Tired of banana bread? Looking for something a little different but almost as easy to throw together? This may be your new favorite way to use up tired, black bananas. Blueberries and bananas are really made for each other, and this simple cake highlights this lovely fruit friendship.
I make this cake with a layering method. You can, of course, mix the chips, blueberries and almonds into the batter and not bother with the layering, but this way the cake won't have weird blue-green streaks from the berries.
Blueberry Banana Cake
Yields and 8x8 or 9x13-inch cake
Ingredients
3/4 cup coconut oil
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (from about 3 or so bananas)
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 T vinegar or lemon juice
3/4 cup yogurt (runny or thick, whatever you have on hand)
3/4 cup milk
2 cups blueberries, washed and picked over (you can use frozen berries, of course. Do not thaw before assembling the cake)
1 cup white chocolate chips (mini are especially good here)
3/4 cup almonds or pecans, toasted, coarsely chopped
Directions
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly grease an 8x8 (for a thicker taller cake) or a 9x13-inch pan with baking spray or butter. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine coconut oil with the sugar. Add the bananas, and continue stirring well until thoroughly combined. Add the eggs one at a time, and stirring until combined after each one. Add the vanilla, and mix until creamy.
In a medium bowl, combine the flours, cornmeal, baking soda and salt. In a large measuring cup, mix the vinegar and lemon juice with the yogurt and the milk. Add the flour mixture in 3 additions alternating with the milk mixture in, starting and ending with the flour.
Spread 1/3 of the batter into the bottom of the prepared pan. Sprinkle 1/3 of the chips, nuts, and 1/3 of the blueberries over the batter. Sprinkle the top with cinnamon. Repeat with another 1/3 batter, sprinkling on 1/3 of the chips, nuts and blueberries. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Top with the final bit of batter, and the last of the chips, nuts, and blueberries and sprinkle the top again with cinnamon
Note: I always bake this by putting the baking pan on a baking sheet, especially if I am using the 8x8 pan, just in case there are spills.
Bake the cake for 60 - 85 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. The smaller cake pan may take closer to 75 or even 85 as the cake is thicker. When the cake is firm and a tester comes out clean, remove the cake from the oven.
Let the cake cool at least 15 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
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