If you can’t decide between Banana Bread and Coffee Cake, get the best of both worlds with this Banana Coffee Cake. This moist and fluffy banana cake has cinnamon walnut streusel in the middle as well as on top of the cake, giving it a delicious crunch.
If you have too many bananas sitting around in the corner of your kitchen browning away, no need to worry. This banana crumb coffee cake is your answer. Quick to pull together and delicious for both breakfast and dessert.
Table of Contents
Why this recipe works
- This banana coffee cake features a walnut cinnamon streusel that’s baked in the middle of the cake as well as on top, a quintessential coffee cake characteristic!
- A typical coffee cake is made with buttermilk, but this recipe uses just banana to maximize the banana flavor.
- It is very easy to make and can be baked in an 8” or 9” cake pan or even a square baking pan.
Ingredients and Substitutions
As always, you’ll find the complete list of ingredients and quantities in the recipe card at the end of this post. Below are some notes and substitution tips:
- Banana – super ripe bananas are the star ingredient in this recipe. Fresh or previously frozen ripe bananas will work here.
- Butter – unsalted butter is used for the crumb topping as well as the banana coffee cake batter. You can substitute salted butter but you’ll need to reduce the amount of salt in the batter or omit it all together. As for the streusel, salted butter might be too salty since the recipe only calls for a pinch of salt here.
- Egg – 2 eggs are used in the batter.
- Vanilla – pure vanilla extract is added to compliment the banana flavor and to give the cake more complexity.
- Sugar – bananas and brown sugar go well together in this recipe. Dark or light brown sugar will both work. But if you don’t have brown sugar, you can substitute granulated sugar both in the batter and the streusel.
- Flour – I use all purpose flour. If you want to make this gluten free, try Bob’s Red Mill or King Arthur gluten free flour. Readers have successfully substituted gluten free flour in some other recipes. However, I have not tried it with this particular recipe.
- Leavening agents – I use both baking soda and baking powder. The baking soda will be activated by the acidity in the brown sugar, so if you’re not using brown sugar in this recipe, replace baking soda with baking powder.
- Salt – I always use kosher salt in all my recipes. For table salt, use about half to two thirds as much.
- Walnuts – walnuts are only used in the crumb topping and not the cake since the crumb topping will be added in the middle of the cake as well as the top. You can also use pecans. I always toast the nuts before using them in recipes to bring out their flavor.
- Cinnamon – cinnamon is also only used in the streusel topping, feel free to adjust the amount to your liking.
Tools you’ll need
The coffee cake batter and crumb topping can be made entirely by hand, but here are some notes on tool you may need:
- A springform cake pan is useful to have so you don’t have to flip the cake out of the pan and mess up the streusel on top. But if you don’t have one, a regular cake pan or square baking pan works just fine and you can serve the cake directly from the pan.
- A pastry blender could be useful to make the streusel with but you could also just use your bare hands.
- A potato masher is great for mashing the bananas.
How to make banana coffee cake
The following instructions, step-by-step photos, and tips are here to help you visualize how to make the recipe. You can always skip straight to the printable recipe card at the end of this post.
First, make the walnut cinnamon streusel by stirring together flour, brown sugar, kosher salt, and cinnamon. Then, cut cold butter into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender or press with the tips of your fingers until the mixture resembles wet sand. Toss in the toasted walnuts and refrigerate.
Second, start making the cake batter by mashing the bananas in a large mixing bowl.
Tip: I usually weigh the bananas directly in the bowl. But if you don’t weigh your bananas, you’ll want to measure after you mash them. If you end up with extra mashed bananas, freeze it for another recipe or add it to smoothies.
Add melted butter, eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla extract. Beat with a whisk until well combined.
In a smaller mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and stir in the salt. Add flour mixture to the liquid mixture. Fold with a spatula until just combined.
Tip: The batter may be a bit chunky if you have bits of bananas that weren’t mashed to a pulp, avoid overmixing since it will make the cake dry.
Finally, assemble the cake for baking. Grease and line a 9” springform cake pan. Transfer half of the cake batter to the prepared cake pan and even it out with a spatula. Sprinkle half of the streusel on top.
Dollop the remaining cake batter over the streusel. Even out the top lightly with a spatula. Sprinkle the remaining streusel over it. Bake, let cool, and enjoy!
Tip: If you use a regular cake pan and want to remove the cake after it is baked, I recommend adding two strips of long parchment paper underneath the round piece, letting the excess hang over the side so you can use them as handles to lift the cake out later.
More baker’s tips
- If you’re planning to make this banana bread coffee cake in a day or two, and your bananas aren’t quite ripe yet. Put them in a brown paper bag with an apple if you have one to speed up the ripening process.
- If you want to make this right away without overripe bananas, you could place the bananas in a 300°F oven to “ripen” them quickly in just 30 minutes. Make sure to use a lined baking sheet to hold the bananas and any juices that may escape.
- Anytime I have extra ripe bananas, I freeze them and save them for when I need to make a recipe with bananas.
- Do take 3-5 minutes to toast your walnuts in a skillet over medium heat. This brings out their wonderful flavor.
- When you first add the batter to the pan, it may seem like not enough batter and the cake will be flat. Don’t worry, it will rise nicely!
FAQs
This banana coffee cake is essentially a banana crumb cake or banana crumble cake since it is a banana cake with crumb topping, crumble or streusel. You can use these names interchangeably.
Of course! See the storage section for tips on storing to help you decide how long in advance to plan for this recipe.
That is up to you! Coffee cake is typically served with coffee so you can certainly enjoy it for breakfast. But it is after all a cake so it is great for dessert too.
Absolutely, since this recipe uses 2 eggs, it would be very easy to halve it. You can bake it in a loaf pan or a 6” round cake pan. Make sure to reduce the baking time.
No. I recommend making the recipe as written. If you increase the amount of wet ingredients, it will throw off the ratio of wet to dry and I cannot guarantee the end result.
It is best to make this recipe with all bananas but if you are missing just a bit, you can add some buttermilk, yogurt or sour cream to fill 1 ¼ cup.
Storage
Room temperature: Store leftover banana crumb cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Refrigerator: There is no need to keep this cake refrigerated but you can make it last longer for up to a week.
Freezer: To keep it even longer, freeze for up to 3 months. You can freeze the cake whole, or cut it up into individual serving sizes, wrap well and freeze in a container or ziploc bag. Defrost overnight in the fridge or at room temperature for a few hours before serving.
To warm up cold cake, simply microwave each slice for 15-30 seconds.
More coffee cake recipes
- Blueberry Coffee Cake
- Sour Cream Coffee Cake
- Peach Coffee Cake
- Apple Coffee Cake
- Coffee Cake Cinnamon Scones
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📖 Recipe card
Banana Coffee Cake
Equipment
- 9” Springform Pan
- Potato Masher
Ingredients
Cake
- 4 oz unsalted butter (melted, 113 g)
- 1 ¼ cup mashed ripe bananas (3 small bananas, 318 g)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¾ cup light brown sugar (150 g lightly packed)
- 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour (230 g)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Streusel
- ½ cup all-purpose flour (64 g)
- ¼ cup light brown sugar (packed, 50 g)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- A pinch of kosher salt
- 2 ounce unsalted butter (cold and cubed, 56 g)
- ½ cup chopped walnuts (50 g, toasted & cooled)
Instructions
- First, make the streusel. Stir together flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a medium mixing bowl.
- Toss in the cold cubed butter.
- Press the butter into the flour mixture with the tips of your fingers until all the pieces are pea or lima bean size, working quickly so as not to melt the butter. Alternately, you can use a pastry blender to cut the butter into the flour mixture. The mixture should be the texture of wet sand.
- Toss in the chopped walnuts and refrigerate until ready to use.
- Second, make the cake batter. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Grease a 9” springform cake pan, line the bottom with a piece of parchment paper, and grease the top of the parchment paper as well. Set aside.
- Mash the bananas with a potato masher in a large mixing bowl. You’ll want to measure out 1 ¼ cup of mashed bananas here if you don’t weigh them.
- Add melted butter, eggs, vanilla extract and brown sugar. Mix with a whisk until well combined.
- Sift flour, baking soda, and baking powder into a small mixing bowl. Stir in the kosher salt.
- Add the flour mixture to the liquid mixture and fold until just combined. The batter will be a bit chunky due to the mashed bananas, avoid overmixing since it will make the cake dry.
- Finally, assemble and bake. Transfer half of the cake batter to the prepared cake pan and even it out with a spatula, sprinkle half of the streusel on top. Dollop the remaining cake batter over the streusel and even out the top, sprinkle the remaining streusel over it.
- Bake in the middle of the oven for 40 – 45 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean with just a few crumbs attached.
- Allow the cake to cool to the touch in the pan on a wire rack before unmolding it.
Notes
- A stand mixer or electric hand mixer can be used but it is absolutely not necessary. I find it easier with just a hand whisk.
- You can use a regular cake pan. I recommend adding two strips of long parchment paper underneath the round piece, letting the excess hang over the side so you can use them as handles to lift the cake out later.
- I baked mine for exactly 43 minutes but just make sure you check it a little earlier to ensure you don’t overbake, and allow it to bake a few minutes longer if it is underbaked.
- Take 3-5 minutes to toast your walnuts in a skillet over medium heat. This brings out their wonderful flavor.
Nutrition
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Loved banana cupcakes! Can’t wait to try this. Thanks for sharing all your great baking recipes . Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family, Sherry!
like the combination of banana and coffee cake…two pleasures with coffee.
I was happy to find this recipe for an alternative to regular banana bread and it was delicious! I finally had an excuse to use my heart shaped springform pan as well, so it turned out so cute. It didn’t seem to fill up much at first so I was nervous it was too large but rose beautifully in the oven, my boyfriend and I have eaten almost half of it already😊
I’m so happy to hear you guys enjoyed this, Natalie!