Sometimes childhood memories are so strong, and this recipe for the BEST Banana Cake Ever is one food memory that keeps us returning for more.
Moist cake with lots of banana flavour, topped with a banana glaze, then drizzled with chocolate. Dig in! This recipe for the best coffee cake is right up there too.
So simple and so delicious. You have to admit, grandma has the best old-fashioned banana cake recipe. A true delight in every bite.
I had a friend and her mom made this incredible homemade banana cake. I asked her for the recipe, and she gladly gave it to me.
I have put my own spin on it, and now my grandkids say grandma makes the best banana cake hands down!
Ripe bananas are always on hand. Turn them into something delicious instead of throwing them out. There are endless banana recipes to choose from.
Banana muffins are always a hit at breakfast. How about banana bread? Simple Banana Bread and Rocky Road Banana Bread are delicious options.
Old-Fashioned Banana Cake Ingredients
This easy recipe for banana cake uses simple everyday ingredients:
- ripe bananas
- flour
- white sugar
- brown sugar
- butter
- milk
- egg
- vanilla
- salt
- baking powder
- baking soda
Banana Cake From Scratch
This is a simple, one layer cake recipe.
- Preheat the oven to 325ºF
- Prepare your baking pan (round, square, whatever you like).
- Mash the bananas and add the baking soda and mix (*do not skip this step)
- Cream butter, sugar, add egg, vanilla milk.
- Add the flour and baking powder, then then mashed bananas.
- Scrape into pan and bake.
My childhood memory is of this caked baked in a 9 x 13 glass baking dish. Do you remember those? I decided to make this a little more “fancy” and use a *(affiliate) springform pan instead.
Best Cake Topping
I used a simple banana glaze made with bananas and icing sugar. It has such an intense banana flavour.
If you prefer more of a classic icing, some of these would be delicious for sure:
- vanilla icing
- pecan frosting
- chocolate icing
- cinnamon frosting
- cream cheese frosting
I like to place my cake on a wire rack over a baking sheet when I put on the glaze. Makes for easier clean-up. You want the glaze to drip off the edge of the cake.
Of course, I need to incorporate chocolate into this delicious banana dessert. There is nothing easier than melting some chocolate chips to make a drizzle. Any kind of chocolate will work. Milk, dark or a combination of both.
For this, I used the microwave. Then put the melted chocolate in a *(affiliate) small piping bag with a *(affiliate)round decorating tip attached. *HINT* you can also use a small plastic freezer/sandwich bag and cut a very small hole in the corner.
Drizzle away. Make it look however you like. I like to make lots of wavy lines. This is my playtime.
I happened to have some dried banana chips in the house, so they made their way onto this cake.
This cake is always a hit. Whether I make it just for the family, or as a dessert to a dinner or potluck, it is devoured down to the last crumb.
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Looking for more delicious recipes using bananas? Here are a few:
- Do you enjoy dessert for breakfast? With this Healthy Banana Split, you certainly can. No guilt!
- For a pudding that is chocolaty and delicious, give Banana Chocolate Roundup a try. Avocados make it so creamy.
- Skip the store-bought frozen treats, and make these Healthy Banana Popsicles instead. A sure hit on a hot summer day.
Best Ever Banana Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ½ cup white sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup butter
- ½ cup milk
- 1 egg
- 1 ½ cups ripe bananas (mashed)
- Pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
For the Glaze:
- 1 banana (pureed)
- 2 cups icing sugar
For the Chocolate Drizzle:
- ¼ cup chocolate chips (melted)
Instructions
For the Cake:
- Preheat Oven to 325°F
- Prepare a springform pan (or your baking pan of choice) and set aside. This recipe works well in a 9 x 13 pan as well.
- (Imporant Step) Mash bananas and add baking soda to banana mixture
- Cream butter and sugars.
- Add egg, vanilla and milk.
- Add flour, baking powder and salt.
- Add banana mixture to batter.
- Scrape batter into greased baking dish.
- Bake for approximately 25 – 30 minutes (until done). Check with a cake tester.
- Cool and glaze.
For the Glaze:
- Puree banana (I used a mini food processor).
- Add icing sugar a bit at a time, to reach your desired consistency of glaze.
- Place cake on a wire rack (that is on top of a baking sheet to collect the drips).
- Pour glaze over the cake, be sure to use an offset spatula and push the glaze over the edge.
- Let the glaze set.
For the Chocolate Drizzle:
- Melt the chocolate chips (I used the microwave).
- Place melted chocolate into a small piping bag with a narrow decorating tip inserted. You can also just place in a plastic bag and cut a SMALL hole in the corner.
- Drizzle chocolate over cake.
- Allow chocolate to set slightly before moving the cake to a serving platter.
Vicky
I love banana cake! I always do mine with a cream cheese frosting, but your glaze was so good my family loved it just as much! I will definitely fix it with a glaze again, it was so good!
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
I love the glaze on this banana cake recipe.
Sue
The glaze on this is wonderful, especially with the chocolate added. Puts it over the top! Thanks for sharing.
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
You are welcome. This is our favourite banana cake by far.
Oscar
I can’t get enough of this Banana Cake. The moist texture and intense banana flavor, topped with banana glaze and chocolate drizzle, are just perfect.
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
I know for a fact this cake does not last long in my house.
Molly Kumar
The cake came out so fluffy and was absolutely delightful. What a great way to use over ripe bananas.
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
It sure is, so glad you enjoy this old-fashioned banana cake recipe.
Marisa
The family loved this banana cake recipe. It was moist and so full of flavor. They especially liked the frosting with the touch of chocolate. What a great way to use bananas.
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
You can never go wrong with the combination of banana and chocolate.
Katie Crenshaw
This was a huge hit for everyone! The banana glaze was an incredible frosting!
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
I love the banana infused glaze on this old-fashioned cake.
Elizabeth
This banana cake is delicious! This is my first time trying it, but my family is hooked!
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
I know right? The old-fashioned way is still best.
Leslie
Great Banana Cake recipe and loved the cream cheese frosting as well!
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
Glad you enjoyed this delicious banana cake recipe.
Krystle
The cake is super moist. I love the banana flavor in the icing too.
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
The banana infused glaze is so good.
Melinda
This banana cake turned out moist and delicious! It reminded me of a cake my grandma used to make. I frosted it with cream cheese frosting, since that’s how she used to do it. What a delicious recipe, I’ll definitely make it again when I have ripe bananas on hand.
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
Cream cheese frosting works for sure. Childhood food memories are wonderful.
Toni
really great, plus love the icing (as an alternative to cream cheese)
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
OMG this is the best icing for this banana cake.
IA
I don’t love banana on a cake, but oh my, did this taste great! Easy to make and even better flavor!
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
We do love this banana cake recipe in our house. The ONLY one I make.
Sherry
Fabulous recipe!!!
I made a couple of adjustments:
Used Cake Flour instead of All Purpose. The cake was super moist!!
Also, I substituted the White Sugar for Monk Sugar (it was plenty sweet!)
I added 1/4 cup of Mini Choc Chips into the batter.
Thanks so much for posting!!!
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
So happy you LOVED this recipe….we do too. Sounds like it turned out fantastic.
Leiah
I have the banana cake in the oven and can’t wait to try..however I took out the salt since it was listed in the ingredients but then completely forgot to add a pinch since I didn’t see “add salt” in the directions lol you may want to update the directions 🙂
Gloria | Homemade & Yummy
So glad you pointed that out. I have fixed the recipe. Hope you enjoyed the cake.
Wasan
Hello!! I baked this cake just today.I had 3 bananas but after it was mashed, it came to only 1 cup and since there wasn’t any more I added it and was thinking that it is going to be heavy like a dough instead of tasting more like a banana cake! Also just when I was about to put the batter into the oven, I realized that I have forgotten to add crushed walnuts. So again, I just added the walnuts to the batter that was already sitting in the pan, mixed it well and put it in the oven keeping my fingers crossed that it will bake well..lol
Oh my, oh my, it came out perfect!!! I did have to bake it 7 mins more on top of the 30mins.
The cake is so soft, buttery and light!!! This will be my go-to recipe for Banana cake.
My kids and I, Thank you very much for a simple but awesomely delicious banana cake recipe!!
Gloria | Homemade & Yummy
I am SO glad it turned out for you. This is the ONLY banana cake I make. EVER!!