Banana Coffee Cake (Low Sugar)

What to Do with Old Bananas?

Bananas were always our go-to brain food as the girls were growing up, especially at rentrée (back-to-school time) and before exams. I'd stock up for quick energy: sliced on breakfast maple granola, chocolate granola, mashed on Scotch pancakes, or simply for goûter (the classic French after-school snack).

Ironically, they never wanted the perfectly ripe yellow bananas. But as soon as they turned spotty and brown, they’d ask for this banana coffee cake - the perfect way to use up overripe bananas.

What Ripe Bananas Do in a Cake

The older and riper bananas are, the better they are in a cake. When dark brown and heavily speckled, old bananas perhaps don't look great hanging around the kitchen but their real cake 'ap-peel' is hidden inside.

The older and darker the banana, lurking underneath their heavily speckled skin are bright yellow, mushy fruit that have sweetened naturally as the starches convert to sugar. In fact, extra ripe bananas have three times more fructose than fresh greenish/yellow bananas.

So when mashed to a purée and added to a cake, the result is two-fold:

• ripe bananas give an extra moist cake texture, as opposed to crumbly; and
• they add a natural sweetness so that little sugar is needed, if not at all (depending on your taste).

Banana and Coffee in a Cake?

This idea came from Nigella Lawson’s Nigellissima, where she adds espresso powder to banana bread - genius! It’s not a coffee cake in the American sense (with streusel), but a moist banana loaf with coffee in the batter. It works beautifully.

If you love coffee in cakes, try my chocolate coffee cakes with an extra coffee glaze.

A Healthier Banana Cake - Less Sugar

This cake is naturally sweetened with ripe bananas, so I slashed the original sugar - by more than half! The combination of sweet fruit and bitter coffee means you can skip the extra sugar, especially if you're topping it with jam or nut butter.

Sometimes I leave the sugar out entirely and no one notices!

This is our go-to healthy banana bread: made with oil instead of butter, low in sugar, and full of flavour. Plus, it's easily adapted with buckwheat or rye flour for a nutty, rustic twist.

Best Banana Cake Flours: Ingredients

The best flour for banana cake is all-purpose flour. If using self-raising flour, skip the baking powder.

For extra flavour and texture, mix in a little chestnut, buckwheat, or rye flour—just be sure to sift them well before combining.

In France, especially in Corsica, chestnut flour is often used in breakfast cakes and pairs beautifully with banana (see this moist banana nut bread). It’s rich but pricey and sometimes hard to find. For a more accessible option, buckwheat flour (gluten free) adds a nutty depth and is traditionally used in French buckwheat pancakes (galettes de sarrasin).

Rye flour (not gluten free) brings a rustic touch, like in French pain d’épices. It’s especially good around the holidays—just add a pinch of spice to give your banana bread a festive twist.

Banana Coffee Cake Recipe

The detailed printable recipe is below.

This recipe couldn't be easier. Gather all your ingredients first and weigh out 6-8 bananas to 450g without their skin. The batter is enough for one 900g or 2 pound loaf tin (9x5 inch) or can make 18 muffins. Photos below showing me make a smaller loaf but the ratio is the same.

Add the all-purpose flour and the sifted rye/buckhweat flour. Add to the mixture with the baking soda and baking powder.

Stir in the coffee powder until dissolved and ingredients are well combined.

Add the chopped walnuts (pecans or other nuts), either to the batter or on the surface to toast them in the oven. Or do both.

Transfer to a non-stick loaf tin. Bake in the oven for about 1 hour 15 minutes or until a metallic cake skewer (or knife) inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Leave to cool in the tin for 10-15 minutes then upturn onto a cooling rack.

How Long Does Banana Coffee Cake Keep?

Although delicious on the day of baking, the cake matures nicely and stays moist wrapped in foil or stored in an airtight container for up to 5 days. 

This also freezes well for up to 3 months - just defrost the night before.

How to Serve

We love enjoying slices of this banana coffee cake at breakfast, generously topped with cream cheese, peanut butter—or both! Admittedly, it’s not very French (oh là là!), but we pair it with a classic French bowl of coffee for a delicious start to the day.

Our girls prefer it with unsweetened peanut butter (see my tips for choosing a healthy brand in my peanut butter cookie recipe). Together, the combo delivers a natural energy boost with no added sugar.

It’s a wholesome breakfast option—perfect before a long walk, a run, or even as brain food before exams. This banana coffee cake kept Lucie going strong during her 16km Paris–Versailles run!

Craving more banana cake ideas? Don’t miss my chocolate banana marble cake.

More Banana Recipes Without Sugar

Here are a few more recipes made with naturally sweet ripe bananas without any added sugar.

• Healthy Banana Oat Muffins
• Moist Banana Nut Bread
• Tropical Rambutan Smoothie with banana
• Chocolate chia seed pudding with banana.

The recipe below can also make 18 banana coffee muffins. Why not also add a few fresh blueberries in them?