer and less likely to be tough.
So I mashed the banana in a separate bowl and then whipped it hard with my whisk to make it nice and light. I added the melted vegan butter to the flour first and whisked it into breadcrumbs, then added the sugar. Lastly, I added the banana and soya yoghurt and gently whisked it all together. It came out very light and delicious!
Remember, only three bananas actually go into the recipe. An average banana is 110g so I weighed out 330g for the 3 bananas used.
Anne says
Really good and pretty easy. Thank you.
Kate Ford says
That's great, thanks Anne.