Listen, I am hard on myself when it comes to food waste. It’s up there on my top 10 list of pet peeves, right next to the car being left on empty. My solution? When life hands you overripe bananas about to meet their doom, make this sweet, creamy, budget-friendly Banana Cake instead! This Banana Cake is moist and sweet and is complimented perfectly by the ultra creamy cream cheese frosting.
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This creamy, rich Banana Cake is dessert, it’s breakfast, it’s the treat we all need and deserve! The best part? This cake is so easy to make, and I bet you have most- if not all- of the ingredients already on hand!
What is Banana Cake?
Banana cake is really as simple as it sounds… a cake with bananas in it! This cake is perfectly sweet and dense, but a little fluffier than your typical banana bread. The cream cheese frosting compliments the sweet and warm banana flavor perfectly. I highly recommend having banana cake for breakfast after making this!
Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make banana cake:
- All-Purpose Flour: Gives the cake its structure.
- Baking Soda: Helps the cake rise.
- Cinnamon: Adds warmth to the batter.
- Salt: Enhances the overall flavor of the cake.
- Lemon Juice: Provides the necessary acid to activate the baking soda and emphasizes the tangy flavor of the frosting.
- Bananas: You’ll need 3 very ripe bananas for this cake. Unripe or just ripe bananas will not mash well and won’t have as much natural sweetness.
- Sugar: Granulated and light brown sugar sweeten the cake, while powdered sugar sweetens the frosting without making it gritty.
- Eggs: Help bind the cake together.
- Unsalted Butter: Adds moisture and richness to the cake and helps create a smooth and cohesive frosting.
- Vanilla Extract: Adds warmth to the cake and the frosting.
- Milk: Adds moisture to the cake.
- Cream Cheese: Creates a rich and tangy frosting.
- Walnuts: Add a delightful crunch to the top of this cake.
Can Bananas Be Too Ripe?
Yes, but you’d have to wait a good long while. Bananas are safe to eat and cook with well after their skins have turned black. However, if you notice any fuzzy white, gray, or green mold or if the banana smells rotten, fermented, or is leaking any fluids, it’s best to toss it. Additionally, if the fruit itself has turned completely black, it is beyond saving.
Tips and Tricks
- Use very ripe bananas. The sugar content of bananas increases as they ripen, so the more ripe your bananas are the sweeter the cake and the more pronounced the banana flavor will be.
- Grease the baking dish well. This is a VERY moist cake, and it will stick if you don’t grease the baking dish well.
- Use room-temperature eggs and dairy. This will help the batter come together more quickly, and it will help create the smoothest frosting.
- Don’t overmix the batter. A few lumps are okay.
- Let the cake cool completely before frosting it. Frosting a hot cake is a recipe for disaster!
Banana Cake
Servings 15 slices (1 slice per serving)Ingredients
Cake Ingredients:
- 3 cups sifted all-purpose flour ($0.45)
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda ($0.06)
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon ($0.08)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.01)
- 1 tsp lemon juice ($0.01)
- 3 very ripe bananas, mashed ($0.81)
- 1 cup granulated sugar ($0.34)
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar ($0.34)
- 3 eggs, room temperature ($0.47)
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter ($1.89)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract ($1.30)
- 1 1/2 cups milk ($0.27)
Frosting Ingredients:
- 8 oz. cream cheese, softened to room temperature ($1.86)
- 8 Tbsp unsalted butter (1 stick), room temperature ($0.94)
- 3 cups powdered sugar ($1.02)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract ($0.65)
- 1 tsp lemon juice ($0.01)
Garnish:
- 2 Tbsp crushed walnuts ($0.29)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and grease a 9×13” baking dish. Whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together. Set aside.
- Mash the bananas and lemon juice with a fork and set aside.
- Using a handheld mixer, beat the butter and sugars on high speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.
- Add the eggs and the vanilla to sugar/butter mixture. Beat on medium speed until combined.
- Then, add the mashed bananas.
- With the mixer on low speed, using your free hand, add 1/3 of the dry ingredients and 1/3 of the milk, back and forth until all ingredients are fully mixed in. Do not overmix. The batter will be slightly thick and a little lumpy from the bananas.
- Spread batter into the buttered pan and bake for 45–50 minutes. When you insert a toothpick in the center and it comes out clean, you know your cake is done! If you notice the cake is browning very quickly, test it with the toothpick and cover loosely with aluminum foil for the remainder of the bake time if it’s not quite done.
- To make your frosting, combine all frosting ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix with your handheld mixer until completely creamy and smooth.
- Allow cake to cool completely (on the countertop it took my cake about an hour) before frosting. Frost and enjoy with an extra sprinkle of crushed walnuts on top!
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Equipment
- Hand Mixer
Nutrition
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how to make Banana Cake – step by step photos
Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and grease a 9×13” baking dish. Whisk 3 cups sifted all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, and 1/2 tsp salt together. Set aside.
Mash 3 very ripe bananas and 1 tsp lemon juice with a fork and set aside.
Using a handheld mixer, beat 3/4 cup unsalted butter, 1 cup granulated sugar, and 1/2 cup light brown sugar on high speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.
Add 3 room temperature eggs and 2 tsp vanilla extract to the sugar/butter mixture. Beat on medium speed until combined.
Then, add the mashed bananas.
With the mixer on low speed, using your free hand, add 1/3 of the dry ingredients and 1/2 cup of the milk, back and forth until all ingredients are fully mixed in (1 1/2 cups of milk total). Do not overmix. The batter will be slightly thick and a little lumpy from the bananas.
Spread batter into the buttered pan and bake for 45–50 minutes. When you insert a toothpick in the center and it comes out clean, you know your cake is done! If you notice the cake is browning very quickly, test it with the toothpick and cover loosely with aluminum foil for the remainder of the bake time if it’s not quite done.
To make your frosting, combine all 8 oz. room temperature cream cheese, 8 Tbsp room temperature unsalted butter, 3 cups powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract, and 1 tsp lemon juice in a large mixing bowl and mix with your handheld mixer until completely creamy and smooth.
Allow cake to cool completely (on the countertop it took my cake about an hour) before frosting. Frost and sprinkle with 2 Tbsp crushed walnuts!
There’s no better use for overripe bananas than this delicious banana cake!
This is awesome. I used Betty Crocker chocolate frosting on top due to time crunch and had crushed pecans on hand to sprinkle on top. I also added approx 1/2 to 1 cup of each of boiled raisins and frozen cranberries, minus the juice.
Its definitely a keeper.
I baked this today and it was a hit. My bananas were large though so I think that is the reason I had to bake the cake for an hour and a half before the skewer came out dry. I love your recipes but if you could add an automatic conversion to the metric system, that would be awesome!
Also, I ran out of powdered sugar and used only 1,5 cups in the frosting but it was still very delicious!
Absolutely delicious and very easy to make. The hardest part is not eating the bananas before they ripen enough for the cake.
Cody, I am with you on resisting the urge to not eat the bananas ahead of time! Haha. Thanks for giving this recipe a try! So glad you enjoyed it.
This is so good! I made this at the beginning of the week and it has remained nicely moist. It was nice with my morning coffee one day. My daughters have snacked on it between meals. This is going in my recipe book!
Omg this was SO GOOD! We didn’t have walnuts so we added some crushed up nilla wafers on top instead and ohhh mannnn… just yum. Will definitely be making this recipe again.
YUM! Nilla wafers and bananas are always a good move.
Nilla Wafers!! OMG! I am going to try that next time I make this!
Very very good! My new fav way to use up bananas going bad. Toddler and adult approved. I used whole wheat flour because it was all I had on hand and it was delicious.
This was very tasty! Moist cake, not overly sweet frosting. Really good! I did use pecans on top because we didn’t have walnuts. :)
Oooh! Pecans are next level. So glad you loved it!
Banana cake with chocolate frosting was my family’s birthday cake growing up. It is delicious with chocolate frosting!
Can you use frozen ripe bananas?
That should be fine as long as you drain off the liquid after thawing. We haven’t tried it that way, so let us know how it goes!