WW Recipe of the Day: Low-Fat Banana Cake with Peanut Butter Frosted
(171 calories | 8 8 8 myWW *SmartPoints value per serving)
Low fat banana cake, a lighter from scratch fresh banana cake with a thin layer of sweet peanut butter frosting. This banana cake is an old family favorite recipe that I've tinkered with—decreasing the sugar and fat - to make it Weight Watchers friendly.
I also cut the frosting recipe in half, spreading the cake with a thinner layer of sweet peanut butter frosting - so you get all the lusciousness; just less of it.
Healthy Low Fat Banana Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting
If you don't like peanut butter frosting, feel free to substitute a thin layer of your favorite icing—vanilla, chocolate, cream cheese, and coconut—would all be delicious.
The original recipe is from one of my favorite baking books, Sylvia's Cakes and Breads: Famous Recipes from a Small Maine Kitchen (affiliate link), by Sylvia Hocking, who for years ran a little bakeshop and mail order business from her home kitchen and whose clients included Julie Andrews, Dave Grusin, and John Williams.
How many calories and WW points in this peanut butter frosted banana caked?
According to my calculations, each serving has 171 calories and
8 *SmartPoints (Green plan)
8 *SmartPoints (Blue plan)
8 *SmartPoints (Purple plan)
5 *PointsPlus (Old plan)
Curious about Weight Watchers new myWW Green, Blue and Purple plans? Watch this short video to learn more:
If you've made this Low-Fat Cake, please give the recipe a star rating below and leave a comment letting me know how you liked it. And stay in touch on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for the latest updates.
Healthy Low Fat Banana Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup coconut oil or vegetable oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1-½ teaspoons vanilla
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ cups low fat buttermilk
- 1 cup mashed bananas (2 large very ripe bananas)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
Frosting
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 tablespoons hot water
- 1 cup confectioner's sugar
- 2 tablespoons peanut butter
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Position an oven rack in the center and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8 x 8-inch or 9 x 9-inch square baking pan.
- In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat the coconut oil and sugar until well blended. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat well. Dissolve the baking soda in the buttermilk and add to the mixture.
- Add the mashed bananas and beat until well blended.
- Add the flour and stir just until combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan, spreading it out evenly.
- Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and place the baking pan on a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the frosting, place the butter and water in a very small saucepan and heat to boiling. Pour over the sugar. Stir in the peanut butter until well blended and creamy.
- Quickly spread the frosting over the cooled cake.
Recipe Notes
Source: Sylvia's Cakes and Breads: Famous Recipes from a Small Maine Kitchen (affiliate link) by Sylvia Hocking
If You Like this Low Fat Banana Cake You Might Also Like:
- Chocolate Banana Bread Pudding - a comfort food makeover with just 7 WW SmartPoints
- Easy Microwave Mug Banana Cocoa Pudding Cake - satisfy those chocolate urges with this simple single-serving microwave (affiliate link) pudding cake
- Chocolate Banana Muffins - a low calorie, healthier alternative to sugary coffee shop baked goods
- Healthy Harvest Fresh Apple Cake Recipe - lighter, healthier apple cake
Martha is the founder and main content writer for Simple-Nourished-Living.
A longtime lifetime WW at goal, she is committed to balancing her love of food and desire to stay slim while savoring life and helping others do the same.
She is the author of the Smart Start 28-Day Weight Loss Challenge.
A huge fan of the slow cooker and confessed cookbook addict, when she's not experimenting in the kitchen, you're likely to find Martha on her yoga mat.
This post contains affiliate links to products I like. When you buy something through one of my Amazon links or other (affiliate links), I receive a small commission that helps support this site. Thank you for your purchase!
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Hi, I'm Martha. Simple Nourished Living chronicles the easy and delicious Weight Watchers friendly recipes, tips & hints that help me balance my love of food and desire to be happy, healthy and slim. 
Miss Meghan @ scratch-made wife
You basically just have to utter the words "peanut butter" and I'm interested, but this cake really does sound delicious! I love bananas spread with peanut butter, so I can only imagine how amazing this tastes.
Mary
I think you could make it in a crockpot. Hope so! Love your recipies everything Ive made from your web site is delicious. LOVE the Chocolate pudding cake taste like brownies!
Carol
Hi - Just wanted to share... Made this delicious cake earlier this week - it actually seems to be improving with age - the bananas keep it really moist. It's a real winner - and has gone in my regular recipe files. Particularly enjoyed the light, but very tasty, layer of icing - made it feel indulgent. The little 2x2 squares are surprisingly generous for a LFLS dessert - I love that they're actually taller than square! Just fo glamourize it up - I had a little bit of dark chocolate ganache in the fridge - warmed it in a zip bag and piped lines about an inch apart and them "feathered" them - napoleon style. Only used 2 T of the ganache, so no critical change in calories - and made it beautiful enough for guests! Thanks again - definitely going to look at your recipes time and again when I'm "browsing".
Martha McKinnon
Carol,
Thanks for taking the time to leave such a thoughtful comment. I very much appreciate it. Love what you did with the chocolate ganache to "dress up" this dessert for guests. I must remember that the next time I make an iced cake, since I rarely remember to fancy things up 🙂
Laurenzstamper
This was wonderful! I even lowered the fat and calorie content more by substiting applesauce and FF Greek yogurt for the oil, using egg substitute and skim milk soured with lemon juice.
Martha McKinnon
Glad you liked it Lauren!
Leslie
There’s a low fat apple cake recipe on the web that doesn’t use any oil and only 1/3 cup sugar. I’m going to make that with bananas. It’s amazing with apples and I’ve made it 3 X’s this past week. Yes, it’s that good. 116 calories/slice
Martha McKinnon
Would love the apple cake recipe!