Chocolate Squash Banana Snack Cake

'Tis the season to indulge in summer squash. I'm a big fan of all squashes and summer squash lends itself so wonderfully to baked goods. Not to mention the bonus of the hidden veggie element in a sweet treat I give to my little ones. Sneaky mommy.

One of my favorite recipes is this Chocolate Squash Banana Snack Cake. Snack cake. Don't you just love those two words together? In my mind, that translates into "eat-any-time-without-feeling-guilty" cake. Ha!

Chocolate Squash Banana Snack Cake to make you feel better about eating cake in the middle of the day.

This yummy and easy cake utilizes any type of summer squash you have on hand.



I had a couple of Mexican squash and a banana that had seen better days, so that's what went into my version. Zucchini or crookneck are also fabulous in this cake.


I may have mentioned this in a previous post, but I have a secret ingredient I sometimes use in baking that keeps my baked goods soft, fluffy, and moist. I like to replace one of the eggs in my recipe with a flax egg (that's a tablespoon of flaxseed meal mixed with 3 tablespoons of warm water). You can skip this step and just use an additional egg instead of the flax egg, but your cake will be way more soft and moist if you embrace the power of the flax. 😉



First mix up all the wet ingredients in a large bowl. Then whisk in the dry. Lastly, stir in your finely grated squash.

Coat a 9 x 9 inch square baking pan with butter. Then line with a strip of parchment paper and butter the parchment too. This will make it easy to get your cake out of the pan for slicing. Pour in the batter and then sprinkle on some chocolate chips.

Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and enjoy the smell of chocolate filling your kitchen.

Chocolate Squash Banana Snack Cake

INGREDIENTS
1 flax egg (1 Tbsp flax seed meal mixed with 3 Tbsp warm water)
1 overripe medium banana, mashed well
1 large egg
1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
7 Tbsp buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup finely grated summer squash (Mexican/zucchini/crookneck)
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Butter a 9 x 9 inch square baking pan, line with parchment paper, and butter the parchment.
3. In a large bowl, make your flax egg by mixing 1 Tbsp flaxseed meal with 3 Tbsp warm water. Let sit for 5 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
5. Back in your flaxseed bowl, whisk in the mashed banana, egg, oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and sugar.
6. Dump dry ingredients into wet and mix well.
7. Stir in squash.
8. Pour into prepped pan and sprinkle with chocolate chips.
9. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.