This is, hands down, the BEST banana cake I’ve ever had. It’s soft, moist and rich all at the same time! Once cooled this cake is topped with a totally irresistible lemon cream cheese frosting for a perfect dessert your family will love.
I love a good banana cake, it just reminds me of being a kid because my Grandpa and Grandma made the BEST banana cupcakes. I can still smell them baking in my grandma’s kitchen, waiting impatiently with my sisters.
This cake is reminiscent of my favorite banana cupcakes. It is soft and fluffy and incredibly moist and topped with my favorite ever lemony cream cheese frosting.
As much as I love a fluffy banana cake, I love it even more when it’s topped with an amazing cream cheese frosting! I add in a little bit of lemon zest and lemon juice for extra flavor in my cream cheese frosting but if you prefer, you can leave out the lemon and substitute vanilla.
Regardless of how you top it, once you try this cake, it’ll be your go-to. Every time you have overripe bananas on the counter you’ll want to make this recipe! In fact, I often buy extra bananas to ripen and make this cake!
Tips to ensure a soft moist result:
- Ensure your ingredients are at room temperature (eggs and butter)
- You need the acidity from the lemon juice (& milk) mixture. Subbing in just milk or cream won’t work. (You can use buttermilk in its place if needed).
- When mixing your butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla, beat the mixture until VERY fluffy, almost the consistency of a fluffy buttercream frosting. This should take about 5 minutes.
- When adding the flour mixture you want to mix until just combined. Over-mixing will cause a dense chewy result.
- The cooking time on this cake can vary! Check your cake at 55 minutes, if it isn’t ready, continue cooking until a toothpick comes out clean (this can be up to an additional 20 minutes depending on your oven). The result will be a moist and irresistible banana cake.
Happy Baking!
The Best Banana Cake
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups milk
- 2 ½ tablespoons lemon juice divided
- 1 ⅓ cup mashed bananas
- ⅔ cup butter softened
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 cup white sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoons vanilla
- 3 cups flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
FROSTING
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- ⅓ cup butter softened
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 ½ teaspoons lemon zest from 1 lemon
- 3-3 ½ cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour a 9 x 13 pan.
- Place 1 ½ tablespoons lemon juice in a measuring cup. Top to 1 ½ cups with milk. Set aside.
- Mix together mashed banana with 1 tablespoon lemon juice, set aside.
- Beat together butter, brown and white sugar until combined. Add in eggs one at a time and vanilla. Mix on high until light and fluffy (almost the texture of frosting).
- Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Alternate adding flour mixture and milk to egg mixture stirring just until combined. (Do not overmix). Fold in bananas. Pour into prepared pan.
- Put into the oven and reduce heat to 300°F. Bake 60 – 70 minutes (see note below) or just until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (do not over bake).
- Remove from oven and place in the freezer for 45 minutes to make the cake extra moist. Cool completely before frosting.
FROSTING
- Cream together butter & cream cheese until fluffy. Add in lemon zest and juice.
- Add powdered sugar a little at a time until you reach desired consistency. Spread over cooled cake.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
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This recipe has been retested and updated 11/20/16.
Very slightly adapted from food.com
Will the cake still be moist if you can not put in the freezer
Hi Annie, putting it in the freezer helps make it moist so I wouldn’t skip that step!
Hello…This is the best banana cake recipe I have ever tried. I like many different sites for my recipes but spend with pennies is my all time favorite. There isn’t a recipe I have tried that we haven’t loved!!
Mouthwatering, does not even need frosting
This is an excellent cake – delicious, not too sweet, and very light and fluffy. The only changes I made were I used 2 cups APF + 1 cup cake flour and a little banana extract. I did not freeze it, just let it cool, then it wrapped in plastic wrap and chilled overnight in the fridge before frosting the next day for a minion birthday cake. I will definitely make this again.
How much flour? It wasn’t stated
Hi Gilda, the full recipe can be found towards the bottom of the post or using the jump to recipe button at the top. But we use 3 cups of flour in this recipe.
I forgot to turn down temp. Took out at 55 minutes. Hope it’s not over done . . .
I also forgot to turn temp down. How did your cake come out? I made this cake for my daughter’s bday. I don’t know if I should start all over.
hi! I made your banana cake and i forgot the milk! Still it turned out absolutely great!!!
For sugar, I used soft brown sugar only (no white). Less than what is asked (I like less sweet).
And I added 1/4 cup more mushed bananas without realizing!
I think these are what saved my cake! Everyone loved it! I didn’t even need to add frosting!!
It was soft with a delicious banana vanilla taste…yummmm!!
Thank you so much for sharing your recipes!! xoxo
I just made this cake as is. Except may have one extra banana.
I baked it for 90 minutes and it’s still feels uncooked from the middle. The top tastes amazing though.
What should I do to fully cook the cake?
I would suggest continuing cooking it until a toothpick comes out clean. If the top begins to brown too much, very lightly cover with foil.
Can I substitute with coconut sugar?
I haven’t tried it but think it would work just fine. Let us know how it goes!
Hi, can this be covered and stored at room temperature or does it need to be refrigerated?
I usually store it in the refrigerator and try to leave it at room temp at least 30 min before serving. Enjoy Rebecca!
Looks like a great recipe, but a question first. The video shows a glass baking pan being used. The recipe directions say to put the cake directly from oven to freezer. But that seems unwise if actually using glass. Do you need to use a metal pan if following that instruction? Everything I find online says not to put a glass dish directly from oven to freezer.
Hi Nan, we do put the hot pan directly into the freezer, although if you have a glass pan, you can let it cool for 15-20 minutes before transferring to the freezer. If it’s cold where you are, you can also pop it outside! I do not cover it.
Can I make this in a Bundt pan?
We haven’t tried this recipe in a bundt pan, but other readers have with success. We would love to hear how it turns out for you!
I’ve made this a dozen times and it’s outstanding. I’m a seasoned baker and a dessert snob and it passes with flying colors in our house! Just made it for Father’s Day yesterday, per my husband’s request. The lemon in it really sets it apart. I had a different go to banana cake for a few years, then came across this one and it was the lemon in the recipe that grabbed my attention. There’s no going back! Question: thanks for including the nutrition information. Could you tell me what a serving size is? I couldn’t find that specified anywhere.
Hi Sarah, we cut a 9×13 into 15 pieces. Each piece is considered a serving. Hope that helps!
The best banana cake I have ever eaten. It is one of my unforgettable deserts
This cake was absolutely AMAZING..I followed all the directions exactly and it was such a dreamy cake I made for my son’s 9th bday..it was all gobbled up by the time our last guest leftso decadent! Thank you so much!
Delicious!
This was the best banana cake! I substituted gluten free flour, because I have celiac, but that was the only change I made and it was delicious!!! I’ll definitely be making this again!
I’m baking mine now but I messed up. Completely forgot the milk and lemon juice mixture. I also cut sugar in half and accidentally over beat my sugar and butter after adding the eggs and the fluffiness fell apart. It’s in the oven and is rising just fine, but having trouble cooking through. I also didn’t have the right pan size and using a bread loaf pan. Wish me luck! I’ll let the thread know what happens.
I can’t rate the recipe in fairness yet —- but with all my mistakes I will say it’s still very yummy. Forgetting the milk and using the wrong pan made it a bit dry and dense, and cooked unevenly, but with the frosting, still delicious!
I normally don’t write comments but I used this as the base for my mom‘s birthday cake this year and alternated this cake with strawberry filling, pineapple filling, and chocolate ganache, and finished it off with a not so sweet whipped frosting it was absolutely to die for!!!!
Oh my word, that sounds so delicious Lexi! I hope she loved it!!
This is by far THE BEST banana cake EVER OMG!! I made no adjustments. I’m never baking banana bread again.. ok not ever but this is a winner! Thank u for sharing
So happy you enjoyed it, Joy!
This recipe is simply amazing!! I was told once at a celebration that it was disrespectful how good it was! Delicious every time!