Veganized! Banana Chocolate Chip Coffeecake

This is a lovely, moist banana cake with a crunchy, cinnamon-y, chocolate chip-y topping. I reduced the amount of sugar in the original recipe from ¾ cup to 2/3 cup and eliminated the streusel layer in the center since the topping has both brown sugar and chocolate chips. It’s plenty sweet and I think it may have brought out the banana flavor of the cake a little more. I wasn’t happy with the egg substitution that I used the first time around so I went with the Silken Tofu in lieu of an egg. It really improved the texture and the crumb of the cake! This is an easy recipe and a great little cake for snacking or breakfast.

Thanks for the inspiration, Polly!

INGREDIENTS

For topping

• ½ cup chocolate chips
• 1/3 cup organic brown sugar
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
• 1½ tsp. cinnamon

For coffeecake

• 2/3 cup organic sugar
• ½ cup non-dairy margarine, at room temperature—I like Earth Balance
• ¼ cup silken tofu
• 3 T soy milk + ¼ tsp cider vinegar
• 1 1/3 cup mashed very ripe bananas—about 3, large
• 1½ cup all purpose, unbleached flour
• ¾ tsp. baking soda
• ¾ tsp. baking powder
• ¼ tsp. salt

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Coat a 9x9x2″ baking pan with non-stick spray and mash the bananas in a small bowl.
3. In another bowl stir together chocolate chips, brown sugar, walnuts, and cinnamon and set aside.
4. In your blender OR Magic Bullet, combine the soy milk and vinegar and set aside to curdle. 
5. In a large bowl, cream the margarine and sugar until light and fluffy—I’ve used both a whisk and a mixer for this and either one worked fine.
6. Add the silken tofu to the soy milk mixture in the blender and whirl ’til creamy. 
7. Stir the mashed banana and tofu/soy milk mixture into the creamed margarine and sugar, and mix ’til everything is nice and gloppy, then add the flour in ½ cup increments.
8. Stir in the baking powder, baking soda and salt. 
9. Pour the batter into prepared pan and top with the chocolate chip/nut mixture.
10. Bake at 350° for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean—mine was done after 35 minutes.

Enjoy! And thanks for dropping by my little vegan corner of Polly’s kitchen!