High-Protein Banana Breakfast Cake

Check out my moist High-Protein Banana Breakfast Cake made with whole oats and protein-rich cottage cheese, and sneaking in mini chocolate chips and shredded coconut in the streusel to satisfy your sweet tooth. A morning delight that's perfect with coffee and still feels like a treat.

Confession time: I gave my kids cake for breakfast, and I never felt even a little bit bad about it. We joked that it was wheat and dairy, but as a grown-up older adult, I can see where maybe I need to sneak in a little more nutrition. This High-Protein Banana Breakfast Cake balances my "cake for breakfast" instincts with making my muscles and bones happy.

It starts with a moist and delicious banana cake, made with cottage cheese and oats, that is sweetened with maple syrup. It's topped with a delicious brown sugar and oat streusel with shredded coconut and mini chocolate chips because this banana coffee cake should also be fun! Let's get into it!

Ingredients & Substitutions

Most of these ingredients are similar to those you would see in my chocolate chip banana bread, but with some sneaky extra protein and fiber. Let's take a look at them and how you can make changes if you need to:

• All-purpose flour- I use all purpose flour to make this cake, and the streusel, but if you have leftover self rising flour from making my quick English muffins or my simple flatbread, use that here and just leave out the added salt and baking powder from the recipe.
• Whole oats - Most coffee cake recipes have a crumble or a streusel. I like that whole oats have more fibre and protein than quick oats, but I also like that they add a little bit of texture in the streusel. If you only have quick oats, feel free to substitute them.
• Butter - I use a quarter cup of softened butter in the streusel and quarter cup of melted butter in the cake. You can use margarine in the streusel and melted margarine or vegetable oil in the cake, if needed.
• Cottage cheese - I use full fat cottage cheese because the fat not only lends more flavor, but it also helps to develop a more tender crumb. if you want to use a low-fat or non-fat cottage cheese, that's fine, but the texture of the finished cake may be slightly more dense.
• Bananas - I never thought I'd be the girl who had super brown bananas on my counter, but OK fine they do make a cake. More of their starches have converted to sugar and they have a deeper flavor. if you don't like to have bananas sitting around, feel free to freeze them. Just let them fall in a bowl overnight in the refrigerator. They will be wet. Fair warning.
• Maple syrup - I wanted to use only natural sugar in the cake, so I use pure Vermont maple syrup. This is not the same as pancake syrup. If maple syrup is too pricey, I get you. Feel free to substitute with brown sugar, adding a couple of tablespoons of water to compensate for the liquid found in maple syrup.
• Brown sugar - No, you cannot reverse substitute the brown sugar syrup in the streusel for maple syrup. That would just be wet.
• Coconut flakes and mini chocolate chips - you don't have to add coconut flakes and chocolate chips to the streusel. It will be a nice oat streusel all by itself. But I saw them in my pantry, I added them on a whim, and I'm not looking back. You can also add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon to the streusel if you want.

See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.

Quick Recipe Video

Step-by-Step Instructions

This is a pretty simple recipe for a pretty delicious breakfast cake, so let's get started. As always, I asked that you read through the entire recipe, looking at the pictures for reference, and then gather your ingredients before beginning.

• Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C)
• Cut two pieces of parchment paper the width of the pan, leaving a few inches of overhang on each side. Spray your pan with nonstick spray and lay one sheet in the pan going one direction, then lay the second sheet crosswise on top. Press into the corners—the overhanging edges will act as handles to lift the cake out once it’s cooled.

Make streusel

Step 1: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, oats, and kosher salt. Work in the butter with your fingers, mixing until coarse crumbs form but it clumps when you squeeze some gently in your hands.

Step 2: Add in coconut and chocolate chips and toss together to incorporate. Set aside.

Make cake batter

Step 1: In a small bowl mix together your all-purpose flour, oats, baking powder, and salt. Set aside

Step 2: In a large bowl, mash bananas. Add cottage cheese, maple syrup, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla extract. Use a hand mixer to mix together until fully combined, although some small pieces of banana may be present. (can be done by hand, although larger chunks of banana and cottage cheese may remain)

Step 3: Add the dry ingredients into wet ingredients and use a spatula to fold together just until the last of the dry ingredients are incorporated.

Step 4: Spread the batter into the prepared baking dish.

Bake

Step 1: Sprinkle the streusel evenly over the cake batter.

Step 2: Bake 35-40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 20-30 minutes before serving.

Tip: If you want fresh coconut flavor, add extra shredded coconut to your cooled cake before serving. And while you're at it, you might as well sprinkle some more mini chocolate chips on there. You wouldn't want them to feel left out.

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