It seems like every time I go to the kitchen to prepare a meal or snack I end up with a bag of garam masala in one hand and a can of lentils in the other. I’m actually shocked that this recipe; prepared for breakfast on Monday, consists of just two spices, none of which are masala, turmeric, curry leaves, or cumin.
Unfortunately; or fortunately depending on how you look at it, the same cannot be said for this mornings’ breakfast where I decided to to add pineapple, curry leaves, fennel seeds, chat masala, ghee and cinnamon bark to my oatmeal instead of the usual dried fruit and maple syrup.
I’ve turned into a spice fanatic, help!
When I wanted to go light on the spice for this breakfast, I turned to one of my favorites for inspiration…
I’ve been enjoying these hemp protein, grain-free cakes for months now and my fascination hasn’t faltered yet. Of all of the ones I’ve made so far; even when compared to chocolate, this one comes out on top. The banana topping is so gooey!
Grain-free Banana Bread Protein Cake
Vegan (option), Gluten free, Dairy free, Sugar free, Yeast free, Corn free, Grain free
A mini gluten-free banana bread for one! It’s higher in protein and fiber than your average cake making it a perfect light snack, treat, or breakfast.
Yield: 1 cake
Servings: 1
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Ingredients
- 3 tbsp hemp protein powder
- 1/4 cup egg whites or 1 medium free-range egg
- 1/2 large banana, divided
- 1 tsp coconut oil, melted
- 5-10 drops liquid stevia * see note
- 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- pinch ground nutmeg
- 1 tbsp walnuts, chopped
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375F.
- Cut banana half in two. Thinly slice one portion and set aside and mash the other portion.
- Combine all ingredients but sliced banana in a small bowl and mix until fully incorporated.
- Drop mixture into a well oiled (I used a dab of extra virgin coconut oil) ~250mL (1 cup) oven safe ramekin. Top with banana slices.
- Place in the preheated oven and bake for 24-26 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. My cakes were done at the 25 minute mark.
note 1: I have not tried to make this cake vegan, but many readers have told me that subbing out the egg white for a flax egg (1 tbsp freshly ground flax + 2 tbsp warm water mixed and allowed to sit for 5 minutes) works well in other versions of my protein cakes.
note 2: I like my cakes with 10 drops of stevia, but it really comes down to personal preference. If you don’t like stevia, 1 tbsp of xylitol, palm sugar, date sugar, etc will work, too.
By the way, fennel in oatmeal is awesome. Add a little honey in there and I can just about guarantee that you’ll never go for plain cinnamon oats ever again.
What’s your favorite spice combination?
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{ 33 comments… read them below or add one }
I love nutmeg in my banana bread. There is just something magical about freshly grated nutmeg. These cakes look so good. I’ve been on a protein waffle kick lately, but I think I need to go back to the protein cakes after this post. Beautiful Leanne!
Sounds lovely! I’ve never actually baked with hemp protein because I tend to stick with whey or whey blends, but I’m glad to hear that it works! My fave spice mix by far is pumpkin pie mix or chai spices – just something about cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, all-spice… yummmmmm!
Such a pretty cake! I love the way the bananas baked on top.
My favorite spice mix for baked goods always involves cinnamon. I also like to use fresh nutmeg, ginger, and/or cardamom.
This looks so awesome. I just posted a microwave mugcake for the first time ever and make lots of micro creations but have never actually baked a single-serving little cake. I need to try yours…looks perfect!
I really must try one of these. Do you think just ground hemp seeds would work in the place of the hemp protein powder? I have no protein powders, have never bought any, and am not sure I want to start….
I was wondering the same thing!
Hi Deanna – I haven’t tried it so I’m not sure… hemp hearts are really meaty, so if you grind them they may just turn to mush, then seed butter. If you can get the right consistency though, I’m sure it’d work!
YUM!!! I’m GRAIN FREE and need to make these now!! Thanks lovie!!! I have just the right protein to use here which will make them uber yummy!
xxoo
I need to get my hands on some of that hemp protein powder, it looks so good. Love the banana on top, yummy!
I dont have any fennel on hand… is that the spice that sort of tastes like licorice? I can pick it out of any dish. I love that you’re getting into all those spices- turmeric is one I’ve been meaning to try out and have no idea what it might taste like!
yep, it’s also called anise. SO good! Tumeric is great, just make sure you wash your hands and counters after you use it. It’s pretty powerful stuff and will make anything and everything yellow.
That gooey banana topping looks delicious!
This looks sooo delish! Pinned it!
These are so pretty! I’ve never heard of hemp protein powder so I looked into it just now and it doesn’t seem to exist in Germany. I guess I’ll have to try it out with normal protein powder. And raspberries! I love bananas but I’m allergic to them.
I love that this is grain-free! I’m just now getting into grain-free baked goods and it’s so fun to see that it’s possible to bake without them. I really thought that everything would be terrible but I’m super relieved to have been proven wrong.
Yum, this looks heavenly!
I just made one of these beauties! I had half for a morning snack, and I just had the other half for an afternoon snack. Instead of walnuts, I melted some unsweetened carob chips in a little water and added a little stevia and voila….chocolate icing! Super Yum. And, it was only 150 calories for one half. Thank you Leanne.
Wow, I love the icing idea. Way to go, barb. Glad you liked them
that looks delicious!! Bookmarking it now : )
The banana topping looks so gooey and delicious! Banana bread is one of my favorite lazy morning breakfast treats, so this high-protein version is right up my alley. I’m glad to hear the flax egg works in your other recipes, so maybe I’ll have to try adapting this to be vegan, too. It’ll definitely be worth it!
Love the presentation with the banana slices on top… it’s like a banana hat. Fennel in oatmeal? Must try this (I’m a freak for spices/herbs… amazing!) Love that idea
What a delicious, healthy cake and packed with awesome protein. Wonderful recipe!
Aww, it’s so cute and delicious-looking!
I like how it’s a recipe for one, instead of some huge loaf that feeds 12. Looks great!
I agree with Andrea – it is SO cute! Can’t wait to make this. I am going to try a flax egg or get kitchen crazy and use chia. I have Sun Warrior vanilla protein powder on hand right now so may give that a try. And, hmmmm….I don’t have a ramekin so I’m going to have to be resourceful. This is going to be a very fun experiment!
I didn’t mention it, but you can make the bakes in a couple of muffin tins! Just reduce the baking time by about 5 minutes. Enjoy!
Just made these for my kids for breakfast. They are a HUGE hit! SO delicious and good for you! Thanks for keeping breakfast fun at my house!!!
This looks mouth watering and I’m so happy you made it gluten free
Much appreciated, I can’t wait to try these out! You just gave me something new to have as my weekly sweet treat and it is far healthier than anything else I would have eaten! I also like taht you made the recepie for one cake… I’m a calorie counter so I like being able to punch everything in and be good to go!
hey do you think this would work with pea protein ?
I haven’t tried it, but hemp and pea proteins are very similar so I don’t see why it would be an issue. Would love to know how it turns out if you give it a try!
i tried making mine vegan with 1 chia egg and they didnt rise :[
Hmm… did it cook through? I’d mentioned in the instructions that I haven’t tried to make the cakes vegan, but that others had with some success when using a flax egg, but not chia. Good to know that chia doesn’t work. I’m hoping that it was at least cooked through for you!
did the other people veganizing this recipe use arrowroot when they used the flax egg? i did not use arrowroot in the banana cake because its not in the normal recipe
I’ve tried one of my protein cakes with arrowroot and flax eggs and it didn’t rise, but it was cooked through. Being allergic to eggs and being vegan, well… I need to come up with a vegan protein cake here soon. I’m happy it was still edible, though!
also, it did cook though (kind of). it had almost a mousse like texture. it just didnt rise at all! i made my boyfriend the same thing, side by side. the only difference was that for his, i used an egg and it came out beautifully. however, im a vegan AND allergic to eggs :[