Remember that time I told you about the best banana cake I’ve ever had?
I enjoyed obsessed over it at a family reunion the other weekend. My cousin made it and I stalked her down like a dessert creep and proceeded to talk her ear off about cream cheese frosting and spotty bananas for 35 minutes straight.
What? You don’t do that at parties?
It was the moistest cake I’ve ever eaten. Stick-to-the-back of your fork moist. The perfect cream cheese frosting, both sweet and tangy, sinking into the top of the cake made it even moister. Sweet, but not overpowering. Mega banana flavor, certainly more banana flavor than any banana bread I’ve ever eaten. Very buttery and cakey from creaming the butter and sugars. Just a ridiculously rich, decadent dessert.
The banana cake was dense, but not heavy. If that makes any sense? (Coming from the lady who talks about rotting bananas at social gatherings, but stick with me here.) The crumb was very soft, but they were tight crumbs. The cake didn’t fall apart when you took a forkful.
She told me this cake comes out perfect every time she makes it. And such perfection is reinforced, she told me, when absolutely everyone who has a slice begs her for the recipe. It is, hands down, the best banana cake I’ve ever had.
And I haven’t stopped thinking about it since.
How to Make Banana Cake
The recipe starts with 1 and 1/2 cups (345g) mashed bananas, or about 4 medium or 3 large ripe bananas (above). Now, make sure those bananas are nice and spotty. The bananas you see above are just right (and it’s what you want for banana bread, chocolate banana bread, and banana muffins, too). More brown spots = sweeter, more banana flavor. Your cake will thank you. I simply mash the bananas in my mixer—the same mixer I use for creaming the butter and sugars. Beat the bananas on high speed for a minute, then transfer to another bowl. I don’t even wash the mixing bowl—just throw the butter right in and start creaming!
Can I Use Frozen Bananas?
Yes and I do this often. Thaw the frozen bananas at room temperature. Drain off any excess liquid, mash, then use as instructed in the recipe below. See How to Freeze & Thaw Bananas for Baking.
Here’s the batter. There will be some lumps.
One more thing to note: buttermilk. As you guessed, buttermilk is the moist-maker in this cake. The cake wouldn’t be what it is without it! You also need the acid in buttermilk to help the baking soda do its job. I rarely have buttermilk in my refrigerator, so I always sour whole milk instead. For this recipe, you need 1 and 1/2 cups of buttermilk. If you don’t keep buttermilk on hand either, you can make this buttermilk substitute: measure 1 Tablespoon of fresh lemon juice or white vinegar. Pour into a liquid measuring cup. Then add enough whole milk until it reaches 1 and 1/2 cups. Stir together, let it sit for 5 minutes, then use in the recipe. To keep the cake extra rich, I recommend whole milk when you are souring milk.
Is this not the silkiest and smoothest cream cheese frosting you’ve ever seen? Well, it’s the silkiest and smoothest cream cheese frosting I’ve ever tasted! It’s pretty similar to our cream cheese frosting that we use for carrot cake, but there’s a little less cream cheese for the amount of butter. So, this makes the frosting a little more silky. And definitely more buttery!
There’s also a lot of cream cheese frosting. When you begin slathering it onto the cake, you’ll probably go “Sally, this is way too much frosting!” But it’s not. You want a nice thick layer. It’s essential.
If you love baking with brown butter, the brown butter cream cheese frosting from my zucchini cake would be fantastic here. If you are not into cream cheese frosting or just want to try something different, try it with traditional vanilla buttercream, this salted caramel frosting, or even white chocolate buttercream frosting instead. All are seriously delicious combinations!
The best banana cake I’ve ever had. We love it so much we turned it into a chocolate marble banana Bundt cake, too. And if you can’t get enough sheet cakes, you’ll want to try this fresh apple cake next!
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The Best Banana Cake I’ve Ever Had
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 5 hours (includes cooling)
- Yield: serves 12
- Category: Cake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This is absolutely the best banana cake I’ve ever had! It’s supremely moist with cream cheese frosting, tons of banana, brown sugar, and cinnamon flavor.
Ingredients
Banana Cake
- 1 and 1/2 cups (345g) mashed bananas (about 4 medium or 3 large bananas)
- 3 cups (375g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (12 Tbsp; 170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 and 1/2 cups (360ml) buttermilk, at room temperature*
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 ounces (226g) full-fat brick cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3 cups (360g) confectioners’ sugar, plus an extra 1/4 cup if needed
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and grease a 9×13-inch pan.
- Make the cake: Mash the bananas. I usually just use my mixer for this! Set mashed bananas aside.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together. Set aside.
- Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on high speed until smooth and creamy—about 1 minute. Add both sugars and beat on high speed for 2 minutes until creamed together. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add the eggs and the vanilla. Beat on medium-high speed until combined, then beat in the mashed bananas. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl as needed. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients in three additions alternating with the buttermilk and mixing each addition just until incorporated. Do not overmix. The batter will be slightly thick and a few lumps is OK.
- Spread batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 45–50 minutes. Baking times vary, so keep an eye on yours. The cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If you find the top of the cake is browning too quickly in the oven, loosely cover it with aluminum foil.
- Remove the cake from the oven and set on a wire rack. Allow to cool completely. After about 45 minutes, I usually place it in the refrigerator to speed things up.
- Make the frosting: In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter together on high speed until smooth and creamy. Add 3 cups confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, and salt. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then switch to high speed and beat for 2 minutes. If you want the frosting a little thicker, add the extra 1/4 cup of confectioners sugar (I add it). Spread the frosting on the cooled cake. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving. This helps sets the frosting and makes cutting easier.
- Cover leftover cake tightly and store in the refrigerator for 5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Prepare cake through step 6. Cover the cake tightly and refrigerate for up to 2 days or freeze up to 3 months. Bring to room temperature, make the frosting, frost, and serve. Frosted or unfrosted cake freezes well, up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, bring to room temperature, and then frost if needed and serve.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 9×13-inch Pan | Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Cooling Rack | Icing Spatula
- Frozen Bananas: You can use frozen bananas here. Thaw the frozen bananas. Drain off any excess liquid, mash, then use as instructed in the recipe. See How to Freeze & Thaw Bananas for Baking.
- Buttermilk: Buttermilk is required for this recipe. You can make your own DIY buttermilk substitute if needed. Add 1 Tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to a liquid measuring cup. Then add enough room temperature whole milk to the same measuring cup until it reaches 1 and 1/2 cups. (In a pinch, lower fat or nondairy milks work for this soured milk, but the cake won’t taste as moist or rich.) Stir it around and let sit for 5 minutes. The homemade “buttermilk” will be somewhat curdled and ready to use in the recipe.
- Cupcakes: I’ve gotten a few questions about turning this cake into cupcakes. For about 2 dozen cupcakes, fill the cupcake liners halfway and bake for about 20-22 minutes. Same oven temperature.
- Can I Turn This into a Banana Bundt Cake? I recommend using my extremely similar recipe for chocolate marble banana Bundt cake instead. (There’s a little extra baking powder for lift, which is helpful when baking in a large Bundt pan.) You can leave out the chocolate swirl in that recipe.
- Layer Cake: I use this recipe to make my banana layer cake. If you want to make a 2 layer cake, divide batter between 2 greased 9-inch cake pans, and bake at 350°F (177°C) for 26-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
I’m not a huge fan of banana anything, but I had bananas I had to use, so I tried this recipe and gave half the cake to my neighbors. Well, it was a hit! Easy to make, turns out perfectly moist and delicious. I get requests for it all the time, and have shared the recipe several times, always giving credit to Sally’s baking addiction. Next I’ll try the carrot cake. Can hardly wait! Thanks a bunch
I’m about to make this for a special birthday, can I replace butter for oil in the cake? If so, what ratio would I use? Thank you
Hi G, you need a fat that is solid at room temperature so that it can be creamed with the sugars. You could try solid coconut oil in its place.
Brilliant. Everyone wanted the recipe. Was devoured! No changes made.
Hi Sally & team,
I often bake your “my favourite banana bread recipe” for family breakfast. I wonder how is this different taste wise? Thank you!
Hi KY, flavor-wise the two are very similar. Lots of banana flavor! This recipe is slightly scaled up and also includes baking powder and liquid for a cakier texture, but it’s still very moist. Hope you’ll give it a try!
I’m about to make this recipe for friends coming over this afternoon! I want a really moist cake though, so is this the right recipe?
Hi Annie, yes, this cake is very moist. Hope it’s a hit!
hey, i love your recipes so much! i was wondering if i could make this recipe into mini cupcakes, and if so, do you have any suggestions for the bake time and temp? thank you guys!! <3
Hi Catherine, absolutely! We would fill 2/3 full, bake about 11-13 minutes at 350 degrees. For a smaller batch (this cake recipe would make a TON of mini cupcakes), you can use our banana cupcakes recipe. It would make about 30 mini cupcakes. Let us know how they go!
I’m wondering if I could make this recipe and bake it in a sheet pan (13″x18″), understanding that it wouldn’t be as thick (a good thing since I want to layer it) and that it shouldn’t bake as long.
Hi Kristin, here’s everything you need to know about cake pan sizes and conversions so that you can scale the recipe as needed. Enjoy!
I love this recipe and have shared with dozens of others. My favorite way of making this is in a jelly roll pan with double the frosting. Yummmmmm
I made this cake, following the instructions word for word. It came out wonderful! It has a great banana taste and very moist. I was worried because I didn’t have buttermilk, I took the milk out, let it get to room temp, added the lemon juice,waited 5 minutes and added it to the mixture. I will definitely make this again, thankyou!
I loved this recipe so much❤️
Dry dry dry. Drained frozen banana water—huge mistake. Baked the shortest end of the time range. Beautiful color but beyond dry. So disappointed
Hi Leslie, how did you measure your flour? Be sure to spoon and level (or use a kitchen scale) to ensure the flour isn’t over measured, which can significantly dry out the cake. Do you find your oven tends to run hot? If so, you can certainly decrease the bake time a bit, as over baking can dry out the cake, too. Thank you for giving this a try!
Idk what some people are saying because I’ve made this and it comes out wonderful I plan on making it tomorrow along with your pumpkin chocolate chip cookies
Too much sugar!!! Bananas are sweet enough, you will need just a little bit sugar for the recipe, maybe 2 table spoons, not 1 cup! it is not healthy and you will taste only sugar
Hi Lola, thank you for the feedback. This is a banana cake, so it’s supposed to be sweet. Feel free to try the recipe with less sugar.
I had the same issue with banana muffins but I replaced the sugar with extra bananas, you can probably do that here which I’m going to try, however you’d also have to change the mixing method because you can’t do creaming if there’s no sugar
Made this just yesterday for a couple of friends who visited. We all loved it. Thank you so much for the recipe ❤️
How should we store this!?
Hi Carley, see step #8 of the instructions – you’ll want to cover any leftover cake tightly and store in the refrigerator for 5 days. Hope it’s a hit!
Love
I am excited to try this but if I use cake flour instead of all purpose will the end result be disaster? I know most people usually ask the opposite but I have some cake flour left that will expire soon and I thought I’d use it up.
Hi LW, With the addition of heavy banana, cake flour is too light for this cake recipe. Best to stick with all-purpose flour here.
Sally, a question, how can I make half of the recipe?
Hi Luz, you can halve this recipe for an 8×8- or 9×9-inch baking dish. The bake time will be shorter, though we can’t say exactly how long. Use a toothpick to test for doneness. For the eggs, use 1 egg then crack a 2nd egg, beat it, and use half of the mixture. Enjoy!
I loved the flavor but my cake was sooooo dense. It wasn’t fluffy like a cake consistency. What did I do wrong?
Hi Melanie, with all the banana in this cake, it’s definitely a denser cake (than, say, a light white cake). If the cake tasted heavy over overly dense, it’s possible the cake batter was over mixed — that’s usually the culprit for dense cakes. We share more helpful tips on how to prevent dry and dense cakes here, that you might find helpful for next time. Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try!
This amazingly delicious banana cake freaked me out with how good it was. And instantly ruined my diet. I added some cardamom and nutmeg to the batter just for fun. And then I turned the frosting into a sort of mocha deal (bananas love coffee and chocolate too!) by adding some instant espresso powder and some sifted cocoa. And to gild the lily, I candied some walnuts and scattered those on top. I’ll be making this bit of Sally genius again and again. Thanks, Sally!
Why is the granulated sugar lined out please?
Hi Bonnie, the ingredients will show a strike through when clicked. This is a handy feature for readers to cross off which ingredients they have already used. Simply click it again and it the strike through will be removed. Hope this helps!
This was very good. It is a dense cake. I will definitely make it again.
Is this a typo.. 3 cups of sugar in the icing/frosting??
Hi Suzie, yes. American-style frostings have a lot of confectioners’ sugar. I’ve found that cutting down to 2 and 1/2 cups still works nicely. You want enough of the powdery sugar to help keep the frosting thick.
I love Banana cake but for some reason 3 times now the bottom is not getting fully cooked, it tastes good the top 3/4 but why is the bottom not cooking, we have put it back in 15 to 20 min with no help. are we over mixing as we are being very carful with your step by step directions
Yours may simply take longer to bake, (if you’re using a glass pan, it often takes longer). An easy fix if you try it again is to bake it longer and if you find the top of the cake is browning too quickly in the oven, loosely cover it with aluminum foil.
I am looking forward to making this, but I was curious, can I add blueberries to it?
Hi Patty, it should work well to add a cup of blueberries to this cake. Enjoy!
I made this for an outdoor neighboorhood function. It held up amazingly well in 83 degree very humid weather and everyone loved it! I followed the recipe exactly except for two things: I cut the salt back since I only had salted butter (I added about 1/4 tsp instead of 1/2) and I used evaporated milk and lemon juice to make buttermilk (one cup evaporated milk, 1 T fresh lemon juice, then added water until it reached 1 1/2 cups). The cake was moist but held together really well. The thick layer of cream cheese frosting topped it off perfectly.
I have made this banana cake a dozen times! It’s definitely a crowd pleaser. I follow the recipe exactly and it always turns out great. When I’m searching for a recipe for baked goods, I always come to your site first. Thank you for sharing your baking talents and knowledge with us!
I was a bit unsure this was going to work, as I only had large eggs and my (un)frozen bananas had been looking at me for a day and were certainly soft. I appreciated the note that they should be drained of liquid. To my great joy the cake is delicious and light – soft on the inside and crispy on the outside, which has the colour of milk chocolate. It doesn’t even have a strong taste of banana. The timing you gave was perfect. My only query would be that although I did flatten it before it went in the oven it rose a lot in the middle. Perhaps that was because of the extra egg quantity ?
This recipe was a waste of my time and good ingredients. It absolutely has NO flavor. I made it exactly according to the directions and ingredients. My husband said it wasn’t worth the calories since it had no taste. Threw it away.
Then you made it wrong. This is the best banana cake my family and I have ever had, and I’ve made several. Maybe you should try again..
Sorry, Judy. I’m with Jane on this one. Maybe your bananas weren’t ripe enough?
Generally, when a banana cake is flavourless, this indicates that the bananas were underripe. You would want to use overripe bananas for banana baking.
Its sad when a recipe disappoints, but I also agree that something had to be wrong with your ingredients. This truly is the BEST banana cake I’ve ever had. I have made it a few times with very consistent results. I use very very ripe bananas and I weigh them to be sure I’m using the amount called for in the recipe. I just dust it with powdered sugar and everyone goes gaga for it. When I have extra bananas, I make a pan of it, cut into squares and wrap individually in parchment and freeze pieces so I could have some for lunches. It thaws out beautifully. Try again!
The frosting is much too sweet. The powdered sugar completely overtakes the cream cheese flavor. The cake is very good and moist! I’d do the cake again, just not the frosting.