Baked Sweets and Treats

Banana Almond Snack Cake

On the heels of Food Blogger Camp I wanted to bring you a cake that epitomizes what this blog is all about. Healthy, whole food ingredients that taste great, make you feel energized & well fed. This is a banana nut bread recipe that pairs perfectly with a steamy morning cup of coffee or as pick-me-up afternoon snack. I chose to call it a “snack cake” because lets’s face it banana bread is really cake, right? It has all of the flavor of a higher calorie banana bread but none of the refined sugar and just enough healthy fat to satisfy.


Healthy banana cake with almond butter & slivered almonds

From the whole grain flours to the sweet bananas – this bread/cake is different than most. Most of the sweetness comes from the bananas & the fat comes from the almond butter & sliced nuts.Pack this banana bread in your lunchbox or the kids. Serve with a cool glass of milk or a hot cup of coffee or tea.

 

Pre school boy bakes banana bread with mom

I also have mine as a pre-workout snack. I slather a piece of this nutty cake with some extra almond butter to help get me though workouts. This is a simple cake to bake with the kids. The love to help measure ingredients, stir the batter & decorate the cake with the slivered almonds.

Slice up this banana bread so you have pieces at the ready for grab & go anytime snacks & meals. Instead of opening up overly sweetened power bars from the grocery store it is nice to have a treat like this banana bread available at anytime. My Maple Apple Pie Oat Bars and Cranberry Ricotta Cookies are two more lightened up sweets that I like to have on hand.

 

Banana Nut Bread, healthy & sugar free dessert or breakfast

If you are working towards fitness & health goals in the new year, always remember to be mindful of portion sizes, even when it comes to nutrient filled sweets like this.

Banana Nut Bread dessert or breakfast cake

The slivered almonds add a nice crunch & they are fun decorations  too. A small handful inside the cake would be great also. Just mix some into the batter before you bake.

 

A perfect cake to have with coffee & friends.

 

Do you have a favorite snack cake/bread recipe? Something that can easily be disguised as decadent when it is really great for you too?

 

For Recipe Details Click Here

 

Banana Bread/Cake Recipe Links

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~ Marla Meridith

Join the Conversation

67 thoughts on “Banana Almond Snack Cake

  1. So many stunning pictures in this post… how on earth do
    you choose which one for foodgawker??? I LOVE the gorgeous almonds
    and the helping hands!! Blessings! Amanda

  2. Your pictures always make me swoon and you are the only one
    who has ever made me wish I’d gone Canon instead of Nikon! I love
    how bright and clear your pics are. Your camp pics were stunning,
    by the way! This looks like a delicious snack cake… and for
    breakfast? Heck yeah!

  3. The nuts make your cake so pretty I just want to dig in.
    I’ve never used almond butter (I know!) or tried baking with the
    stevia powder. I need to try it soon!

  4. Such a beautiful and versatile cake, Marla! I would love to
    toast a slice, spread on some cream cheese and strawberries, and
    serve it with tea for breakfast…delicious!

    1. Heather: Of course you can come over for a snack! I would love to meet you for real 🙂

      Georgia: *kisses* you are a sweetheart! Glad I can make healthy look tasty too….It is possible to have it all, yes??

      Alison: Yes, you & I do think a lot alike when it comes to recipe development. It would be so fun to speak with you at a conference on recipe development!

      Adair: I like to use the corn flour for a few reasons – I love the fine texture & crumb it adds to baked goods. Also, it has a mild sort of nutty flavor that pairs well with the whole wheat pastry flour. You don’t have to use it, but I really dig it. Worth it to try experimenting with – I think!

  5. Marla, I’m endlessly amazed with your skill for making healthy food look incredibly tasty and your ability to set up a gorgeous photograph! Thank you for sharing this bread and your talents in the kitchen and behind the camera lens! You’re an inspiration to us all.

  6. I love how the sugar and fat in this are worked in through
    super healthy ingredients! This definitely epitomizes what you’re
    about Marla! Healthy food that tastes amazing!

    1. Josie: You are a doll, I actually shot this cake before the
      Mexico trip. I did think it was fun to line up those almonds
      though. I tend to be a perfectionist so that little task was fun
      for me.

  7. This is so darn pretty, Marla! It must have taken you a bit
    of time to line up those sliced almonds so perfectly. The almond
    butter and bananas are a wonderful addition for keeping the cake
    moist and the fat content low.

  8. I made this bread but instead of the 1 cup of corn flour I
    used 1 cup of Boku protein powder, which is an organic rice protein
    and has a light maple flavor. They turned out FANTASTIC. So yummy,
    and lots of “protein with my protein.” Thanks for the
    recipe!

    1. Jyl: I am so happy that my banana cake recipe worked out for you! I must track down that Boku protein powder, I have never heard of it. Great that it worked & added some protein to the recipe. Hope you have cake left to enjoy with coffee this weekend 😉

  9. This looks like perfection in a loaf pan! The recipe of course is wonderful, but the taste is enhanced by the helping hands. Well done!

  10. You gotta love a recipe that calls for the fruit to be past
    its “prime.” Bananas never go to waste in this house. If I don’t
    have enough to make a bread, I just peel them and pop them in the
    freezer. When I have enough…it’s banana bread time. Like that you
    add almonds to yours.

    1. Pamela: I know, usually we have to throw fruit out when it gets old. Thankfully banana bread is so simple to make & we usually have all the ingredients on hand to throw it together. I will remember to freeze them too when I don’t have quite enough on hand. Are you going to Camp Blogaway again this year?

    1. Lori: I know breakfast breads are champs around here – especially now that I can make them so healthy. Sometimes it is hard to practice portion control, but well worth it to do so 🙂 With the nut butter topping it has replaced my pre-workout packaged power bars.

  11. Marla—
    As a long-time banana bread lover, I enjoyed reading your post and look forward to trying this recipe! Not only is this Banana Almond Snack Cake a healthy treat, it also includes a lot of kid-friendly steps that I’m sure other parents will love to try with their kids too.

    Involving kids in the kitchen enables them to learn all about the food they eat (like the importance of using alternatives to sugar!), while teaching them valuable skills like math and problem solving at the same time. That’s why I work with The Kids Cook Monday, a campaign that encourages families to set aside the first day of every week to cook and eat together as a family. (More info: http://www.mondaycampaigns.org/the-kids-cook-monday).

    We’re looking for people who would like to submit kid-friendly recipes like this one to be featured on the Kids Cook Monday website, launching in mid March. We would love to feature some of your recipes, crediting you and linking back to Family Fresh Cooking, of course. If you’re interested in submitting recipes, please email me at TheKidsCookMonday@gmail.com.

    Thanks!
    Shelby

    1. Skinny Fat Kid: I have two favorites – Trader Joe’s makes almond butter with toasted flaxseed. Can’t get enough of that stuff. I also love Barney Butter. I like to buy almond butter with just salt in it, really adds to the flavor. Hope that helps you out.

  12. I am about to try this recipe, to bake as a little “sweet but healthy treat” for my sister and mom, but before I do, I want to make sure it is not going to be one of those healthy-for-the-stomach-but-not-for-the-mouth crumbly bread recipes. I just want to make sure that I am about to make a truly mouth-watering sweet bread, one that is healthy, and delicious. I would really appreciate it!

  13. I love how you bake, with whole wheat flour, stevia, and healthy fats – just how I want kids and their families to learn to bake. It makes these “sweet” treats easy on the waist and good on the tongue! Question: When a recipe calls for 2 1/2 cups sugar and you swap with stevia, what do you add for bolk? I’m trying 1 cup apple sauce in a brownie recipe… Comments?

    1. Hi Vinny. Thanks for your comment. I don’t generally add too much for bulk ~ sometimes more egg or whole grain flours. I love blanched almond meal too!