Best Banana Cake Recipe

Soft, sweet, and loaded with ripe bananas, this is truly the Best Banana Cake ever! You’ll love the light and moist crumb and decadent cream cheese frosting!

The Best Banana Cake Ever

Confession time: I’ve been holding out on you. You see, this banana cake. Oh, this cake. It’s been on my list to share for some time now, but I always seem to get side-tracked! So today I’m putting an end to the hold-out, sharing my favorite recipe for this epic, perfectly moist, perfectly flavorful, cream-cheese-frosted banana cake.

Dudes, it’s so great I can’t even tell you. Like, so great you should probably go ahead and make it now. (Plus, bananas + cream cheese = breakfast material, folks. Sprinkle a few chia seeds on top and you’re basically drinking a smoothie.)

You may think that you don’t need a whole layer cake sitting on your counter on a random weekday, but I’m here to debunk that negativity. You do need cake. Cake needs you. It’s a relationship that’s bound to happen, so don’t fight it. You can diet when the cake is gone. Trust me, that’s my life’s motto.

What Makes this Recipe So Good?

First of all, there are only simple, wholesome ingredients here! It just makes a difference when you bake with real butter, lemon juice, milk, etc. Second, this banana cake recipe calls for a mixture of both granulated and brown sugar. The added brown sugar adds moisture and depth of flavor, which pairs beautifully with the banana! And third, the mashed bananas add a lovely moist quality to the cake, while the soured milk, whole eggs, and baking powder keep things light.

What You’ll Need

Let’s take a closer look at the ingredients for this amazing dessert! I love how simple they are, and how perfectly they bake up into a dreamy 3-layer banana cake with tons of flavor. (If you want to see the full recipe with ingredient amounts, scroll on down to the bottom of this post!)

For the Cake:

• Milk: Whole milk will give the best flavor, but 2% is also fine.
• Lemon Juice: Although bottled lemon juice is fine, freshly squeezed will give a brighter taste.
• Butter: The butter should be softened at room temperature.
• Sugar: You’ll need light brown sugar as well as granulated sugar.
• Eggs: Use large, whole eggs for a good taste and texture.
• Vanilla
• Salt: I use kosher salt.
• Baking Soda: To make the cake layers rise, you’ll need some baking soda (not baking powder).
• Flour: You can use all-purpose flour in this recipe.
• Bananas: Make sure the banans are ripe. If you need to ripen the bananas faster, see the section below!

For the Frosting:

• Cream Cheese: Soften one block (8 ounces) of cream cheese to room temperature.
• Butter: The butter should also be at room temperature for easy beating.
• Powdered Sugar: Powdered sugar gives the frosting body and sweetness.
• Vanilla
• Milk: You’ll need a couple of tablespoons of milk to thin the frosting to the right consistency.

For the Optional Toasted Coconut:

• Sweetened Flaked Coconut

How to Ripen Bananas Quickly

Since we’re starting with mashed bananas (obviously), it’s important to make sure that they’re good and ripe. But what if you’re short on time? No worries! Here are three easy ways to “ripen” bananas quickly.

• If you have a day or so, just put your bananas in a brown paper bag. The ethylene that bananas give off as they ripen will build up and circulate within the bag, speeding up the ripening process.
• If you want to make this cake asap, or any banana recipe for that matter, and you don’t have time to wait for bananas to ripen I’ve got a quick trick! Poke holes in the banana peel with a fork on all sides pretty liberally. Then microwave the banana for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until it’s dark and kind of mushy. It isn’t ideal, but it’s definitely worth doing in a pinch!
• You can also do a similar technique in the oven! Preheat your oven to 300°F. Place your (unpricked) bananas on a parchment lined baking sheet for 30 minutes, but check them at 15 minutes to see how things are going. Bake them until they start to brown and get soft!

How to Make Banana Cake

Let’s get into the process of making this indulgent banana cake! There are basically three parts: the cake, the frosting, and the optional toasted coconut.

Making the Cake

1. Preheat the Oven and Get the Cake Pans Ready. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Then coat 3 8-inch round cake pans (or other sizes; see Tips section below) with nonstick spray. Cut parchment paper into rounds to fit into the bottoms of the pans. Place a parchment round into each pan, and spray the whole thing again with nonstick spray. Set the pans aside.
2. Sour the Milk and Cream the Butter and Sugar. Combine the milk and lemon juice in a medium bowl, and give it a quick stir. Set that aside to sour. Meanwhile, in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and both kinds of sugar on medium speed for 2 minutes.
3. Add the Eggs, Vanilla, Salt, and Soda. Add in the eggs, vanilla, salt and baking soda and mix until smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
4. Add the Flour and Milk Gradually. Turn the mixer to low, and alternately add the flour and milk to the batter, starting and ending with a small amount of the flour. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed to keep things mixing correctly.
5. Add the Bananas. Finally, mix in the bananas until just incorporated.
6. Bake. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared baking pans, and bake for about 35 minutes, rotating the pans in the oven halfway through baking. You’ll know the cake is done when a toothpick inserted into the middle of the layers comes out clean. Cool the cakes in their pans for 15 – 20 minutes, and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Making the Frosting

1. Cream the Butter, Cream Cheese, and Sugar. Beat the butter and cream cheese together for a couple of minutes until creamy. Then turn the mixer to low, and beat in the powdered sugar.
2. Add Milk and Vanilla. Add in the vanilla and a tablespoon of the milk. Turn the mixer up to medium, and beat until creamy, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add more milk, if necessary, to get the right consistency.

Making Toasted Coconut

If you’re using toasted coconut, it’s easy to make! Just place the coconut in a nonstick skillet and heat over medium-low, stirring frequently. Watch the coconut carefully, because it burns easily. Once the coconut turns golden brown, remove it from the heat and cool it completely before using.

Frosting the Cake

Finally, add the frosting to your cake! It doesn’t have to be perfect, just add frosting between each layer as you stack the cake and then frost all around the outsides of the cake. Finish it off with toasted coconut by pressing the coconut into the frosting gently.

What Kind of Frosting to Use

I really feel like cream cheese frosting is the perfect choice on this Banana Cake. But  if you aren’t a fan of cream cheese, here are a few more options that would be fantastic as well:

• Classic Buttercream: My Perfect Buttercream recipe is a sweet and creamy vanilla frosting that’s delicious on anything!
• Chocolate Frosting: Creamy Chocolate Frosting is oh-so-delicious, especially paired with banana. It’s a match made in heaven!
• Heritage Frosting: This Heritage Frosting recipe is an old-fashioned cooked flour frosting that my mom used to use on her Red Velvet Cake. It’s buttery and creamy, a little bit different and a whole lot of delicious.

Tips for Success

Okay, so if you’re anything like me, you are now dying for a slice of banana cake! That’s great, but before you go, have a gander at these helpful tips for baking up the perfect cake.

• Choose a Size: You can bake the banana cake in 3, 8- inch round pans or 2, 9- inch round pans! I prefer 3 layers…because more frosting.
• No Sticking: Also, make sure to coat your pans with nonstick spray, and also line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper rounds, that are cut to fit the pan. I find that for this banana cake recipe, and honestly all cake recipes, this method works best for perfect removal.
• Coconut Swaps: If you don’t want to use coconut, you could use toasted walnuts or pecans instead. Mini chocolate chips ate another fun alternative to the coconut. Or, of course, you could choose to leave the cake as-is… totally up to you!

How to Store Frosted Cake

Store banana cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Allow the cake to come up to room temperature before serving.

Can I Freeze Extra Slices?

Yes! Freezing leftover slices is a great way to save cake for later. To keep the cake from drying out, press parchment paper or wax paper against the cut sides of each slice. Put the slices on a plate or cookie sheet in the freezer until the frosting is frozen solid, and then wrap the slices completely in plastic wrap. Freeze for up to two months, and thaw in the fridge or on the counter before serving.

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More Banana Dessert Ideas

• Moist Banana Pound Cake
• Banana Blondies
• Chocolate Chip Banana Scones

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