I'm on my phone and couldn't copy recipe so I took a screenshot of all ingredients in case it makes a difference. If a banana cupcake recipe calls for 1.5 cups of flour, and 1/3 cup of baking cocoa, can I leave out the cocoa? The notes say it's for chocolate flavor. Do you think it will affect the texture, fluffiness, Etc though? I'm not a baker and am experimenting smash cake recipes 
pomelo / 5791 posts
I think so! It's only 1/3 of a cup, so it shouldn't make a huge difference.
grapefruit / 4649 posts
I think you will be OK too. Cocoa is an acid so the one thing I was watching for was baking soda vs powder but with baking powder you should be fine.
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
You also might not need as much sugar if you leave out the cocoa, but I'm not positive on that one.
wonderful grape / 20453 posts
So whenever I adjust banana recipes, I usually cut the sugar down to 1/3 of the original recipe and it bakes up fine. I would probably replace the cocoa powder with flour, at least 50%, because otherwise the batter may be more wet.
clementine / 806 posts
@MrsLilybugg: I would not replace cocoa with flour. 1/3 cup is actually not a lot ... about 5 tbsp. cocoa powder is completely different from flour. If it says it's for flavor, then I would completely omit it and not replace it with anything. period. ESPECIALLY whole wheat flour which does act differently than regular flour.
It also says 3 ripe bananas so I'm going to assume sweetness is taken into account but I've been known to remove 2 tbsp of sugar per 1/2 cup of sugar if I'm giving it to my kids.
For frosting, I would suggest cream cheese and just a ripe banana. And no extra sugar.
honeydew / 7444 posts
I personally would not omit the cocoa and would prefer to reduce the sugar. The amount of sugar you have in cocoa (i'm assuming this is the unsweetened stuff you're using, not instant cocoa that you put in your milk) is so minimal.
If you're going to replace sugar, i would think about increasing the wet ingredients by a bit (maybe a little more milk or banana) since sugar adds to the moisture of a baked good.
pear / 1846 posts
I agree with @blackbird: about substituting the cocoa powder because it will change the consistency. Either a bit more flour or less milk. Too much wet ingredients to dry ratio often leads to a sinking cake. it would still taste just as good though.
clementine / 806 posts
@Snowdrop: this recipe is not exact though. 3 ripe bananas is completely arbitrary. Plus banana bread is better moist than dry. So a wet and thick batter is preferred in such case. I would think adding 1/3 cup of whole wheat flour would actually dry out the cake.
pear / 1846 posts
@aegie: ah ok. To be honest, being english I don't really understand the measurements here we normally have everything in grams and mls so that went completely over my head 
clementine / 806 posts
@Snowdrop: haha .. yes us americans and our weird measurements. i actually prefer grams and mls since it's much more precise.
cantaloupe / 6131 posts
Whole wheat flour is way more dense than cocoa powder. If omitting the cocoa powder, I'd try adding 2 tablespoons of whole wheat flour sifted with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch, which will replace the missing cocoa and also act to lighten the cake structure since it seems like the whole cake is whole wheat flour and will be quite dense. I would agree with possibly cutting down the sugar to 1/3 cup, depending on how ripe your bananas are. If they are black-ripe, 1/3 cup should be fine.
| Today | Monthly Record | |
|---|---|---|
| Topics | 1 | 0 |
| Posts | 0 | 1 |
Ask for Help
Make a Suggestion
Frequently Asked Questions
Bee Levels
Acronyms
Most Viewed Posts
Hellobee Gold
Hellobee Recipes
Hellobee Features
Hellobee Contests
Baby-led Weaning
Bento Boxes
Breastfeeding
Newborn Essentials
Parties
Postpartum Care Essentials
Sensory Play Activities
Sleep Training
Starting Solids Gear
Transitioning to Toddler Bed
All Series
Who We Are
About the Bloggers
About the Hostesses
Contributing Bloggers
Apply to Blog
Apply to Hostess
Submit a Guest Blog
Hellobee Buttons
How We Make Money
Community Policies
- Google Plus
- Stumbleupon
- Twitter
- Facebook
- Pinterest
- Favorite0
14 comments