Dairy-Free Banana Crumb Cake
This Dairy-Free Banana Crumb Cake is a stepped up version of the best banana bread you’ve ever had! It’s full of banana flavor, and the pecan crumb topping puts it over the top.
Banana breads and cakes and desserts of all sorts rank among my personal favorites. You also seem to like them, since they also dominate in my most popular posts on the site (Paleo Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread & Almond Banana Bread are both favorites!!). I love the sweetness and bold flavor that ripe bananas bring to a baked good. It’s seriously hard to make a dry banana bread or cake.
I’m a huge fan of chocolate and banana, but for this banana crumb cake recipe, I resisted the urge to add chocolate. Instead, I kept it pure, with the only adornment being the gorgeous crumbles on top. By skipping the chocolate, we allow the banana flavor to really shine.
How to make a dairy-free banana cake
The banana cake itself is moist and tender with pure banana flavor and not too much sweetness. It’s similar to banana bread, but a little bit lighter and more cakey. I used Silk soy milk for the liquid in this recipe to keep it dairy free. April is National Soyfoods Month, and I loved this soy swap! The soy milk didn’t leave any flavor, and kept the cake super moist and tender. Check out all the different soy swaps you can make here.
In place of butter in the cake and crumble, I used coconut oil! Coconut oil is one of my favorite ingredients and it works perfectly in place of butter here. Best of all, this cake comes together super quickly and easily. You don’t have to fuss around for too long to get a delicious result.
The crumble is always my favorite part of anything. As usual, I totally picked the crumble off the top of this cake. The dairy-free crumble was soft and crispy and crumbly, and I didn’t miss the butter one bit. The coconut oil definitely did the job at bringing the lush richness and mouthed to the crumble topping. I’m always a fan of nuts for texture so I added in chopped pecans. If you’re not into nuts than feel free to skip them.
This cake got me more praise and high fives and full-on raves than I’ve gotten in a while. If you’re a banana fan, this one’s for you! Enjoy :)
More banana favorites…
- Paleo Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread
- Vegan Banana Blueberry Pancakes
- Peanut Butter & Jelly Banana Bread
- Vegan Banana Bread
Banana Crumb Cake (Dairy Free)
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 10 slices 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
This Dairy-Free Banana Crumb Cake is a stepped up version of the best banana bread you’ve ever had! It’s full of banana flavor, and the pecan crumb topping puts it over the top.
Ingredients
For the cake
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 ripe bananas
- 1/2 cup coconut oil, room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup Silk soy milk
For the crumb topping
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1 cup pecans, chopped (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a 10-inch springform pan or a 9×13” baking pan.
- In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mash the bananas until smooth. Add coconut oil and beat until combined with no lumps, and then add sugar, eggs, soy milk, and vanilla extract.
- Add in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix on low until just combined.
- Prepare streusel by combining all the ingredients in a medium bowl. Use your fingers to combine the ingredients and form course crumbles.
- Spread banana batter in the prepared pan. Top with the crumb topping. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for about 15 minutes. If using a springform pan, remove the sides from the pan and slide the cake onto the rack. If using a 9×13”pan, let cool for at least one hour in the pan.
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by the Soyfoods Association of North America in conjunction with Blog Meets Brand. I received a free sample of the product and was compensated for my time. All opinions are my own.
I can totally see why those two recipes you mentioned are two of the most popular ones on your site, because they sound amazing, but this banana crumb cake takes the ‘cake’ so to say lol, looks amazing, and I just so happen to have some ripe bananas I think are going to become this cake later tonight!
It looks rich and moist, just how I like my cakes! I have no doubt flavor wise it’s amazing, but I just love the crumb topping – for some reason a crunchy topping makes simple cakes like this one so much better.
Banana bread and a fat-crumbed streusel are two of my favorite things. Be honest: Did you read my mind?
Haha – we’re too alike! They’re two of my favorite things as well…had to put them together :)
coconut oil is the best!!! This cake is like all the best parts of crumb cake merged with banana bread! LOVE
Thanks so much, Kayle!! :)
This cake looks totally delicious! That crumb topping is to die for and I can totally appreciate a dairy free dessert :)
Thanks, Medha!! Crumb topping is my favorite :)
Love this one Rachel! Banana bread is one of my favorites, and so is crumb cake. Them combined sounds amazing!
I love baking with bananas, they make everything so moist and sweet. This cake looks so incredible, Rachel! That crumb topping sounds amazing too.
I love how moist this cake is! I also love that it is dairy free. Like you, I adore banana bread so I simply must try this!
Well doesn’t this cake look just perfect? I love banana treats. And that crumb topping is perfect!
Rachel, I love this cake!! the crumb topping is perfect and love that it’s dairy free!!! woot woot for soy milk!
Yes! I’m all about that crumble topping as well. The more crumbles, the better! This has to be one of the best crumb cake recipes I’ve come across in a long time. I can’t wait to try it in all it’s banana glory! Great recipe!
I love this cake, Rachel!! Coconut oil is a favorite ingredient of mine, and I can only imagine how well it worked in this cake. <3
Why have I never put crumbs on banana bread / cake before?? This looks soooo good. Anything with crumbs is such a weakness of mine!!
Trails of crumbs are always a good sign. :) This cake looks gorgeous Rachel!
I love how this is half banana bread and half crumb cake, it looks SO utterly delicious! And that crumb topping is perfect!! Pinned :)
This cake looks divine, Rachel! I love fact it’s dairy-free! :D Adore that delicious crumb! Craving a slice of this right now for breakfast!
I’m such a sucker for crumb cakes, Rachel!This banana version sounds fantastic! And I love that it’s dairy free too. Makes it even better!
I am that annoying person that picks all of the crumb topping off things like this so nobody else gets any!! haha! It is my favorite part!
Haha I’m exactly the same way!!
Oh this is cake is humbly amazing! Just love the simple ingredients, the honest amazing look and man…ok fine I just want a slice with my morning tea!
I just looove crumb cake, and this version looks amazing! I can’t believe you made all those healthy swaps, I never would have guessed it…looks delicious!
What a stunning crumb cake! My buddy can’t have dairy so I’ll def be sharing this with him!!
Crumbs are my favoritest thing ever! And in this cake, they look AMAZING. Love it!
OOhhhh, you so had me at Crumb. Then I forced myself to dab the drool off my chin and continue reading… onto bananas, and cake. YUMMMMM! This looks seriously spectacularly delicious. I want to shove my face into the middle of this cake, and claim it as my own, so I won’t have to share! You mentioned you picked the crumb topping off, that is always where I start with a delightful cake like this! #GreatMinds!! Thanks for sharing… pinning, making, still drooling….
I love banana breads, and the thought of having this banana crumb cake in my life is making my mouth water! Ps. I love your gorgeous photos!
I swoon and say ‘oh man’ a lot when I stop by here! : ) This cake – that crumb topping – looks divine!!
Any kind of baked goodie instantly becomes SO much better when it has got banana in it ^.^
This crumb cake also look so tasty- I really want to try making it! :)
This is the purdiest cake I ever did see. Love that it’s dairy-free. Pinned.
This looks awesome! And so pretty, too. I want to faceplant into that crumb topping! ;)
I love the idea of this cake! Especially that it is dairy-free, we are dairy-free so this is definitely getting made!! Yum!
Hi, I made this cake this morning and I knew there was a problem when you said ‘spread’ in the batter. My batter was thin and runny. I triple checked my ingredients and I know I didn’t mis-measure or miss an ingredient. Is there possibly something wrong with the recipe? I am still baking this – 50 minutes in – and of course, the crumb topping sunk into the cake. It may end up in the trash, time will tell. Just wanted you to know this did not work out for me.
Hi Mary Ann, I’m so sorry you had an issue with the cake! The only thing I can think of is the coconut oil – it should have been in a solid form at room temperature when you added it. If it was liquid, the liquid ratio of the cake would have been off which would have made the cake a lot runnier. Could that have been the problem? I hope the cake still tasted okay. Again, I’m sorry you had trouble! Thanks for letting me know.
Hi Rachel, thank you for replying! I would bet that was it. The oil was pretty soft. Do you ever have problems incorporating coconut oil into batter when it is solid?
On a good note, it was delicious. It took a lot longer to cook and I was afraid it would be too sweet because the topping was in the batter, but it was so moist and only a tiny bit sweeter than I would want. But it was gone within 20 minutes so I don’t think there were any complaints! Thanks again.
That’s so great to hear, Mary Ann! I’m glad it ended up turning out fine despite the issue. I usually incorporate the coconut oil in my electric mixer so I don’t usually have a problem with it incorporating into the batter. Thanks for the update!
Wow this looks so good. I was just getting ready to make some banana bread when I found this sight. No sugar here just honey , but will mess with ingredients a little..But seriously, have you ever tried shredded coconut in streusel? Yum its great by it self.. just remember to cover loosely with parchment if you don’t want it to brown. Streusel is definately what my banana bread is missing. Kind of like coffeecake. Worth trying with brownies sometime, as this is suppose to be brownie week. Thanks
Can this cake be frozen?
I don’t see why not! I’d double wrap it in plastic wrap and foil to prevent freezer burn :) enjoy!
If I use a 9×13 pan I do 1.5 times the recipe as I find it too thin. I have successfully used butter and dairy milk, I start with 1/2 the amount of milk and add more if needed, usually it is fine. I did need to add more butter to the crumb topping as it was too dry and did not make nice clumps. A nice change from regular banana bread.
Hi Michele, thanks for the feedback!
To make this vegan, I’d have to find a sub for the eggs. Any ideas? Thanks!
Hi Peggy, you could try using an egg replacer here! I’d add 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda as well to help with extra lift to compensate for the removal of the eggs. I haven’t tested this way though, so I can’t guarantee the results.
No cinnamon, nutmeg, etc?
Feel free to add a teaspoon of cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg (or as much as you prefer) if you’d like!
Hi Rachel! I was surprised to find this non-GF recipe on your site but nonetheless I want to make it :) Do you have any thoughts on using cake flour for the cake portion of the recipe?
If you happen to have a GF version of this please let me know. Thanks for all your deliciousness!
Hi Nikki, I had this site for about 4-5 years before going gluten-free so there’s lots of gluten recipes back in the archives that I haven’t taken down because people still use them! A 1:1 baking flour should work decently well for making this recipe gluten-free, but I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure. I should definitely do an experiment to make a GF version of this, though!
Holy Cow! This cake is ridiculously – like mind-blowingly – good. I went ahead and made it with the all purpose flour because I know gluten-free baking is not always successful if youre making flour substitutions for a non GF recipe and BOY was it worth it!
Thanks so much for all the lovely recipes Rachel.
I suggest revisiting this one to see if you can make it GF. Cause I need much more of it in my life! lol … And I also think it would be a smash hit
Idk what I did wrong I even left it in for 15 mins longer but the middle did not set?? It isn’t 100% runny? It’s just a little not set? Is that fine and will I die if I eat it because I put in too much effort to have fricked it up lol
Hi! So sorry to hear that, does your oven run at the correct temp? Did you change anything about the recipe or use a different sized pan? Hopefully it sets as it cools, but in the future, you can cook at a lower temp for longer.
Actually this is the first thing I’ve baked in the new place we live in so possibly the oven is at fault! But I also did switch the coconut oil for vegan butter
The vegan butter shouldn’t be a problem, but I always recommend an oven thermometer! So many ovens are off with their temps which makes things turn out so differently.