Peanut butter and chocolate chip banana cake bars. Topped with a peanut butter frosting. Paleo, gluten-free, refined sugar free, and vegan.
Course Dessert
Cuisine Gluten-Free, Paleo, vegan
Keyword banana, bars, chocolate, peanut butter
Prep Time 20 minutesminutes
Cook Time 25 minutesminutes
Total Time 45 minutesminutes
Servings 9servings
Calories 400kcal
Ingredients
Vegan Peanut Butter Banana Cake Bars
2medium bananaspeeled
1/3cupprepared aquafaba*92 grams, 3.2 oz
3/4cuppeanut butter
1/3cupmaple syrup
2teaspoonsvanilla extract
1 1/2cupalmond flour
1/4teaspoonbaking soda
1/4teaspoonbaking powder
1/8teaspoonfine sea salt
1/2cupchocolate chips
Vegan Peanut Butter Frosting
3/4 cup raw cashews soaked in water overnight*
2 tablespoons-1/4 cup maple syrup**
1/3 cup coconut cream
3 tablespoons peanut butter
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon coconut butter softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Vegan Peanut Butter Banana Cake Bars
Pre-heat oven to 350F
Line a 8x8” pan with parchment paper.
Whisk prepared aquafaba* with a whisk, or fork, until frothy, and white, for about 1 minute or so.
Place bananas, whisked aquafaba, peanut butter, maple syrup, and vanilla extract in a blender.
Blend mixture until smooth.
Sift almond flour baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Mix with a spatula until incorporated.
Add chocolate chips. Stir.
Pour batter onto prepared pan.
Bake in pre-heated oven for 20-25 minutes.
You may have to cover the cake with foil, and reduce temperature to 325F midway baking, if the cake is browning too fast but isn’t cooked through in the middle.
The best way to tell if the cake is cooked through is to touch the surface of the cake. Poke it gently, if the middle feels jiggly, and the cake doesn’t spring right back, it’s not done baking yet. You can always resort to the good old toothpick test too. Simply insert a toothpick in the cake and pull it out. If it comes out clean, your cake is baked, even if crumbs are sticking to the toothpick. You don’t want to see any batter in it though.
Let cake cool down completely. Refrigerate for a couple of hours.
Vegan Peanut Butter Frosting
Drain cashews, place in the food processor together with maple syrup, coconut cream, peanut butter, lemon juice, coconut butter, and vanilla extract.
Process until creamy and smooth.
Pour over cool cake. Spread with a spatula to smooth it out.
I topped mine with chocolate chips, melted chocolate drizzle, peanut butter drizzle, and chopped peanuts. What are you topping yours with?
Let cake refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving, so the frosting has a chance to set.
Storage
Store in the fridge for up to 4 days, covered.
Notes
*To make the prepared aquafaba, simply drain a can of chickpeas (best to use no salt added). Place the aquafaba in a small saucepan. Bring it to a boil over medium high heat, reduce heat, let mixture simmer for about 10 minutes, or until it reduces until about half. So you will need 2/3 cup of aquafaba to make this recipe. I always like to actually make more, just in case I let it boil past the point of reducing to half and end up with too little aquafaba. Let it cool down before using it. I typically like to refrigerate it first, because it adopts a thicker consistency. And then let it come to room temperature for 10 minutes before using in my recipe.