The Last Banana Snack Cake

What do you do with the last banana? You know, the one banana left from the bunch that gets riper by the day? The banana that no one will eat?

In our house it usually gets peeled and added to the smoothie fruit bag that is kept in the freezer. But what happens when the bag gets full and no one has made smoothies for weeks?

I have two freezers now and they each have a smoothie fruit bag. They also have random small sandwich bags containing the last banana from many bunches. They fall out when I’m digging around looking for something. They get stuck in between the wire racks, freezing my hands off while I try to dislodge them.

I actually feel badly for them. They don’t look very appetizing, but there’s a lot of goodness inside!

This recipe will make a heroine out of that poor old lonely last banana! 

It is quick, easy, versatile and can be made right in the pan it’s baked in. Make it and it will become a healthy household staple. Perfect for a breakfast on the go, deposited in your lunchbox, for an afternoon snack or decked out with ice cream and caramel sauce for dessert.

Make it, and you’ll never have complaints of “there’s nothing to snack on” again!

The Last Banana Snack Cake

The Last Banana (1/2 cup ripe mashed banana)

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar

one large egg

1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour (for gluten free version substitute a 1:1 gluten free baking mix, or 1/4 cup brown rice flour and 1/4 cup almond flour with 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Place banana and butter in a small casserole dish (I use my square 8 by 8 inch pyrex).

Mash it with a fork.

Add brown sugar and…mash it with a fork.

Add egg and whisk or stir with a spatula. It will look curdled. Don’t worry about it, it’s just the natural salicylic acid in the banana reacting with the egg.

Add the flour, baking powder and salt.

I used a combination of almond flour and gluten free baking mix for this batch.

Whisk or stir it in just until fully combined.

Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until it is light golden brown and springs back when lightly touched.

Remove from oven and let cool until cool to touch. Hand out the forks and dig in!

Or, to eat it in a more civilized way, cut the cake into squares and serve with a sprinkling of powdered sugar (or not, it really is good the way it is).

To doll it up, top with ice cream, fresh whipped cream or a dollop of vanilla yogurt and a drizzle of caramel sauce.

I did say it is versatile!

• Add an extra egg for a little more height and softer cakey texture.
• Double the recipe to make a higher cake that can then be frosted.
• Skip the frosting and add some chocolate chips to the batter before baking.
• Switch out the flours for variety (think coconut flour, nut flours, whole wheat flour, buckwheat flour or graham flour).

If you bake it in a pyrex or corning safety glass casserole, you don’t have to worry about greasing or lining the pan. The cut snack cake pieces will come out easily if you run a knife around the outside and slide a cake server, offset spatula, or fork underneath the piece.

Don’t forget the caramel sauce! You can find a recipe for that here:

From Scratch Caramel Sauce

Don’t worry, the caramel sauce isn’t difficult to make and if you have water, sugar and butter you already have the ingredients!