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This banana coffee cake combines the best of all the banana sheet cake worlds: fresh banana, dense, rich coffee cake, and a browned butter frosting. This recipe stays moist with a full cup of sour cream and three or four large very ripe bananas in the batter. Use a 9×13 for the classic feed-a-crowd breakfast coffee cake.
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How to make Banana Coffee Cake: Pics & Tips
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 375 F. Spray or grease a 9×13 pan; set aside. Gather your ingredients and have everything out and ready to go, particularly the butter since you want it softened.
Step 2: In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, and salt, then set aside.
Step 3: In a large mixing bowl, beat the granulated sugar and softened butter with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the bananas and mash them lightly with a fork.
Step 4: Add the eggs to the butter/sugar mixture, beating until combined. Beat in the sour cream and vanilla extract.
Step 5: Add the dry mixture to the wet ingredients and stir just until combined. Batter will be lumpy, so don’t overmix.
Step 6: Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and spread it out edge to edge with a spatula.
Step 7: Bake the cake at 375 F for 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool completely to room temperature before frosting. Set the cooling cake pan aside as you make the frosting in the next step.
Step 8: For the frosting: melt the butter in a skillet or frying pan over medium heat, swirling with a rubber spatula or whisk until it begins to turn a light brown and smells nutty. Turn off the heat as soon as it turns amber brown so that it doesn’t burn.
Step 9: Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the powdered sugar and vanilla. The frosting will look thick and chunky at this stage, and that is normal.
Step 10: Add 2 tablespoons of heavy whipping cream and whisk until the frosting turns smooth, adding more cream a tablespoon at a time until it reaches the consistency you want. Thick enough to spread is best, but a thinner version drizzles nicely too.
Step 11: Spread the brown butter icing over the completely cooled cake, working it to the edges with an offset spatula. Slice and serve straight from the pan.
Tools and Equipment
- 9×13-in baking pan or casserole dish
- Large mixing bowl
- Medium bowl
- Small bowl and fork for mashing the bananas separately if you’d like
- Hand mixer (I had my first Hamilton Beach for 35 years, and my second one is going strong)
- Skillet for browning the butter
- Balloon whisk for the frosting (silicone is good if your skillet is nonstick)
- Offset spatula or butter knife for spreading the frosting
Tips for Success
- Wait for the baked cake to completely cool before adding the frosting. It will pool around the edges as it melts; it will taste fine but won’t be as pretty.
- Once the heat comes up, the butter can burn easily, so keep stirring and remove form the heat as soon as it gets medium brown in the pan.
- Plain Greek yogurt is a good substitute for the sour cream.
- Stir 3/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans into the batter if you’d like.
- The cake keeps best refrigerated for up to 5 days, and unfrosted cake can be frozen for up to 3 months.
- I will use very brown bananas for the best flavor, but use what you have on hand. If you are using frozen bananas, thaw them until they are soft, or bring them to room temp.
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Banana Coffee Cake with Browned Butter Frosting
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 c all-purpose flour
- 1 t baking soda
- 1/2 t salt
- 1 1/2 c granulated sugar
- 1/2 c butter softened
- 2 eggs
- 1 c sour cream
- 3-4 overripe bananas peeled and mashed
- 2 t vanilla extract
- 1/4 c butter for the frosting
- 2 c powdered sugar for the frosting
- 1 t vanilla extract for the frosting
- 2-4 T heavy cream for the frosting
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 F. Grease a 9×13-inch pan with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together the granulated sugar and softened butter with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and beat until well combined.
- Beat in the sour cream, mashed bananas, and vanilla extract.
- Add the dry mixture to the wet and stir just until combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and spread out edge to edge.
- Bake at 375 F for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Remove the cake from the oven and cool to room temperature.
- For the frosting: melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat and continue to cook until the butter begins to turn a light amber brown.
- Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the powdered sugar and vanilla. The frosting will be thick and chunky.
- Add 2 T of heavy whipping cream and whisk until the frosting is smooth, adding more cream 1 T at a time until the desired consistency is reached.
- Spread the frosting over the completely cooled cake.
Notes
The bottom line
Move over, cream cheese frosting: The toffee-scented browned butter frosting really makes this easy coffee cake recipe stand out. Let me know what you think of this one!
