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Vegan Chocolate Banana Swirl Snack Cake (with sourdough discard)

The perfect blend of chocolate and plain banana bread, cut into fun snack squares.
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings: 16 Cake Squares
Course: Afternoon Coffee, Breakfast, Dessert, Snack
Cuisine: American
Ingredients Equipment Method Video Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 100 grams Sourdough Starter, active or discard (heaping 3/8 cup)
  • 365 grams Overripe Bananas (~4 medium)
  • 125 grams Brown Sugar (1/2 + 1/8 cups packed)
  • 40 grams Liquid Sweetener (Maple syrup, honey, agave syrup, etc.) (heaping 1/8 cup)
  • 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
  • 125 grams Olive Oil (heaping 3/4 cup)
  • 60 grams Plant Milk (1/4 cup)
  • 6 grams Apple Cider Vinegar (1 tsp.)
  • 3 grams Fine Sea Salt (1/2 tsp.)
  • 1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
  • 243 g All Purpose Flour (2 cups, spooned and leveled)
  • 18 g Cocoa Powder (3 tbsps.)
  • 1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
  • 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
  • Dark Chocolate Chips for the chocolate portion, optional

Equipment

  • 1 8x8 square baking pan

Method
 

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Combine plant milk and apple cider vinegar in a small bowl to make vegan buttermilk. Allow to sit for 5 minutes.
    60 grams Plant Milk, 6 grams Apple Cider Vinegar
  3. Mash the bananas and sourdough starter together.
    365 grams Overripe Bananas, 100 grams Sourdough Starter, active or discard
  4. In a large bowl, combine the wet ingredients:
    brown sugar, liquid sweetener, olive oil, vanilla, and vegan buttermilk.
    125 grams Brown Sugar, 40 grams Liquid Sweetener (Maple syrup, honey, agave syrup, etc.), 125 grams Olive Oil, 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
  5. In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients:
    1/2 tsp. Cinnamon, 243 g All Purpose Flour, 1/2 tsp. Baking Soda, 1/2 tsp Baking Powder, 3 grams Fine Sea Salt
  6. Add the mashed banana and sourdough starter to the wet ingredients.
    365 grams Overripe Bananas, 100 grams Sourdough Starter, active or discard
  7. Pour the dry ingredients over the wet ingredients. Fold to combine. Be careful not to mix too much; just fold the ingredients until just combined.
  8. Pour half your batter into the bowl we used for the dry ingredients (now that the bowl is empty, don't dirty a new bowl; just reuse the dry bowl!).
  9. Add the Cocoa powder to half of the batter and fold until just combined. Add Dark Chocolate chips if you'd like, too.
  10. Let it sit for 5 minutes. While your batter rests, grease an 8x8 pan. I like to use olive oil to grease the pan, as the main fat in the loaf is olive oil.
  11. Scoop the Chocolate and Vanilla batter into the pan, alternating back and forth with each type of batter. Once all the batter is in the pan, with a toothpick, marble and swirl the batters together. Not too much; I recommend going vertically, then horizontally across the whole pan.
  12. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean.
  13. Once baked, allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then flip the bread out onto a wire rack. Allow to cool completely before slicing.

Video

Notes

Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.