No Flour No Sugar Oatmeal Banana Cake
The Artistic Cook on YouTube ↗Some amounts estimated
Rolled oats blended to a fine powder stand in for flour, and two very ripe bananas supply the sweetness and the moisture, so the batter has no wheat flour and no sugar added to it. A 10–15 minute rest lets the oat flour soak up the liquid before baking, which keeps the crumb from turning gritty. It slices like a banana bread and suits breakfast or an afternoon cup of tea. The creator's total time leaves out the rest and the cooling, so we have corrected it.
Ingredients
Equipment
- Blender (or food processor) for the oat flour
- Two mixing bowls
- Whisk and spatula
- 20 cm / 8 inch loaf tin
- Baking paper
- Toothpick or skewer
- Wire rack
Steps
If it goes wrong
If a few flakes survive, sieve them out and blend them again. Large pieces stay chewy in the finished loaf.
If it goes wrong
If the bananas are only yellow with a few spots, the loaf will taste plainer and look paler. Ripen them until the skins are mostly black, or leave them for another day.
If it goes wrong
Don't skip the rest. A batter baked straight away tastes grainy because the oat flour hasn't softened.
If it goes wrong
If you see pale streaks of baking soda, keep folding. Pockets of it taste soapy and bitter in the baked loaf.
If it goes wrong
If the top is dark but the toothpick still comes out wet, tent the tin loosely with foil and bake another 5–10 minutes.
If it goes wrong
Cutting it hot makes the slices gummy and crumbly. The crumb sets as it cools, so be patient.
Notes from Nourishible editors
Written by our recipe team from the video and the method above.
- Swap · Step 5: Semi-sweet chocolate chips can stand in for the chopped dark chocolate, though they add sugar that the sugar-free bar doesn't.
- Equipment · Step 1: The oat flour needs a blender; a food processor or spice grinder also works, just blend until the oats are a fine powder.
Variations
Dairy-free. Swap the warm milk for the same amount of warm oat or soy milk. Use a dairy-free dark chocolate and check the label before you buy it.
Nuts or seeds. Fold in a small handful of chopped walnuts or pumpkin seeds with the chocolate for extra crunch. Keep the total add-ins to about a handful, or the slices will crumble.
Plain loaf. Leave out the chocolate, and the vanilla and cinnamon, which the recipe marks optional. The loaf then tastes mostly of banana and oats.
Storing and reheating
Once cool, keep the loaf covered in the fridge for up to 2 days. Eat slices cold or warm them briefly in a toaster oven or a dry pan. For longer storage, slice it, wrap the slices and freeze for up to 3 months, then toast or microwave straight from frozen until hot all the way through.
How we adapted this recipe
All ingredient amounts, the 180°C / 350°F oven and the bake time come from the creator's recipe.
The creator's 75 minutes leaves out part of the rest and cooling, so we corrected the total to about 90 minutes. We added the doneness cues, fixes and the fan-oven setting.
This recipe has not been cooked in our kitchen.
Questions about this recipe
Can I use quick oats instead of old-fashioned rolled oats?
Yes, they blend to a fine flour faster. Weigh them, because 100 g of quick oats fills a different cup than 100 g of rolled oats. Steel-cut oats are too hard to blend smooth, so avoid them.
Can I bake it in a different tin?
A 23 x 13 cm / 9 x 5 inch loaf tin works. The batter spreads thinner there, so start checking at 30 minutes.
Can I use frozen bananas?
Thaw them first, then mash them with whatever liquid has collected in the bag, because it carries a lot of the banana flavour. If the mash looks very watery, hold back a spoonful of the warm milk.
How sweet will this taste?
Mildly sweet, closer to a banana oat bar than a frosted cake. Most of the sweetness comes from the bananas, so use the blackest ones you have.
