Best Banana Cake Recipe

Bananas are such a wonderful fruit. They can be eaten in the morning, cut up in your cereal or oatmeal, as an afternoon snack (have you ever tried peanut butter and bananas on toast? YUM!), or put into smoothies to make them nutritious and tasty. But our favorite way to use bananas is in our desserts, obviously, and our favorite dessert to use them in is this banana cake recipe. Even our taste testers (everyone that likes bananas and has eaten this cake after we made it) will also attest that this is one great use for our bananas. So grab your bananas, preheat your oven, and get ready to make the best banana cake you've ever made.

Before You Get Started Making Best Banana Cake

Preheat oven to 275 degrees (F)

Measure/Weigh all the ingredients

Take butter, eggs, and buttermilk out beforehand to come to room temperature

Grease cake pans and line with parchment paper

If making cupcakes, grease the rim of the cupcake pan after placing your liners, so the cupcakes don't stick

Best Banana Cake Ingredients and Amounts (yields two 8-inch cake pans + cupcakes)

1 1/2 cups (400g) ripe bananas (~3 large bananas)

2 tsp (8g) lemon juice

3 cups (420g) all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp (7g) baking soda

1/4 tsp (2g) salt

3/4 cup (170g) unsalted butter at room temp

2 cups + 2 tbsp (425g) granulated sugar

2 tsp (8g) vanilla extract

3 (150g) large eggs at room temp

1 1/2 cups (363g) buttermilk at room temp - If you don't have buttermilk, read our baking substitutions options

Best Banana Cake Step-By-Step Directions

1) Preheat oven to 275 degrees (F).

2) In a bowl, mash ripe bananas with a fork and pour lemon juice over the bananas, mixing well. Set aside.

3) In another bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt, and then sift together. Set aside.

4) In yet another mixing bowl, combine butter and sugar and cream together on medium speed until very light and fluffy - don't be afraid to mix for a few minutes.

5) Add vanilla and combine well.

6) Add eggs one at time, making sure that each egg is mixed in well before adding the next.

7) Add in the flour mixture from step 3 on low, alternating it with the buttermilk, starting and ending with flour.

8) Fold in mashed bananas from step 2.

9) Pour batter into pans and level, we like to use our angled spatula to level the batter.

10) Bake for 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean. Depending on the size of the cake pan, you may need to cook for less or more time. In our experience, 8-inch cake pans take about 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour and 20 minutes to cook.

11) Once cake is done, cool in cake pans for twenty minutes, and then turn over onto a cooling rack. Once your cake is completely cooled, ice your cake and enjoy.

Best Banana Cake Sweet Notes

This cake freezes beautifully. We suggest letting it cool in the cake pan for twenty minutes and then turning it out onto plastic wrap, wrapping it in plastic wrap and then a layer of aluminum foil. Label it and date it. Keep in freezer for up to 3 months

This cake pairs with cream cheese frosting, white chocolate swiss meringue icing, or American buttercream

If baking cupcakes, they take about 30-35 minutes to bake

Recipe adapted from Rhonda J