GLUTEN FREE VEGAN BANANA CAKE

Posted by Bryna Bear aka Gluten Free Baking Bear

     My son lives in another state and we get together about once a month.  In miles we are not very far (if only we had a helicopter), but in traffic we are between 1½ and 3 hours away.  I knew he was coming to drop off my grandson for a week of babysitting.  I decided to bake something for him.  He is a vegan and I had four over ripe bananas.  Banana cake was inevitable.

     Vegan baking, like gluten free baking has its’ challenges and tricks.  It is doubly difficult to combine both vegan and GF ingredients when baking.  I find it best to use an already vegan recipe and convert it into a gluten free one rather than to take a gluten free recipe and convert it into a vegan one.  Replacing eggs in a cake can be challenging and often may require more than one try.  I did not have the time to experiment so I found a vegan recipe on Food.com and made it GF.  I like using recipes from this site because there are many comments and reviews that are very helpful and insightful.  Reviewers offer tips on how they had to change up the recipe and good feedback about the recipe results. 

    This cake has a great flavor and is moist with a slightly dense texture.  It was very easy and simple to mix up the batter.  My son loved it and so did everyone else who tried it.  This recipe is a keeper.  It will work well to make a vegan version of my Thomas Quinn’s Favorite Cake recipe.

GLUTEN FREE VEGAN BANANA CAKE

Makes one 9-inch square cake.

Ingredients

1 cup	Sorghum Flour
½ cup	Chickpea Flour
½ cup	Tapioca Flour
½ tsp	Xanthan Gum
2 tsp	Baking Soda
½ tsp	Sea Salt
1 cup	Sugar
¼ cup	Oil - mild tasting like canola
4 ripe/1⅓  cup	Bananas - mashed
¼ cup	Water
1 tsp.	Vanilla Extract (I used ½ tsp butter vanilla emulsion and ½ tsp vanilla extract)
½ cup	Chopped Walnuts or Pecans - optional
½ cup	Chocolate Chips - optional

Directions

1)    Preheat the oven to 350℉.  Prepare a 9-inch square pan by greasing it or lining it with parchment paper.

2)    In a small bowl add the flours, salt, xanthan gum and baking soda.  Mix well with a whisk and set aside.

3)    In a large bowl add the sugar and oil and mix together.  Add the mashed bananas, water and vanilla and mix well.

4)    Add the flour mixture, all at once, to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined.

5)    Mix in the nuts and or chocolate chips if using.

6)    Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. (I used some chocolate chips on half of the top of the cake instead of mixing the chips into the batter because some of my family does not like chocolate.)

Batter in parchment lined pan.

Batter with chocolate chips on top of half of the cake.

7)    Bake for 45-50 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Baked cake cooling in the pan.

8)    Cool in the pan. Cut into pieces of the desired size, I made 16 squares.

GLUTEN FREE VEGAN BANANA CAKE Makes one 9-inch square cake. Ingredients Directions Preheat the oven to 350℉. Prepare a 9-inch square pan by greasing it or lining it with parchment paper. In a small bowl add the flours, salt, xanthan gum and baking soda. Mix well with a whisk and set aside. In a large bowl add the sugar and oil and mix together. Add the mashed bananas, water and vanilla and mix well. Add the flour mixture, all at once, to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Mix in the nuts and or chocolate chips if using. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. (I used some chocolate chips on half of the top of the cake instead of mixing the chips into the batter because some of my family does not like chocolate.) Bake for 45-50 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in the pan. Cut into pieces of the desired size, I made 16 squares.