Banana Coffee Cake

If you can’t decide between Banana Bread and Coffee Cake, get the best of both worlds with this Banana Coffee Cake. Super moist banana cake, with cinnamon walnut streusel both in the middle and on top make this cake the envy of all other coffee cakes!

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If you have too many bananas sitting around in the corner of your kitchen browning away, no need to worry. This Banana Coffee Cake is your answer. Quick to pull together and delicious for both breakfast and dessert.

Ingredients and Substitutions

The ingredient list and quantities are all in the recipe card at the bottom of this post, but I want to mention a few of the major ingredients and some notes about them here:

• Banana – this is the star of our banana coffee cake, so you’ll want to make sure to use overripe bananas for the best flavor.
• Butter – melted unsalted butter is used in the cake batter and cold unsalted butter is used in the cinnamon streusel. You could also take this cake up a notch by using brown butter. Don’t believe me? Try this Brown Butter Banana Bread, it will blow your socks off! 
• Walnuts – only half a cup of nuts is used in the streusel for some crunch and texture. You could substitute pecans if you prefer. Make sure to toast the nuts before using to bring out more of their nutty flavor.
• Other ingredients include all the typical ingredients for a coffee cake: flour, sugar, salt, eggs, cinnamon, vanilla and leavening agents.

Step by Step Instructions

Make the walnut cinnamon streusel

1. Stir together flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Toss in the cold cubed butter. 
2. Work the butter into the flour mixture with the tips of your fingers or a pastry blender until the texture of wet sand is achieved. Work quickly so you don’t melt the butter. 
3. Toss in the chopped walnuts and refrigerate until ready to use.

Make the banana cake batter

4. Place bananas in a large mixing bowl. 
5. Mash them with a potato masher. You’ll want to measure out your mashed bananas here if you don’t weigh them.

6. Add melted butter, eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla extract.
7. Beat with a whisk until well combined. A stand mixer or an electric mixer can be used but is not necessary.

8. In a smaller mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and stir in the salt. Add flour mixture to the liquid mixture.
9. Fold with a spatula until just combined. The batter will be a bit chunky due to the mashed bananas, avoid overmixing since it will make the cake dry.

Assemble and bake

10. Grease and line a 9” springform cake pan. You can use a regular cake pan, but 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.
11. Transfer half of the cake batter to the prepared cake pan and even it out with a spatula.
12.  Sprinkle half of the streusel on top. 

13. Dollop the remaining cake batter over the streusel.
14. Even out the top with a light hand.
15. Sprinkle the remaining streusel over it.

Bake, let cool, and enjoy!

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.

Storage

Store leftover banana crumb cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Or you can store it in the refrigerator for up to a week. To keep it even longer, freeze for up to 3 months. 

You can freeze the cake whole, but I like to cut it up into individual serving sizes, then wrap well with plastic and foil, and freeze in a container or ziploc bag. This way, you can defrost them individually whenever the mood strikes for some banana coffee cake.

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More coffee cakes

• Blueberry Coffee Cake
• Buttermilk Coffee Cake
• Sour Cream Coffee Cake
• Peach Coffee Cake
• Apple Coffee Cake
• Cinnamon Scones (aka Coffee Cake Scones)

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Banana Coffee Cake

If you can’t decide between Banana Bread and Coffee Cake, get the best of both worlds with this Banana Coffee Cake. Super moist banana cake, with cinnamon walnut streusel both in the middle and on top make this cake the envy of all other coffee cakes!

5 from 2 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Breakfast, Cake, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 43 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 3 minutes

Servings: 10 slices

Calories: 391kcal

Author: Trang

Equipment

• 9” Springform Pan

Ingredients

Cake

• ▢ 4 oz unsalted butter (melted, 113 g)
• ▢ 3 small bananas (extra ripe, 318 g without peels, ~1 ¼ cup smashed)
• ▢ 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

• MAKE THE STREUSEL FIRST: 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.
• 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.
• 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, but 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.

Nutrition

Serving: 117g | Calories: 391kcal

DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?I love hearing how it went! Leave a comment below and rate it. Mention @WildWildWhisk or tag #WildWildWhisk on Instagram.

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