This Pumpkin Banana Cake is a super-simple Fall cake recipe made with wholesome plant-based ingredients in less than 45 minutes with a soft, moist crumb and a light and sweet frosting.
I love making super-simple baking recipes. Things that don’t require many ingredients, don’t require hours of prep and yet taste absolutely delicious. With the fall season approaching, I do just that on everything pumpkin like I did for my Pumpkin Bites, Pumpkin Donut Holes, or 5-Ingredient Pumpkin Bread.
While the whole recipe is just below, don’t miss all my tips further down, including ingredient swaps, my cooking tips, and step-by-step shots!
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Pumpkin Banana Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups All-Purpose Flour - (note 1)
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
- ⅓ cup Mild-Flavor Olive Oil - (note 2)
- 1 cup Pumpkin Puree - canned, not pumpkin pie filling
- ¾ cup Mashed Banana - 3 small bananas
- ½ cup Brown Sugar - (note 3)
- 1 tablespoon Pumpkin Spices
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a 8-inch x 8 inch pan with parchment paper. Slightly oil paper with cooking oil spray. Set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk oil, pumpkin puree, mashed banana, pumpkin spices, and brown sugar, until smooth.
- Fold in all-purpose flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Use a rubber spatula to incorporate and form a thick cake batter.
- Pour the batter in the cake pan in an even layer.
- Bake the cake on the center rack of the oven for 35 minutes at 350°F (180°C) until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool down on a cooling rack, then serve plain or with my vegan vanilla frosting.
Notes
Nutrition
Ingredients and Substitutions
- All-Purpose Flour – Use plain all-purpose flour. For a whole grain option, you can substitute up to half with whole wheat pastry flour. For a gluten-free version, use my gluten-free conversion guide.
- Light Olive Oil – Choose a light olive oil for its neutral flavor. Canola oil, melted coconut oil, or any neutral vegetable oil can be used as alternatives.
- Pumpkin Puree – Use canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling) or homemade pumpkin puree.
- Mashed Banana – Use very ripe bananas for the best flavor and natural sweetness.
- Brown Sugar – Light or dark brown sugar works well. Coconut sugar can be used for a less refined option.
- Pumpkin Spices – Use a pre-made pumpkin spice mix or create your own with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves.
How to Make Pumpkin Banana Cake
This is a very easy bread recipe, similar to regular banana bread. I have a full recipe card further down, but here are photos of the key steps.
Mash the ripe bananas in a mixing bowl and add the pure pumpkin puree.
Pour all the other ingredients into the mixing bowl.
Stir the batter with a silicone spatula until it’s well combined.
Transfer the batter to a square pan lined with parchment paper and flatten it.
Bake it for 35 minutes at 350 °F while preparing my Vegan Vanilla Frosting.
Spread the frosting on top of the baked cake and add fresh banana slices.
Carine’s Baking Tips
- Ensure your bananas are very ripe for maximum sweetness and easy mashing.
- Don’t overmix the batter after adding the dry ingredients to avoid a tough cake.
- If you prefer a stronger pumpkin flavor, increase the pumpkin puree to 1 1/4 cups and reduce the mashed banana to 1/2 cup.
- To enhance the flavor, try toasting the pumpkin spices in a dry pan before adding them to the batter.
- For added texture, fold in 1/2 cup of chopped nuts or chocolate chips to the batter before baking.
- Check the cake after 30 minutes to prevent overbaking, as it can dry out quickly.
- Allow the cake to cool completely before frosting to prevent the frosting from melting.
- This cake freezes well. Wrap individual slices in plastic wrap and store in a freezer bag for up to 3 months. The best is to freeze it unfrosted though.
how can substitute the banana?
You can’t easily swap banana in this recipe since it’s a banana cake. You could try unsweetened applesauce but I can’t guarantee that the texture will be the same.
this looks delicious. can hemp milk be used for frosting or just use the types that you suggested??
Absolutely, you can use any milk, I like to use almond milk or soy milk.
too good
Thank you!
Made it today…delicious…thanks for the recipe!
Thank you! that’s amazing.
This was very easy to make. Very warm & comfort tasting. I didn’t have time to make the frosting but others love it plan. I will make this again.
Thank you so much!
It’s the banana and the pumpkin I don’t see why you need the oil at all???
Replacing the final amount of liquid oil with even more pumpkin or banana puree will inevitably create a gummy, packed texture due to severe over-hydration of the flour. These purees are high in water and starches, which rapidly encourage the flour proteins (gluten) to form a tight, overly-strong network. Because the recipe already lacks the structure of eggs (all my recipes are egg-free), if you remove the tenderizing interference of oil, there is nothing to prevent the excessive gluten development. It means that the added puree you will add instead of the oil will increases the batter’s total water content significantly, resulting in a heavy mass that cannot effectively hold the air bubbles from leavening agents. It clear, it will be a thick gummy cake that won’t taste good.
Will apple sauce be a good substitute for the oil?.
Not really for this cake, any cake or bread that already use a large amount of wet ingredients like mashed banana and/or pumpkin puree will turn super gummy if you swap the oil.
I’m trying to cut down on sugar,can I make this cake without
I am pretty sure it will work without added sugar. It won’t taste very sweet but if you are happy with that, it’s possible to bake it sugar free.
Looks like a lovely autumn cake!! Can I substitute bananas with sweet potato here?
No, it won’t work very well I am sorry.
This turns out great all the time. I sometimes use baked sweet potato instead of canned pumpkin puree and it works well too!
That sounds like a delicious swap to pumpkin, I must try next time! thanks for baking my recipes.