The Best Banana Cake Recipe with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
This post may contain affiliate links, please visit our privacy policy for details.
The best (and easiest) Banana Cake with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting – perfect for any time of day! Moist, tender, sweet, and topped with a rich and creamy frosting that will have everyone asking for seconds.
Banana recipes are an essential in our home. We’re always looking for new ways to use up bananas that have ripened too quickly! From the family favorite banana bread to tender muffins…even granola bars! Today’s recipe is no different. So, let’s get into it, shall we?
This banana cake is:
- Tender, moist, and flavorful.
- Easy to make.
- Ready in 1 hour or less.
- The perfect way to use overripe bananas.
- Generously frosted with a peanut butter cream cheese frosting.
- A delicious treat to serve any time of day.
How To Make This Banana Cake (with Step-by-Step Photos!)
Grab these ingredients for the cake (& why!)
- All-Purpose Flour – We wanted a moist, tender cake but one with enough structure to hold its shape without going to pieces. That’s where the all purpose flour comes in. It has the perfect amount of protein to create that structure.
- Baking Powder & Baking Soda – The leavenings used in this batter, baking powder and baking soda each make their own contributions to the texture and structure. Baking powder both starts and finishes the process of rise in this cake, starting as soon as it is mixed with liquid and continuing more robustly once it is in the oven. Baking soda reacts with the acidity in the brown sugar to give the rise a boost while also neutralizing the acidity and helping the cake to brown.
- Salt – Acts as a flavor enhancer, tempering the sweetness and bringing out the other notes in the cake.
- Ground Nutmeg – Adds a warm, complex depth that beautifully complements the sweetness of the bananas.
- Unsalted Butter – Adding richness, tenderness, and structure, unsalted butter also has a bright, fresh flavor and allows us to control the level of salt.
- Brown Sugar – In addition to sweetening, brown sugar adds moisture and flavor and contributes to caramelization which helps the cake brown.
- Eggs – The binder that holds all the ingredients together, eggs also contribute structure, stability, moisture, and richness.
- Whole Milk – The higher fat content in whole milk is ideal for helping to tenderize this cake as well as contributing to the structure and helping keep it moist.
- Pureed Bananas – The main flavor for this cake, bananas also moisture, sweetness, and texture.
*TIP! Use a small food processor, blender, stick blender, or even a potato masher to achieve the perfect consistency for the bananas.
Step 1: Whisk dry ingredients
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg. Set aside.
Step 2: Beat butter & sugar
With an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.
*TIP! Make sure the butter and eggs are at room temperature before beginning.
Step 3: Add eggs
Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Step 4:Alternately mix in dry and wet ingredients
Stir in half of flour mixture.
Add milk. Stir in remaining flour.
Step 5:Add bananas
Fold in banana purée.
Step 6: Bake
Spoon batter into prepared pan and bake for 31 minutes, or until cake tests done.
Let’s Make The Frosting!
You Will Need:
- Heavy Cream – The higher fat content of heavy cream enables it to hold peaks which makes the frosting fluffier and more stable.
- Cream Cheese – Gives this frosting just the right amount of tang and adds richness.
- Creamy Peanut Butter – Adds flavor and creaminess.
- Powdered Sugar – Not only does powdered sugar sweeten, it’s the best choice for making this frosting smooth because it melts easily, making it a snap to incorporate.
- Salt – Enhances the flavor of the peanut butter.
- Vanilla Extract – Adds a subtle undertone while enhancing and brightening the flavor of the frosting.
Step 1: Whip the cream
With an electric mixer, beat cream to medium stiff peaks.
Step 2: Add cream cheese
Beat in cream cheese 1-2 pieces at a time.
Step 3: Mix in peanut butter
Add the peanut butter and beat until well combined.
Step 4: Add powdered sugar and salt
Mix in powdered sugar and salt.
Step 5: Add vanilla
Add the vanilla and beat until light and fluffy.
Step 6: Frost cake
Spread frosting over cake.
FAQ’s
Absolutely! We do this often with our banana nut bread. Just be sure to thaw the bananas before mashing/puréeing them.
When developing and testing this recipe, we tried varying ingredients to achieve a moist, but tender cake. While your cake should be moist, it shouldn’t be too wet or oily. If you are finding your cake to be more like the latter, here’s a few things that could’ve gone wrong.
1. The butter wasn’t properly mixed. If the butter was cold or not fully incorporated before all of the other ingredients were added, this could’ve lead to chunks of butter in your batter, resulting in pockets of oil and an unpleasant texture.
2. Too much banana was added. While it may sound silly for a banana cake to have too much banana, this is actually a very common issue. Bananas add moisture to the batter and if too much has been added, your cake will be dense and wet. Keep in mind that bananas come in SO many different sizes and what may be a large banana for you, may be a medium banana for someone else. This is why we recommend puréeing/mashing bananas and then using a measuring cup to measure out the amount you need.
3. The cake was under baked. When testing this cake, we found that about 31 minutes at 350℉ was perfect for our oven. Every oven does bake differently (an oven thermometer will tell you if your oven is the correct temperature) and if your cake is too wet, it may be slightly underbaked. It’s best to follow the recipe as written below for best results, then using an instant read thermometer or cake tester to see if your cake is done.
This recipe was specifically developed to be moist and tender, so you’re unlikely to have this issue…BUT, if you do, there’s a few things that could’ve happened. Either the flour was accidentally over-measured or the cake was over-baked.
Did You Know?
Not only do bananas add flavor and moisture to this cake, but they also add SWEETNESS! Overripe bananas are much sweeter (and more flavorful!) than ripe and underripe bananas. So, we developed this recipe specifically to use less sugar in the cake to allow the bananas to really shine!
Craving more? Here are a few recipes you may like:
When you make this Banana Cake Recipe with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting, be sure to leave a comment down below! We love hearing from you and answering any questions you might have! Also, be sure to tag us on social media and hashtag it #BakersTable.
Happy Baking!
x, Caylie
The Best Banana Cake Recipe with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 cup all purpose flour*
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅓ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- ⅝ cup brown sugar, firmly packed
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 3 Tablespoons whole milk, room temperature
- 1¼ cups puréed banana
Frosting
- ¼ cup heavy cream, cold
- ¼ cup cream cheese, sliced
- 2 teaspoons creamy peanut butter
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- Pinch salt
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Cake
- Heat oven to 350℉.
- Spray an 8 inch square pan with baking spray. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg. Set aside.
- With an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Stir in half of flour mixture.
- Add milk.
- Stir in remaining flour.
- Fold in banana purée.
- Spoon batter into prepared pan and bake for 31 minutes, or until cake tests done.
Frosting
- With an electric mixer, beat cream to medium stiff peaks.
- Beat in cream cheese 1-2 pieces at a time.
- Add peanut butter.
- Beat until combined.
- Mix in powdered sugar and salt.
- Add vanilla.
- Beat until light and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes.
Notes + Tips!
- Remember to check the expiration date on your baking soda and baking powder.
- The riper the banana, the more flavor you will get.
- We found that about 3 medium bananas is equal to 1 ¼ cups puréed. Though, it’s always best to measure your own before adding it to the batter!
Tools You May Need (affiliate links)
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
– Still Hungry? –
Here are a few recipes may like!
