Tessa's Recipe Rundown
Taste: Loads of flavor-boosting ingredients, like brown sugar, sour cream, cinnamon, and walnuts take this easy cake to a new level of deliciousness.
Texture: The cake is moist and tender without being too delicate to frost and serve easily.
Ease: Super quick and easy. Short amount of prep time and no special equipment or skills required.
Pros: Fun combination of banana bread and cake that I think will become a go-to recipe.
Cons: None!
Would I make this again? Absolutely.
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This easy, quick Banana Walnut Cake is the perfect use for over-ripe bananas.
Whether it’s in cake, bread, cupcakes, or muffins, I just love baking with bananas. Most of the time, I actually hope my bananas will over-ripen before we can eat them!
As a kid, I didn’t like nuts very much. I would turn my head to brownies or cookies made with nuts.
It wasn’t until I tasted a slice of banana bread made with walnuts that I was truly converted. Now, the combination, plus just a hint of cinnamon, is the epitome of comfort food in my mind.
The cake itself is tall, moist, and sturdy enough to handle the thick cream cheese frosting.
No layers, no assembly, no special equipment. It’s also easy to transport and serve, so this would be perfect for a potluck, party, picnic, or housewarming treat.
Of course, what banana cake would be complete without the crunchy earthy bite of California Walnuts?
I hope you enjoy this simple cake as much as I do!
Sprinkle of Science
How to Make Banana Walnut Cake
How Ripe Should Bananas be for Baking?
- Be sure to use overripe bananas for this recipe.
- The best bananas for baking should be very well-speckled or even nearly black.
- This is important when baking banana cake, Banana Bread, Banana Muffins, or Banana Cupcakes!
- Why use overripe bananas? Besides the fact that they’re not good for much else in the kitchen, overripe bananas are actually significantly sweeter and will contribute more banana flavor AND more moisture to the recipe.
- If you use underripe bananas (and when I say ‘underripe,’ I mean for baking specifically), your muffins will be bland and dry.
The Best Way to Mash Bananas
- Place bananas in a bowl and use a fork to mash them into a banana mixture.
- OR, place bananas in a bowl and use an electric mixer to beat the bananas until they’re mashed.
Do I Have to Use Cream Cheese Frosting?
I love this cake with a layer of rich and tangy cream cheese frosting. Feel free to use any frosting you want, or none at all if you want to make this a little less sweet. Personally, I think that chocolate frosting would taste delicious too!
What’s the Best Pan for Banana Walnut Cake?
- I highly recommend using a light-colored 9×13-inch metal baking pan for best results.
- Dark-colored pans will brown the edges and make them dry.
- Glass or ceramic pans will work in a pinch, but you’ll likely need to increase the baking time and lower the temperature by 25°F.
- Check out my article on Glass vs. Metal Pans for more information.
How to Make Moist Cake
- Don’t add too much flour! Be sure to measure your flour correctly. Too much flour will create a dense, heavy, dry banana cake. I highly recommend using a digital kitchen scale, but if you don’t have one, use the ‘spoon and level’ method. Learn more about how to correctly measure flour here.
- Do not reduce the sugar. Sugar does much more than simply sweeten your baked goods! Learn more about the role sugar plays in baking here.
- Avoid overmixing. Overmixing your batter can result in dry, dense cake instead of light, soft cake with a moist crumb.
- Use overripe bananas. Follow the other tips above for using overripe bananas for the best guarantee of moist cake.
How to Store Banana Walnut Cake
Store Banana Walnut Cake covered in the fridge for up to 3 days. Serve at room temperature.
Can You Freeze Banana Walnut Cake?
Unfrosted cake can be wrapped well in plastic wrap and frozen for up to 2 months. Thaw at room temperature before frosting and serving.
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Ingredients
For the cake:
- 3 cups (372 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 10 tablespoons (142 grams) unsalted butter, at cool room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs
- 1 1/3 cups (300 grams) mashed bananas, from about 4 medium bananas
- 1 cup (227 grams) sour cream
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 3/4 cup (106 grams) California walnuts, chopped
For the frosting:
- 8 ounces (227 grams) cream cheese, at cool room temperature
- 1 stick (113 grams) unsalted butter, at cool room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups (250 grams) powdered sugar, sifted
- Chopped walnuts, for garnish
Instructions
Make the cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Generously grease a 9 by 13-inch baking pan.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
- 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 bananas, sour cream, and milk. Beat in the remaining dry ingredients. Gently stir in the walnuts. Do not overmix.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 35 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely. Unfrosted cake can be well wrapped and frozen for up to 2 months. Thaw at room temperature before frosting.
Make the frosting:
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla on medium-high speed until very light, creamy, and smooth. On low speed gradually add in the sugar and beat until fluffy.
- Spread the frosting over the cooled cake. Garnish with chopped walnuts. For cleaner cuts, refrigerate for 30 minutes before slicing and serving. Store in the fridge for up to 3 days. Serve at room temperature.
This post was originally published in 2017 and has been updated with additional recipe tips.
Why does my banana walnut cake fall apart when i cut it up?
Hi Tessa, I am making this cake and don’t have cream cheese is there anything else i could replace it with???????
Hi Tessa, I am making this cake and don’t have cream cheese is there anything else i could replace it with???????
I like the way you wrote the recipe because it gave me the amount in grams and clear instructions. Excellent!
I have done a 8 by 8 square pan and halved all the ingredients.
I noticed that my oven is not working so well nowadays. I have applied 180 Degree Celsius but it went down to 150. So midway, I have adjusted it back to 180
The cake turned out to be a bit charred on the surface. But the inside is a bit soft and moist. Not like the usual banana cake.
Can you advise why?
Turned out perfect!
Can this recipe be baked in a bundt pan instead of 9×13” rectangle? How would you adjust oven temp and baking time? Thanks
So easy. Toast the walnuts.
Great recipe to use up your over ripe bananas. Easy to make and it’s delicious!
Family loved this cake! I did make some changes: doubled the vanilla in the cake, substituted Fage Greek Yogurt for the sour cream & increased the walnuts to 2 cups.
Just made this. Go away. It’s mine.
Scrumptious cake!! The cream cheese frosting with walnuts took this cake to new heights! I made this for my neighbors and one described it as “AMAZING” and the other described it as “DELICIOUS”! Will make again and again! Thank you for this keeper recipe!
Awesome cake, family and friends LOVE it! One asked me for a 5 gallon bucket of the frosting!
Amazing! My husband was so in love with this cake that he came wagging in a brand new KitchenAid stand mixer so I could make some more. I had to use my hand mixer on the first batch so it was a little challenging. Looks like I’l be making another one today. 🙂
I will make this for my mother’s 88th birthday tomorrow. She requested banana walnut cake. She’s coming for dinner with 2 friends from her assisted living center. Then some of my mom’s 13 kids will come for the cake. Thanks for an easy recipe. If I make it today shouldI refrigerate it till tomorrow?