Moist, rich, and comforting, this gluten-free banana cake is one of those desserts everyone loves. This cake is dense without being heavy and the whipped cream cheese frosting is irresistible!
This is the BEST banana cake I’ve ever had! This post has all the tips and tricks you need to make the most delicious gluten-free banana cake.
If you love banana be sure to check out this top-rated gluten-free banana bread or these gluten-free banana muffins!
Everyone loves a classic banana bread recipe. So when you doctor it up with some rich cream cheese frosting, then you have something really irresistible.
This gluten-free banana cake uses sour cream and very ripe, mashed bananas. The result is a rich, moist cake that comes out perfect every time.
You’ll be wishing you had more overripe bananas around just to make this gluten free banana cake!
For more easy sheet cakes, try this gluten-free carrot cake, gluten-free vanilla cupcakes or this easy gluten-free chocolate cake.
You also might like this banana split, gluten-free pineapple upside down cake, gluten-free lemon cake or this gluten-free vanilla cake.
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Why You’ll Love this Gluten Free Banana Cake Recipe
- Moist, gluten free cake
- Dense without being heavy
- Tangy cream cheese frosting
- Made with pantry staples
- Fluffy texture!
Ingredients You’ll Need
Here are some of the ingredients that make this delicious banana cake really shine!
- Gluten-Free 1:1 Baking Flour: I like to use a high quality gluten-free measure-for-measure flour blend like King Arthur Flour in my baked goods. It works best to use a blend that contains xanthan gum in this recipe.
- Sour Cream/Oil: Adds richness and tenderness to the gluten free banana cake without weighing down the crumb. It truly makes for the best gluten-free cake!
- Lemon Juice: Lemon juice helps to tenderize the crumb. It’s the secret ingredient in my gluten-free blueberry muffins as well.
- Baking Powder: I use a good amount in this gluten free banana cake recipe for the perfect rise.
This banana cake with olive oil also looks amazing. You also might like this gluten-free banana pudding!
How to Make Gluten-Free Banana Cake
Make the Gluten-Free Banana Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 9×13 inch baking pan.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients, including gluten-free flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
- In a separate large mixing bowl, mash the bananas. Add the wet ingredients, including sour cream, milk, vanilla extract, and lemon juice.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (or using a large bowl and electric 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 gluten free banana cake 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. Let the cake cool completely. After about 45 minutes, I usually place it in the refrigerator to speed things up.
Make the Cream Cheese 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 this moist gluten free banana cake!
Storage Instructions
- To store: This banana cake is best eaten the day it’s made. To store leftovers, tightly wrap this delicious banana cake with plastic wrap or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two days.
Banana Cake FAQs
Banana bread is more firm and dense than banana cake. Banana bread is served plain and is usually less sweet, while banana cake is topped with frosting.
If you use too much gluten-free flour or low-quality gluten-free flour, your banana cake may end up dry. I use a combination of sour cream and oil to achieve a moist, tender crumb in this delicious cake.
This recipe includes lemon juice, which reacts with baking soda to create extra rise and produce a more tender cake. Adding an extra egg can also help a gluten-free cake rise.
Expert Tips and Tricks
- You could turn this recipe into banana cupcakes by scooping the batter into cupcake liners and reducing the baking time.
- You could also make this into a sheet cake by pouring the batter into a sheet pan and reducing the baking time.
- I love pairing this gluten-free banana cake with cream cheese frosting, but you could also use vanilla frosting or even peanut butter frosting instead!
- Are you a chocolate lover? Consider adding chocolate chips to the batter to add an extra dose of chocolatey goodness!
More Gluten-Free Cake Recipes
I hope you love this recipe as much as we do! If you try this gluten-free banana cake, be sure to leave me a comment/rating below. I’d love to hear from you!
Gluten-Free Banana Cake
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients:
- 2 ½ cups gluten-free 1:1 baking flour 380 grams
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
Other:
- 3 large very ripe bananas mashed (about 1 ½ cups)
- ½ cup sour cream 120 grams
- 1 cup milk 240 grams
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 cup white sugar 200 grams
- ½ cup brown sugar 100 grams
- 3 large eggs
- ½ cup vegetable oil 100 grams
For the Frosting:
- 8 ounces full-fat block cream cheese 224 grams (softened to room temperature)
- 1/2 cup butter 115 grams (softened to room temperature)
- 3 cups powdered sugar 360 grams
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Pinch of 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
- You could turn this recipe into banana cupcakes by scooping the batter into cupcake liners and reducing the baking time.
- You could also make this into a sheet cake by pouring the batter into a sheet pan and reducing the baking time.
- I love pairing this gluten-free banana cake with cream cheese frosting, but you could also use vanilla frosting or even peanut butter frosting instead!
- Are you a chocolate lover? Consider adding chocolate chips to the batter to add an extra dose of chocolatey goodness!
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!