Erin’s Recipe Rundown
Texture: Moist, tender cake and creamy frosting.
Taste: Sweet banana paired with rich, slightly tangy cream cheese frosting for balance.
Ease: Pantry staples + easy steps = one beginner-friendly recipe!
Top Tip: Overly ripe bananas are key for taste and texture! The more dark spots on the peel, the better.
Recommended GF Flour: Use a high-quality flour that contains xanthan gum, like King Arthur Gluten-Free Measure-for-Measure Flour.
Would I make these again? Definitely! Anyone who loves banana bread has to try this soft, sweet gluten-free banana cake. It’s an easy, irresistible dessert and the perfect way to use overripe bananas!
xoxo erin
Featured Comment
From Kathy: “Your detailed recipe made for a moist, delicious cake. The frosting was awesome! I brought it to a picnic and everyone enjoyed it. I can’t wait to eat the leftovers! You are very talented and I appreciate the effort you put it to make these special recipes.”
Ingredients You’ll Need
Here are a few notes on some of the key ingredients to make this gluten-free banana cake. Jump to the recipe card below for the exact measurements.
- Gluten-free flour: It’s important to use a high quality gluten-free flour blend, like King Arthur Flour, for the best results! Blends like these have xanthan gum already mixed in!
- Sour cream/oil: I use this combo in a number of my gluten-free cakes for the perfect crumb. They add richness and tenderness for bakery-quality cake!
- Granulated/brown sugar: Granulated sugar offers neutral sweetness, while brown sugar adds moisture and a hint of caramel for balanced flavor and texture.
- Baking powder/soda: These leavening agents are needed to counteract the heaviness of the bananas so that the cake bakes up with the perfect rise.
- Lemon Juice: This little addition helps to activate the baking soda and ensures the cake turns out soft, not dense. It’s the secret ingredient in my gluten-free blueberry muffins too!
You also might like this gluten-free pineapple upside down cake, gluten-free lemon cake or this gluten-free vanilla cake.
How to Make Gluten-Free Banana Cake
Here’s an overview of how to make this recipe. You can jump to the recipe for the full instructions!
Three bowls are worth it for the perfect crumb! In one bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. In the second, mash the bananas and add the sour cream, milk, vanilla, and lemon juice. In the third, use a stand or hand mixer to whip the eggs and both kinds of sugar until fluffy, then drizzle in the oil.
Alternating the dry and wet ingredients helps the flour to absorb better! With the mixer on low, add half of the dry mix, then half of the banana mix. Repeat with the remaining halves.
You can even add chocolate chips for a banana chocolate chip version!
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until golden (usually 35-40 minutes). Let the cake cool all the way. After about 45 minutes on a wire rack, I pop it in the fridge to make this step go faster!
Make the frosting using a stand or hand mixer. Start on low then switch to high until it’s light and creamy (around 3 minutes). Frost the cooled cake, slice, and enjoy!
I love pairing this gluten-free banana cake with cream cheese frosting, but you could also use vanilla frosting or even peanut butter frosting for different fun flavor combos!
For more easy sheet cakes, try this gluten-free carrot cake or this easy gluten-free chocolate cake.
Gluten-Free Banana Cake
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients:
- 2 ½ cups (375g) gluten-free measure-for-measure flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Other:
- 3 large very ripe bananas (mashed) about 1 ½ cups
- ½ cup (120g) sour cream
- 1 cup (240ml) milk of choice
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (106g) brown sugar 100 gram
- 3 large eggs
- ½ cup (120ml) neutral oil
For the Frosting:
- 8 ounces (226g) full-fat block cream cheese softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup (113g) butter softened to room temperature
- 3 cups (360g) powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch of kosher salt
Instructions
Make the Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 9×13 inch baking pan.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the gluten-free flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
- In a separate medium bowl, mash the bananas. Add the sour cream, milk, vanilla and lemon juice to the bananas and mix until combined.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (or using a large bowl and hand mixer), add the white sugar, brown sugar and eggs. Whip on medium-high speed for 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. With the mixer running on low, slowly drizzle in the oil. (You want to do this slowly so you don’t loose the air that you’ve mixed in.)
- With the mixer on low, add ½ of the dry ingredients. Mix until incorporated. Add ½ the banana mixture and mix until combined. Add the remaining 1/2 of the dry ingredients and continue to mix. Mix in the rest of the banana mixture. Mix the batter until well combined, then scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and mix again. (You want to add the dry ingredients alternately with liquid ingredients so the flour absorbs into the batter.)
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes until golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Remove the cake from the oven and set on a wire rack. Allow to cool completely. After about 45 minutes, I usually place it in the refrigerator to speed things up.
Make the Frosting:
- Using a hand or stand mixer, beat together the butter and cream cheese until combined. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla.
- Beat on low then switch to high for about three minutes or until light and creamy. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl then mix for another 30 seconds or so.
- Smooth the frosting over the cooled banana cake. Slice and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally published in March 2022. It was updated with new photos and instructions in August 2025.
Your detailed recipe made for a moist, delicious cake. The frosting was awesome! I brought it to a picnic and everyone enjoyed it. I can’t wait to eat the leftovers!
You are very talented and I appreciate the effort you put it to make these special recipes.
We’re so glad you loved the banana cake, Kathy! Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback with us!
What would be the best alternative to Palm Shortening? I am having trouble finding it in Canada
Hi Karen, ingredients like coconut oil, butter, and lard can be used in place of palm shortening typically. Keep in mind that some will offer more liquid or greasiness to recipes so the measurements might need to be adjusted. We hope this helps!
Yum! So light and fluffy. My slice was still slightly warm and I had it with the cream cheese frosting…so good. Can’t wait to have leftovers tomorrow! (I snuck a bite into my toddler who had already gone to bed and he’s also very excited to have more tomorrow. )
I just made this for the second time. I love how light and fluffy it is. I use coconut sugar so my family can shamelessly eat it for breakfasts over a few days. It stays fresh and delicious for about 3 days which is all it will last around here! I’m so glad I found this recipe.
I fully support cake for breakfast! Great to know it works well with coconut sugar. I’m so glad you and your family like it!
Hello! I really have appreciated your recipes and have used a number of them successfully. But, I am not sure that the weights that you give for the GF flour (usually King Arthur Measure for Measure) are always correct. For example, you say, above, that 2 1/2 c is 380g. The back of the Measure for Measure package lists 4T as 31g, so 16T (1c) would be 124g and 2 1/2 c would be 300g. So 380g would be something like 3 1/6 c.
This is a very common question that comes up! I find that 1 cup of KAF weighs much closer to 150 grams. At the end of the day a cup measurement is subjective – and I think the manufacturer doesn’t realize gluten-free flour is denser than traditional wheat flour. Traditional wheat flour is 120 grams/cup. I like to make my recipes so they will turn out for both people using cup measurements and grams measurements. It is my way of doing it on this website (it’s consistent through all my recipes) even if it’s not the same as KAF. I hope this helps!
This cake is really nice and moist. I used a chocolate frosting .
Thank you for sharing this beautiful recipe. The cake texture and flavor were both amazing. We will surely bake this again.
So I think I understated this recipe in my first review…this is the best gluten free cake I have baked in my 12 years of gluten free baking. Still amazing two days after baking. Thank you again.
I’m so happy to hear that! Glad the banana cake turned out for you!
We loved this recipe! Pre-Celiac days, my grandmas banana cake was a staple in my life for most celebrations. 8″ layers with cream cheese frosting. I’ve searched for two years for a recipe just like this one and wow, you nailed it! I baked this in a 9×13 and followed the recipe as written (I used a scale to measure ingredients). I just enjoyed a slice with my morning coffee and I can attest it’s tasty the day after, which I’ve found isn’t always the case with gf baked goods. I am already planning on attempting it as a layer cake for my daughters First Communion in May. I’ll be adding some chopped candied pecans on the top just like Grandma!
Would the same recipe work for 2 8” cakes or should I double? How long should I bake?
Yes that will work great! I would decrease the baking time – 30-35 minutes would be my guess. I would check the cake at 25 minutes though!