Air Fryer Banana Cake

Banana Cake in Air Fryer is wonderfully soft, fluffy with perfect texture and flavor. With a hint of vanilla, soft crunch from walnuts, it is an easy and fool proof cake in an air fryer.

We love baked banana goodies for easy breakfast, brunch, snack or dessert. Some of our favorites include – Eggless Banana bread, Banana muffins, Mini Walnut Banana Muffins and even a super Quick microwave banana mug cake.

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Air Fryer Banana Cake

A soft and fluffy cake, made with basic pantry ingredients, without any electric mixers. It’s a simple stir and bake recipe when compared traditional cake recipes that involve several steps. Our favorite part is that this recipe makes a small 6 inch cake that great for a small family. This recipe can be easily made into muffins in air fryer.

Confession time – Until a month I was skeptical about baking a cake in an air fryer! My first air fryer baking experiment was the chocolate chip cookies and they were a huge success. That recipe has been consistently a reader favorite since it was published.

Air fryer cakes are perfect when you are looking for a smaller cake or don’t have access to ovens (perfect for dorm baking). These cakes tends to be more darker top when compared to oven baked cakes, due to the hot air blowing on top. However, the cakes tends to stay soft in the inside and the darker color looks great as well.

The Secret

The secret to a soft banana cake using air fryer is two different cooking temperatures! The air fryer is left to pre heat at 340° for 5 minutes and then the cake is baked at 330°. The pre heating works similar to oven by making sure that the air fryer is hot enough to kick start the baking cake as soon as it is placed into it.

What temperature to bake?

The cake is baked at two different temperatures. The air fryer is left to pre heat at 340° for 5 minutes and then cake is baked at 330°. The pre heating works similar to oven by making sure that the air fryer is hot enough to kick start the baking cake as soon as it is placed into it.

Why is my cake wet in the middle?

That is mainly because the cake was removed before having a chance to be fully cooked. So, please make sure to bake for an approximate of 35 minutes and check for doneness before removing.

Can I make this into a layer cake?

Absolutely! Cut cooled cake into two layers (please refer this informative article on how to cut a cake into even layers), frost with your favorite frosting like chocolate butter cream, vanilla butter cream, whipped cream, chocolate peanut butter, Nutella, cream cheese, chocolate cream cheese or brown butter.

How to mash banana?

Peel and place in a shallow bowl or plate. Using a potato masher or the back of a large fork, press down on the banana, until completely mashed and lump free.

Pro Tips for Success

Use over ripe bananas – Ugly over ripe bananas (dark yellow skin with lots of brown spots).

Mash the bananas thoroughly. I like to use a potato masher, but a fork would also do the trick.

Use greek yogurt – Use 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons plain greek yogurt along with 2 tablespoons water instead of the regular yogurt in the recipe.

Cake pan – A 6-inch round baking pan.

Don’t over mix – As with all baking recipes, over mixing the batter tends to make a tougher baked product.

Golden Brown sugar – Apart from incredible caramel flavor, brown sugar also makes a soft and moist banana cake. Dark brown sugar tends to make much more darker, so recommend using golden or light brown sugar.

Can I skip the walnuts to make it nut free? Absolutely! The cake will still be fabulous.

Air Fryer used – This recipe was tested in Instant Pot 6qt Vortex Air Fryer, cooking time may vary for other brands.

Check for doneness

As we mentioned earlier, air fryer cake tends to have a much darker top, when compared to oven baked ones. So, though the cake might look done before 35 minutes, it might still need more time. Hence, we recommend inserting a large toothpick / skewer / small knife into the middle of the cake and make sure it comes clean without any batter sticking to it.

Key ingredients

Banana – Use ugly over ripe bananas (dark yellow skin with lots of brown spots).

All purpose flour – Regular all purpose flour

Sugar – Golden brown sugar or light. We recommend not using dark brown sugar – scroll down for more on this (check out more brown sugar desserts).

Other standard cake ingredients – One large egg, Baking powder and baking soda for leavening, Plain yogurt (refer notes to use greek yogurt), a neutral oil like vegetable or canola oil.

Walnuts – Raw chopped walnuts or pecans

How to make?

Mix dry – Whisk together all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a bowl.

Mix wet – Whisk together mashed banana, brown sugar, yogurt, oil, egg and vanilla extract, until smooth.

Finish batter – Stir dry ingredients into the wet and mix until just combined (do not over mix). Transfer batter to a greased 6-inch cake pan, smooth top and sprinkle chopped walnuts on top.

Bake – Pre heat air fryer to 340 degrees for 5 minutes (I use this time to make the batter). When 5 minutes is done, set air fryer to 330 degrees for 35 minutes. When hot, place the cake pan and cook until done.

Cool – Place pan on a wire rack to cool completely.

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Got more overripe bananas? Check out these recipes – Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie, Spinach Smoothie with Yogurt, Banana Muffins made with almond flour, Banana Bread Mini Muffins, Healthy Blender Waffles, Baked Oatmeal Cups, Banana Date Smoothie, Banana Sheet Cake and Healthy Pineapple Smoothie.

How to store?

Cooled cake can be stored in a sealed container at room temperature for about 3 days. But, it doesn’t last that long in our home.

Can this be frozen?

Wrap cooled cake in plastic wrap, place in a large zip lock bag and seal well. Freeze for up to a month. Simple let the cake thaw at room temperature overnight.

More Cakes like this air fry banana cake: Carrot Cake, Black Forest Mug Cake, Microwave Mango Cake, One Layer Carrot Cake, Almond flour cake, Kulfi Ice Cream Cake Recipe, Rasmalai Cake and Orange Cake.

More popular air fryer recipes: Creamy Stuffed Mushrooms, Air Fryer Chicken Nuggets, Air Fryer Lemon Pepper Wings Recipe, Chicken Patties in Air Fryer, Tandoori gobi recipe, Egg Omelette Air Fryer, Crispy Roasted Broccoli, Air Fryer Tilapia, Air Fryer Chicken Parmesan, Crispy Air fried Shrimp, Garlic Bread, French Toast and Chicken Parmesan Wings.

More Air Fryer Desserts to try

• Bread and Butter Pudding in Air Fryer
• Air Fryer Apple Dessert
• Custard Toasts
• Baked Apples
• Air Fryer Apple Recipe
• Air Fryer Chocolate Chip Cookies

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