Banana Snack Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
My baking motivations come from a myriad of different sources. Sometimes I’ve had a recipe bookmarked for months… sometimes I see something on Pinterest that I want to make immediately… sometimes something in a magazine makes a light bulb go off… and sometimes I have grandparents coming over for lunch and four way, way overripe bananas sitting on my counter. Thus, banana cake!
In an effort to put together a casual dessert for lunch with my grandparents and also use up my quickly-going-bad bananas, I though that an easy snack-style cake would be a great choice. I typically turn to banana bread when I need to put browning bananas to good use, and was looking forward to having another easy banana baked good in my rotation for such occasions.
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This cake turned out exactly how I’d hoped; it’s easy to make, comes together quickly, incredibly moist and, most importantly, delicious. Originally, I wasn’t going to include a frosting, but I just couldn’t help myself. I love frosting, especially cream cheese frosting. If you’re a fellow frosting lover, I think you’ll find this to be amazing. My mom, my grandpap and I all gave it a big two thumbs up. If you’re a little more ambivalent about frosting, you might consider scaling it back; both my grandma and Chief Culinary Consultant thought the frosting could have maybe been halved. (What!? Who are these people?! How are they related to me?!)
Do you have a favorite recipe you turn to when there is a plethora of browning bananas on your counter?
More Favorite Banana Recipes
- Grandma’s Banana Nut Bread
- Hummingbird Cake
- Banana Cream Pie
- No Bake Banana Split Dessert
- Southern Banana Pudding
Banana Snack Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) salt
- 1⅓ cups (266.67 g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (54.5 ml) vegetable oil
- 2 eggs
- 4 ripe bananas, mashed
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup (240 ml) buttermilk
For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 8 ounces (226.8 g) cream cheese, at room temperature
- ½ cup (113.5 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- Pinch salt
- 4 cups (480 g) powdered sugar
- 1½ teaspoons (1.5 teaspoons) vanilla extract
Instructions
- Make the Cake: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking pan; set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
- Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar and oil together on medium speed until completely combined. Add both eggs and beat to combine, then add the mashed bananas and vanilla extract and beat until combined. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk, mixing until combined. Use a rubber spatula to give the batter one last mix, then pour into the prepared pan.
- Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Set on a wire rack to cool completely.
- Make the Cream Cheese Frosting: With an electric mixer, cream together the cream cheese, butter and salt on medium speed. Reduce the speed to medium-low and gradually add the powdered sugar until it has all been combined. Add the vanilla extract, increase the speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy.
- Spread the frosting over the cooled cake, cut into squares and serve. Leftovers should be covered with plastic wrap or placed in an airtight container and kept at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
Make this all the time.
Simple to make and;
It’s delicious!
Hi! I’ve made this cake a couple of time and love love love it. And I’m not a banana lover by any stretch. My question is– I’m making an assortment of cupcakes for a party and was thinking about doing this recipe for one of the flavors. Do you think cupcakes would work ok?
Hi Sarah, So glad you enjoy this! I’ve never tried to make this into cupcakes; if you do it, let me know how they turn out!
I made this and it is very good. I would suggest limiting to small bananas or using just 3. I like the texture much better with less. Also, this was way too much frosting for me. I used only about half of it on mine and that was perfect.
I made this today and it is fabulous! I added 4 T soft butter to the batter and also added 1 1/2 ts baking powder. It is so light, moist and yummy. Thanks for such wonderful recipes!!
I have made this a number of times and mixed the cake by hand. Since it uses oil I figured why dirty my mixer. It turned out great. I did use my hand mixer for the frosting, though. I also froze half of the cake, precut, with the frosting on it and pulled out the number of servings I needed, placed on plates when we started dinner and by the time we were ready for dessert they were thawed enough, still really cold, but so good. The BEB is my go-to site for consistently very good recipes.
Can I sub butter for all the oil and just omit the oil altogether??
Hi Estella, I would not recommend that, as the texture of the cake will be completely different.
Hi Michelle, I’m excited to make this for my birthday. Just wondering if you think it could hold up as a layer cake with 2 8″ rounds.
Hi Phoebe, I haven’t tried it myself, but I think it would work. Let me know how it goes if you do it!
My niece can’t eat eggs, could they be omitted from this recipe?
Hi Isabelle, You would need to replace the eggs with another binder, they couldn’t simply be omitted. I am not very familiar with vegan baking, so I’m not sure what your best substitute would be, but you could probably research some vegan substitutes for eggs in baked goods.
Just made these the other day and they’re already almost gone! My family absolutely LOVES them! Thank you so much for the recipe- will be using over and over again!! Soo good :)
Too much frosting? Too much cream cheese frosting??? Impossible. I could eat it with a spoon (and have been known to). Would love to try this and would make the suggested changes. I’ve made one too many gooey cakes by using too large or frozen bananas. Glad to hear that reducing the sugar works as I did think it a lot.
I just made this today and followed the recipe exactly. Turned out moist and fluffy, so not sure what is happening with other people to make it turn out flat and dense. My guess would be all the adding to and substituting. I did use a pyrex 9×13 baking dish, as opposed to metal. The cake is great and I will totally make this again! The cream cheese frosting, while delicious, makes enough for 2 cakes (unless you like 2 inches of frosting and if so, this recipe will make you very happy!) I’m out of bananas so I’m going to have to find something else to frost now! :-)
Amazing cake! I did what others suggested and added about a teaspoon of baking powder, it turned out moist and fluffy, and topped with the frosting….mmmmm so soft and delicious!
Awesome recipe! It was moist and delicious! To the batter, I added a tsp of baking powder as many others had suggested and to the frosting, I added 1/2 cup of crushed walnuts and a few tablespoons of milk to help make it more spreadable. It was wonderful! Thank you for sharing!
Can I possibly make this recipe in an 8×8 inch pan? If so, what adjustments should I make?
Hi Viktoriya, You would need to cut the recipe in half in order to bake it in an 8×8 pan.
Awesome recipe, have made about 5 times to rave reviews. It works wonderfully with frozen or fresh bananas, low fat or regular buttermilk. The only thing I do differently is reduce the sugar in the frosting for my personal taste. Thank you for a standout recipe.
This cake was very yummy but I wouldn’t really classify it as a cake… It was kind of the same consistency (at least mine was) as bread pudding (husband’s 2 cents) – VERY moist & very dense. My daughter (9) said, “It’s like banana bread with frosting but YUMMIER!” I used 4 very ripe bananas & the flavor really came through.
I tried this recipe. I used an electric mixer to blend in the bananas really well. I substitutied buttermilk with one cup of milk mixed with one tbp of lemon juice…and baked for 45 minutes, until the cake turned golden in color…it turned out perfect. Thank you for sharing this great recipe.
I made this cake for a party and it was a great hit! Everyone wanted the recipe! It was easy to put together, moist, and delicious! The frosting was light and airy an in good quantity…it just melted in your mouth! Thank you for a great new go-to cake!
This recipe turned out so delicious. I used a combination of whole milk and whole yogurt rather than the buttermilk. I loved the taste and texture. Yum yum! Thanks for the recipe :)
I tried to make this recipe but like so many of the others posted, mine also came out dense and sunken in. I substituted applesauce for the oil and a flax egg for the egg and almond milk soured with Apple cider vinegar. Could these subs caused this? Thanks.
Hi Katie, The substitutions could very well have been the problem.
Will the cake taste good without the frosting? The thing is I like to bake whenever we’re out out of desserts at home, so I just bake with ingredients already at home. Would you recommend it without the frosting?
Hi Marzia, I obviously think the frosting adds to the cake, but you could leave it off if you’d like – it would taste more like banana bread plain.
Thanks!
I made two of these cakes a few weeks ago. Instead of Buttermilk (i didn’t have on hand) I substituted 1 cup sour cream. Also added half package of banana instant pudding mix to each cake batter. They turned out so great and everyone loved. Baking another right now. Thanks for this recipe.
I made this last night. The cake turned out perfectly, but the icing is WAY too sweet for my taste and it is a lot. I will try again using a frosting recipe with less sugar.
when I found this recipe last week i straight maked it and its turn out really good moist cake which i love it. my son and husband love it too. will definately make it again tomorrow on my husband birthday as requested. thank alot ;)
I made your cake using my gluten-free flour blend, and it was fantastic!
I made this tonight but I only had two bananas. I substituted four tablespoons of homemade chunky applesauce, 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon and reduced the buttermilk just very slightly. Delicious! Thanks for the recipe.
This cake is sooooooo sooooo good I have thrown away and deleted all my other banana cake recipes. I had no idea what a banana snack cake was but the pictures looked so good I took a chance and made it today. It is the best ABSOLUTE BEST banana cake I have ever tasted. I did add 1/2 tsp baking powder to add to the lightness but everything else remained the same. You have to try it with the cream cheese frosting too….it’s to die for and I’m not a huge fan of banana cake because I have tasted so many bad ones….but this one is awesome!!
No where in the mixing steps does it say to add the baking soda. Needless to say it turned out gross.
Jessie, I’m sorry your cake didn’t turn out, but yes, in step #2, it clearly states to whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.
Hi,
I was wondering if I could substitute the buttermilk with anything else? Its difficult for me to get my hands on buttermilk!
Thanks.
Hi Alice, You can make your own buttermilk! See the substitution here: https://www.browneyedbaker.com/substitutions/
Tried this. Loved it. Hubby who hates cakes enjoyed every bit