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This banana chocolate chip cake with peanut butter frosting is outrageously good. And you know what? I’m not a huge fan of cake in general.
This is probably because most cakes are bland, cloying, and lacking in contrasting textures.
They sure are pretty and impressive, though. And sometimes a cake is just necessary for something to feel like a real celebration. Even if you’re just celebrating the fact that it’s the weekend!
So every once in a while I can find the inspiration to create a new cake recipe.
We had some very ripe bananas laying in the fruit basket so I figured a banana cake would be perfect. Because sometimes banana bread just doesn’t hit the spot.
What goes best with bananas? Chocolate and peanut butter of course!
This cake recipe is pretty simple and straightforward. If you’re someone who LOVES frosting, or if you plan to decorate with this frosting, then I would suggest doubling the buttercream ingredients.
Otherwise I think you’ll adore this recipe just like we do!!
More Cake Recipes:
For the cake::
-
2 1/2
cups
(317 grams) all-purpose flour
-
1 1/2
teaspoons
baking powder
-
1 1/2
teaspoons
ground cinnamon
-
3/4
teaspoon
baking soda
-
1/2
teaspoon
fine salt
-
2
sticks unsalted butter (227 grams), at room temperature
-
1
cup
(200 grams) granulated sugar
-
1/2
cup
(100 grams) light brown sugar
-
1
teaspoon
vanilla extract
-
2
large eggs, at room temperature
-
1/2
cup
(113 grams) sour cream
-
1 1/3
cups
(300 grams) mashed overripe bananas, from about 4 medium bananas
-
1 1/4
cups
miniature chocolate chips
For the frosting::
-
2
sticks unsalted butter (227 grams), at room temperature
-
1
cup
(270 grams) creamy peanut butter
-
1
teaspoon
vanilla extract
-
1/8
teaspoon
fine salt
-
2 1/2
cups
(313 grams) powdered sugar, sifted
-
Chocolate chips, for garnish, optional
For the cake:
-
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter and flour two 8-inch round cake pans.
-
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
-
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add in the vanilla and then the eggs, one at a time. On low speed beat in half the dry ingredients then the sour cream and bananas. Beat in the remaining dry ingredients. Stir in the chocolate chips.
-
Divide the batter among the prepared pans. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the cakes are golden brown and pull away from the edges. Cool in the pans for 15 minutes before flipping onto cooling racks to cool completely. Refrigerate until ready to frost. The colder the cake, the easier it will be to frost. You can even pop the cake in the freezer for 30 minutes to chill.
For the frosting:
-
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and peanut butter on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla, salt, and powdered sugar and continue beating until the frosting is smooth and fluffy.
To assemble:
-
Place one cake layer on a cake turntable or cake stand. For a smooth and even frosting coverage, use a pastry bag and open tip to pipe a generous ring of the frosting around the top edge of the cake layer. Fill up the frosting ring with additional frosting, spreading to create an even layer. Place the other cake layer upside-down on top of the frosting so that the top of the cake is nice and flat. With an offset spatula, spread the remaining frosting evenly all over the cake, smoothing the edges. Place chocolate chips along the bottom of the cake for garnish. Serve or cover and store in the fridge for up to 2 days. Let come to room temperature for an hour before serving.
This recipe was originally published in 2014 and recently updated with new photos, weight measurements, and improved directions. Photos by Jess Larson.
I made these into cupcakes and they were amazing. Cupcakes are moist and delicious and the frosting was incredible!
Can this be recipe be converted to a single layer cake, (i.e. for a 9×13 or quarter sheet pan)?
Hi Lisa! We haven’t tried that so we can’t say for sure! Let us know how it goes if you give that a try 🙂 Happy baking!
My husband says this is the best cake he’s ever eaten…
Thank you for this recipe – making it again today but going to try cupcakes.
Holy cow. This cake is amazing. May be my favorite ever.
Woohoo!! So excited to hear that!
This cake is SO. GOOD!!!!! Made it twice and was a huge hit. Fun and easy to make. You don’t have to be a banana and peanut butter lover to enjoy this – it’s so universally yummy! Thank you HTH!
Very tasty, it was a little sweet for my liking but it was still a nice treat. It tasted and had the texture of chocolate chip banana bread with peanut butter frosting. This was also very easy to make, I made it in about 2-3 hours.
So glad you enjoyed this cake!
A little confused. The ingredients listed show 1/2 cup brown sugar but in the instructions, it doesn’t show anywhere to add the brown sugar?
Hi Laura! The recipe instructions direct you to cream the butter and sugars – meaning both white sugar and brown sugar. Let us know what you think once you’ve given this recipe a try! Happy baking 🙂
I had 3 brown bananas and I was not in the mood for banana bread. I stumbled upon this recipe and to my surprise, I had all the items to make it! This recipe was super easy to follow. I added two tablespoons of cocoa powder to the frosting and holy smokes.. it tasted like a melted Reese’s! I also used a Bundt pan and it still came out really nice at 35 minutes. My husband and I were savages digging into cake while it was still warm. I am absolutely making this again as this just might be a staple recipe!! Thank you for sharing!!
Hi Angie! So excited to hear you loved this banana bread! Your description of you and your husband “digging in like savages” made me laugh out loud!! 🙂 I’m so glad you both enjoyed this recipe so much, and even better that you had all the ingredients on hand! I hope you’ll try your hand at more of Tessa’s delicious recipes around our site, too! Happy baking 🙂
Way too sweet. I’ve just made the cake but no one couldn’t even finish even slice. 40 min in my oven made it too crunchy too ( not the recipe’s fault)