Tessa's Recipe Rundown
Taste: The combination of banana, chocolate, and peanut butter is incredible. I love it SO much.
Texture: The cake is ridiculously moist and tender with bites of mini chocolate chips throughout. The frosting is ultra creamy, luscious, and smooth. Every bite makes your mouth happy.
Ease: Relatively easy as far as homemade cakes go, just get ready to make a bit of a mess.
Appearance: Simple and beautiful.
Pros: Everyone in my family loved this cake! It’s SO much better than any store-bought cake and pretty easy too.
Cons: Not exactly calorie-free 😉
Would I make this again? Absolutely.
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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!!
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Ingredients
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 sea 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 sea salt
- 2 1/2 cups (313 grams) powdered sugar, sifted
- Chocolate chips, for garnish, optional
Instructions
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.
Is there a trick to stop the chocolate chips from sinking to the bottom please?
Shake them in a baggie with just about a tablespoon of flour to coat them. Do not add the remaining flour. Just the coated chips
Mines is very bread like, like a banana bread. I was wondering if that is the same results so I know if I did it correctly
Can you give the weight amount for the bananas please? It’s hard to know exactly how big or small ‘medium’ size is.
I followed the recipe exactly and this was the very first from scratch cake that came out perfectly! It’s SO delicious! Thank you so much for this recipe and I can’t wait to share the cake with my family and friends!
I’ve made this a few times now and it is always a winner. Probably one of my favorites. The cake is moist and the frosting adds just the right amount of sweetness.
this is the best banana cake ever!!! I have made it so many times and everybody loves it!!! Thank so much for the recipe!
Would love to print the recipe off so I can make it but this site won’t let me print it…
Can you make the cakes and frosting in advance? How would you store them?
BUT How MANY EGGS?!?!? Omg in the middle of baking this and it didn’t say how many eggs … pls help ASAP !!!!!
Hi Tessa, this cake looks so amazing and I can’t wait to make it. Quick question – what kind of peanut butter should we use for the frosting? Will natural peanut butter work? Thanks!
I always use traditional commercial peanut butter when baking, natural peanut butter tends to create problems!
Hi! This looks so delicious delicious! Did you use semi-seeet or milk chocolate chips? THanks!
You can use either! I prefer semisweet.
I want to make this cake for my husband’s birthday. I want to make it in 2 12 inch pans that are 2 inches deep, because we have having a large crowd for his party. Would I need to make 4 separate batters to get the rise I want for a two tiered cake? I know I need to bake them for about 42-45 minutes, but was unsure how much batter to make. Any help would be appreciated.