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Healthier Chocolate Cake tastes like a double chocolate chip banana muffin! No sugar, butter or oil but uses bananas, greek yogurt and honey instead!
This Healthier Chocolate Cake recipe contains ZERO sugar, butter, or oil. And this is just the first recipe out of several that we’re going to share that is healthier.
Is It Even Possible To Make a Healthier Chocolate Cake?
WHAT?! I know.. I was wondering if I was going crazy because butter & sugar are like my BFFs.
I never really saw this day coming.. it wasn’t really intentional. Well, kind of. Obviously with it being January and everyone is jumping on the gym and healthy eating train.. what’s a dessert blogger to do?
I wallowed with a big bowl of ice cream for a while, but than I thought “Is it possible to make a baked recipe with NO sugar?”
All of my friends who are healthy and paleo bloggers are probably laughing right now since that’s their jam, but I set out to discover if this whole no sugar thing could work.
After I baked up this awesome chocolate cake, I was bragging to Ryan that it didn’t have any sugar, but that it’s sweetened by bananas and honey, but being the chemist he is, he totally called me out and said that honey is sugar.
Well yeah.. but it’s more natural sugar I replied, and then he ate like 4 pieces of this cake. Booyah, honey for the win!
Protein balls are another great sweet but healthier treat option to try!
Healthy chocolate cake ingredients
- bananas: sweetness and fat
- greek yogurt: healthier fat compared to oil or butter
- honey: natural sweetener compared to sugar
- vanilla: flavor!
- creamy peanut butter: healthy fat and flavor
- egg: leavener and binder
- all purpose flour: gives structure
- cocoa powder: deep rich chocolate flavor
- baking soda: leavener
- chocolate chips: hello, necessary!!
How to make healthier chocolate cake with bananas from scratch
- Blend the bananas, greek yogurt, honey, vanilla, and peanut butter.
- Pour the blended mixture into a mixing bowl. Add the egg and mix in.
- Add the flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda, mix until incorporated.
- Add the 1/2 cup of chocolate chips, mix.
- Pour the cake into the prepared pan. Sprinkle addition chocolate chips on top of the cake if desired. Bake for 27-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
What does healthier chocolate cake taste like?
The best way to describe this skinny chocolate cake is that it tastes like a GIANT banana chocolate chocolate chip muffin! It’s so good by itself and it’s also really good with ice cream (espresso chip, just in case you were curious!)
Whenever I get a hankering for brownies, I’m going to bust out this recipe. I love that it’s better for me but taste just as good!
More healthier desserts
Healthy Peanut Butter Cookies
Healthier Fudgy Brownies
Healthier Banana Bread
Healthy Dark Chocolate Cookies
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Healthier Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- 3 bananas, ripe
- ½ cup greek yogurt, vanilla or plain
- ⅓ cup honey
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp creamy peanut butter
- 1 large egg
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour **can be made GF, see note
- ⅓ cup cocoa powder
- 1 ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- mini chocolate chips for sprinkling on top
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350º F.
- Spray an 8 inch square pan with cooking spray.
- In a blender, combine the bananas, greek yogurt, honey, vanilla, and peanut butter. Blend until smooth, 1-2 minutes.
- Pour the blended mixture into a mixing bowl. Add the egg and mix in.
- Add the flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda, mix until incorporated.
- Add the 1/2 cup of chocolate chips, mix.
- Pour the cake into the prepared pan. Sprinkle addition chocolate chips on top of the cake if desired.
- Bake for 27-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclosure
All nutritional values are approximate and provided to the reader as a courtesy. Changing ingredients and/or quantities will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.
Hi, i ll try this recipe, but i would like to know what ingredient could i use instead of peanut butter. I need to do it nut free because of allergies at school. Thanks :)
Hi Lynda, I don’t have experience with nut free butters – maybe try to google a substitute for peanut butter?
So so good. I love baking in a healthy way and I am so glad I found this recipe. I definitely want a o make this again. It was fluffy a little tough on our side but nothing to bad at all. Thank you so much.
I meant ” want to” also “outside”. Sorry about that
Can I substitute the Greek yogurt with sour cream?
I would imagine so!
can I substitute the baking soda with baking powder? Don’t have any at the mo and would love to give it a go xxx
Hi Ginuca, I would recommend following the recipe for best results!
Chocolate chips main ingredient is sugar – refined sugar…. I’m not sure how you can clearly state this as sugar free?
Hi Eva, this cake doesn’t have any refined sugar in the batter. If you’d prefer sugar free chocolate chips, they sell those!
I really don’t know what went wrong since I followed all the instructions & but this cake was horribly inedible dry!!! Had to just bin it & make a different one. So disappointed! :-(
Hi there! I’m sorry it didn’t turn out. Did you over bake the cake? That will definitely lead to a dry cake!
I too have just baked this following the recipe exactly and it came out very dry and a bit sour. I’m going to try putting some chocolate frosting on it to see if that makes it any tastier. :-/
Hi Naida! It definitely shouldn’t be sour. Was your yogurt expired? And be careful not to over bake, every oven is different and the baking time I list is just a rough estimate.
I normally don’t post comments, but this cake was just amazing. I used whole wheat flour and a loaf tin and it was amazing. (a little less temperature and more baking time) The cake is amazingly moist still after 4 days. I had to hold myself back not to eat it up in the first day… Thank you for sharing this recipe with us. Especially as it is dairy and pure refined sugar free.
I love that you made it in a loaf pan!
I made this cake almost two weeks ago.
I used less chocolate chips and the cocoa powder was unsweetened. It was not sweet at all. I dont know if I should have used more honey than 1/3 cup.
Also, it was not moist inside. I baked for almost 30 minutes.
Please, help me out, so that I might make a better one next time, since this is such a healthy recipe. Thank you
How ripe were your bananas? that could be why? Maybe next time a try and ripen them a bit more. Your choc chips also make a difference – whether dark butter etc
But there *IS* refined sugar in this…the half a cup of chocolate chips.
You could definitely omit them or use cocoa nibs.
Creamy peanut butter has sugar in it too. Would natural work or too oily?
I chopped dark chocolate into pieces (a sugar free chocolate bar)
making this right now..its going to be great….xmas eve..husband loves sugar and desserts..im health minded…i think he’s gonna love it…thanks (its in the oven)..