Healthy Smash Cake
This healthy smash cake is made with oats and bananas to create an easy nutritious healthy cake for your baby’s birthday (or for anyone’s birthday). There is no sugar, no oil, and no dyes. This cake is truly the perfect healthy cake for your little one’s first birthday. Plus, the healthy greek yogurt cream cheese frosting just completes it.
Healthy Cake for 1st Birthday Party
I’ve been wanting to make a healthy cake for Liv’s 1st birthday that is nutritious and made with real food ingredients. Most homemade cakes or boxed birthday cakes are full of refined sugar, oils, refined grains, preservatives, and toxic food dyes which cause tons of health problems rather than fuel our bodies. Plus, there really is no reason for a baby to eat something so high in sugar and unhealthy.
I also wanted to make a smash cake recipe that can work for all babies that may have allergic intolerances from gluten, nuts, and dairy. The smash cake I created has bananas to be a sweetener, oats for any baby that has a gluten intolerance, and eggs for protein.
I love this smash cake because my baby is getting tons of nutrients, but still has a delicious tasty cake to enjoy for her birthday. You’ll love how easy and healthy this cake recipe is.
Why you’ll love this cake
- There is no added sugar.
- Add all the cake ingredients and then blend in a blender.
- Made with real wholesome ingredients.
- High in protein
- Naturally colored with freezer-dried strawberries without using color dyes.
- Nutritious and easy to make.
- Loaded with protein, whole grains, and fruit.
- Naturally sweetened with bananas.
- Healthy yogurt frosting.
Greek Yogurt Cream Cheese Frosting
I wanted to make a nutritious frosting to go with the cake that wasn’t full of refined sugar. I made the perfect yogurt frosting and it turned out AMAZING. It tastes so good. I love how it’s packed with protein and probiotics from the Greek yogurt and it’s naturally sweetened by pure maple syrup and vanilla.
Ingredients to Make this Healthy Smash Cake
- Oats – I use instant oats, but rolled oats work great too. If your baby has a gluten intolerance make sure you buy the gluten-free oats to use.
- Bananas – Bananas work great to replace sugar and oil that are in cakes. Yellow or ripe bananas work great for this recipe. Ripe bananas will make the cake sweeter.
- Eggs – Eggs help the cake rise and add fluffiness to the cake.
- Vanilla Extract
- Cinnamon – adds a subtle cinnamon taste and pairs well with the bananas.
- Baking Powder
Healthy frosting ingredients:
- Greek yogurt
- Cream cheese
- Pure maple syrup
- Vanilla extract
Size-pans to use for smash cake
I used two 4-inch mini cake pans that have an easy-to-remove bottom. This recipe also works in an 8-inch pan and then cutting out your own mini cakes or doubling the batch to have two 8-inch layers to stack.
Frosting/Decorating Ideas for Healthy Smash Cake
There are tons of creative ways to add healthy frosting to this cake. Plus ways to use no food coloring. Here are some ideas:
- Greek yogurt – Yogurt is an easy and healthy way to frost your cake. You can even blend the greek yogurt with some fresh berries to add some coloring.
- Greek yogurt cream cheese recipe – I made a greek yogurt frosting for Liv’s cake. It’s made with cream cheese, greek yogurt, vanilla, a dash of pure maple syrup.
- Freeze-dried fruit – I smashed freeze-dried strawberries and then blended them into the frosting to add a hint of pink for Liv’s cake. The more you add the darker the color will be. Other fruits that will work are blueberries, peaches, raspberries, and more.
- Fresh fruit – Add fresh fruit in the layers and on top of the cake. Blend fresh fruit for natural coloring. Beet juice works really well for a rich reddish/pinkish color.
- Cake topper – This is the cake topper I got on Amazon. It was less than $8 dollars and it came with a pack of 4.
- Gold number 1 candle – Top the cake with a candle in the shape of a 1.
- Long Gold Candle – It always looks so good to have a single long candle on a first birthday cake. This is one that we used for her to blow out a candle. It comes with 24 candles.
I hope you give this delicious healthy smash cake recipe a try! If you try this recipe, I’d love to know! Feel free to tag me @fullofwholesome on Instagram, write a comment below, or send me a message. Thank you!
Healthy Smash Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups Instant Oats (or rolled oats)
- 2 Bananas (yellow or ripe)
- 2 Eggs
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 1 tsp Baking powder
- 1/4 tsp Salt (optional)
Healthy greek yogurt & cream cheese frosting
- 1 cup Greek yogurt
- 4 oz Cream cheese
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp Pure maple syrup
Instructions
Healthy Cake Directions
- Preheat oven to 400F and spray 4 inch springform pans with cooking spray.
- Add oats, bananas, eggs, vanilla, cinamon, baking powder, and salt to a blender. Blend until mixture is smooth.
- Divide the cake batter evenly between mini cake pans.
- Bake for 20 minutes
- Remove the cakes from the pans and let the cakes cool for 15 minutes.
Frosting Directions
- With a mixer, add in all frosting ingredients and mix together until smooth.
Loved this recipe! It’s moist, the perfect dose of sweetness, and not dense like other recipes I’ve tried. I added some chopped blueberries mixed in the middle layer with the frosting. I tried a coconut cream and yogurt frosting instead because preference but it was a big hit with my baby. <3
Michelle, thank you! I’m so thrilled the smash cake was a big hit for your little one’s birthday and that you loved the recipe! The toppings and frosting that you did sound amazing together, I’ll have to try a coconut cream and yogurt frosting on my next babies birthday!
Any idea how to modify for a 6inch pans? Double the recipe and how long in the oven?
Hi! Thanks for your question. I’d say bake the 6-inch pans for 20-25 minutes or longer till the cake is golden brown and fully cooked.
What if the frosting is runny? What do I do to fix it 🤔
Hi! You could put it in the fridge for it to set together before using on your cake. 💛
If you made the cake the day before a party would you store it in the fridge and maybe just frost the day of before serving?
Hi Taren! Yes! That’s exactly what I did for my daughter’s birthday, and it worked great! Once the cakes cooled, wrap each mini cake tightly in plastic wrap and stored them in the fridge.
This may be a very silly question, but do you make the oats prior to adding them, or you just pour in the flakes?
Not a silly question at all, glad you asked! Just pour the oats (uncooked) into the blender. The oats will cook in the oven. Hope that helps!
Hello! What adjustments can I make to make it less dense? It turned out so dense my toddler can barely chew it, and we are trying to make a first birthday cake. It was delicious! Just very, very dense.
Hi Tori, I’m sorry it turned out so dense! You could add an extra banana or do only 1 cup + 3/4 cup of instant oats instead of 2 cups to make the batter less thick and see if that helps!
Have you made these as cupcakes before?? Wondering the name temp and how long to bake them??
Hi Kelsey! I haven’t tried this recipe as cupcakes, but I love that idea. As a guess, I would say bake at 350 for 20 mins.
Hi! I’m excited to find this recipe as I am looking for healthy recipes for my son’s first birthday smash cake. Quick question about the yogurt – can it be piped onto the cake? I’m trying to make a 3d honey pot. Will the icing stay in place long enough for his photo session if I make it the day before?
Hi! If you are using my frosting recipe I recommend frosting it day of 🙂
Is it oke to subtituted the oat with all purpose flour ?
I bet it will work! I haven’t tried it with all purpose flour. Let me know how it turns out! I’d love to know.
I love the sound of this recipe but don’t have the little cake pans. If I wanted to bake it in a 9×13 pan, what would you recommend? Temp, bake time, doubling the recipe? I have 4 inch biscuit cutters that I would use to make the mini cake layers. Thank you!
Happy to help! I’ve made it before in an 8inch pan and then cutting out mini cakes so you could do that do the same temp and time as the recipe. If you do use a 9 x 13 pan definitely double the recipe for it. Then a guess would be to bake it at 375 for 25 mins. Or doing the same temp/time as the recipe and just checking every 5 mins after it’s been baking for 10 mins.
Hi Alli,
I was wondering how much salt you put in this recipe? The directions mention salt, but there’s no measurement in the ingredients.
Thank You.
Hi Emily! Thank you so much for catching that. I just fixed it on the recipe. It’s 1/4 tsp salt!
Hi !
I am going to make your cake for my Baby his 1st birthday.
But i want to ask you , because i live in Belgium and we work with Celsius degrees instead of Farhenheit.. Is it correct that the cake needs to bake for 20min on 204°C ??
I could be wrong but that seems high ?
Thanks for helping me♡
Hi Emily! Yes that seems right! I’ve never cooked in Celsius so I hope it works for you. I just google check Farhenheit to celsius and it shows 204.
Hello! I plan on making this cake for my little one and in the directions it says add salt, but I don’t see salt listed in the ingredients- I’m terrible at cooking, so I don’t want to guess! How much salt is needed?
I am so glad you asked! I just fixed it, sorry about that! It’s 1/4 tsp salt but it’s optional. Hope your cake turned out perfect for your little one!
Can you substitute the oats for almond flour? If so, how much?
I bet you could, I haven’t experimented with almond flour yet! Try doing 1 1/2 cups and if the batter seems to running then add 1/4 cup more until it’s a good consistency. Hope it works! 🙂
Hi there! I made this tonight and it was so hard/dense. I think it’s because I used old fashioned oats. What do you think? Do the quick oats make that much a difference?
I’m issuing 2 6in pans. Anything I can do differently for a moister cake?
Does it not rise any? Should I double or triple this recipe for a filler cake in my 6in pans?
Thank you!
Hi Rebecca! If you are using oats that aren’t quick or instant oats make sure to blend them in a blender before adding them to the recipe since the full oat will make the cake way dense. You can add in 1/4 cup greek yogurt or some more banana to make the cake a little moister. Yes, I’d recommend doubling the recipe so you have enough batter to fill up the 6-inch pans!
This turned out amazing, delicious recipe!
Thank you! 💛 I am thrilled the recipe turned out amazing for you! It’s my favorite healthy cake recipe, especially for babies 1st birthday!
Would this recipe* need to be doubled if it’s for 6 inch pans? Thanks!
Hi! Good question. If you want a thicker cake and your using 6-inch pans than I’d recommend doubling it 🙂 I’ve made it in an 8-inch pan without doubling it but the cake was shorter than a usual cake height.
Does the cream cheese need to be room temperature before mixing?
Nope, it works straight out of the fridge!
Under the way you’ll love this cake it states “High in protein and omega 3s from the chia seeds.”. But there are no chia seeds listed in the ingredients. Was this a mistake? Thanks!
Whoops, yes good catch! I just fixed it! You could add chia seeds if you’d like. I love adding them to lots of things that I bake.
would this cake be fine to freeze after making a month or so before party?
Yes! I think so!
can this be made and frozen a month in advance?!
Absolutely! I bet that will work. I’d search on google to see the best way to freeze cake!
I already did a trial run of this cake and it’s so good! So excited to make it for my little girls first birthday 🙂 I was wondering how far in advanced I could make it. Do you know how many days it would be okay in the fridge?
Hi! Thank you for the comment! I’d say it’ll be fine 1-2 days in the fridge. I made my daughters cake the day before and once the cake completely cooled I wrapped it tightly in saran wrap and had it in the fridge. Then the day of the party, I took it out 2 hours before and then frosted it. Hope your cake turns out amazing for your girls first birthday!
Would I need to do any modifications if I were to use this recipe for cupcakes instead?
Hi, I haven’t tried cupcakes, but that’s a genius idea! Let me know if they turned out!
Healthy smash cakes are a great idea for little ones. It’s wonderful to see a cake option that’s both tasty and good for them. Thanks!