Moist, whole grain, and full of banana flavor! This Banana Snack Cake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting is the perfect after school snack or dessert!
At last! It’s Friday! It’s always such a relief knowing that two glorious days of doing whatever the heck you feel like are only hours away. You know what else makes Friday great? Cake! Cake actually makes any day better, but it’s extra special when served on the last work day before freedom arrives. Today’s Banana Snack Cake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting is not only delicious, but one you can have a slice of and not feel you wrecked your healthy eating with.
This was my first time making a snack cake. To be honest I didn’t really know what a snack cake was. What I did know was that any cake that was acceptable enough to be eaten as a snack was a win in my book! In case like me, you are unfamiliar with what a snack is let me tell you about it.
When I first looked up the definition I kept getting results for Twinkies, Little Debby’s, and all those other prepackage novelty cakes you may or in my case may not have had in your lunch box growing up. However, after checking out a bunch of recipes for snack cakes this is what I’ve gathered. It’s typically a single layer cake that can be mixed up by hand in one bowl and baked in an 8×8 inch square baking pan. Depending on your preference you can add frosting or leave it as is. So in other words, it’s sort of like a big square muffin. However you want to define a snack cake be sure that the word delicious is included in that definition!
I decided to make a banana snack cake because bananas are something I always have on hand and you can get them year round. This cake is made with a combination of whole wheat pastry flour and oats for texture. I chose to eliminate the oil in the cake and replace it with non-fat Greek yogurt because I wanted this to be a cake that I could “snack” on without a lot of guilt. I also kept the cake itself (not the frosting) free of refined sugars and sweetened it with the bananas and honey. The banana snack cake is moist, delicious, and tastes very similar to banana bread without the frosting. It’s cake though, so how could I not frost it? The cinnamon cream cheese frosting is the perfect topping and well worth the extra calories if you ask me! Just try not to eat it all before you get around to spreading it onto the cake!
Yields 9-12 slices
20 minPrep Time
20 minCook Time
40 minTotal Time
Save RecipeIngredients
- 1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- Pinch of nutmeg
- 2 large very ripe bananas, mashed
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup plain non-fat Greek yogurt
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4 ounces low fat cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3 tablespoons toasted chopped pecans (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Spray an 8x8 inch square baking pan with cooking spray, line the bottom with a piece of parchment paper, and then spray the parchment paper with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl whisk together the dry ingredients for the cake.
- In a small bowl whisk together the mashed bananas, egg, Greek yogurt, honey, and vanilla.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix together with a rubber spatula until just combined.
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared 8x8 pan and bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool the cake on a wire cooling rack for 10 minutes in the pan before removing it from the pan to cool completely.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer with the whisk attachment or with a handheld mixer, whisk together all of the frosting ingredients until they are smooth and fluffy.
- Spread the frosting on top of the cooled banana snack cake.
- Top with chopped toasted pecans if desired.
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