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.

A piece of Banana Cake on a plate

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.

Banana Cake being served out of cake pan

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!

Single serving of Banana Cake on a wooden plate

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!

image of Everyday Comfort cookbook by Holly Nilsson of Spend With Pennies plus text
frosted banana cake with a banana on top on a wood plate
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The Best Banana Cake

This Banana Cake is 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.
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 35 minutes
Servings 15 servings
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Ingredients  

  • 1 ½ cups milk
  • 2 ½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice divided
  • 1 ⅓ cups mashed bananas about 3 medium bananas
  • cup unsalted butter softened
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon salt

Frosting

  • 8 ounces cream cheese
  • cup butter softened
  • 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice or vanilla extract
  • 1 ½ teaspoons lemon zest from 1 lemon, optional
  • 3-3 ½ cups powdered sugar

Instructions 

  • Preheat oven to 350°F. 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

The cooking time on this cake can vary! Mine takes about 60 minutes. 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 20-30 minutes depending on your oven).
4.93 from 1684 votes

Nutrition Information

Calories: 470 | Carbohydrates: 70g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 84mg | Sodium: 331mg | Potassium: 178mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 48g | Vitamin A: 680IU | Vitamin C: 3.1mg | Calcium: 62mg | Iron: 1.5mg

Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.

Course Dessert
Cuisine American

Repin this Delicious Dessert!

Slice of Banana Cake on a plate

This recipe has been retested and updated 11/20/16.

Very slightly adapted from food.com 

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About the author

Holly Nilsson is the creator of Spend With Pennies, where she creates easy, comforting recipes made for real life. With a passion for nostalgic flavors and simplified techniques, Holly helps busy home cooks create delicious meals that always work. She is also the author of “Everyday Comfort,” which promises to inspire even more hearty, home-cooked meals.
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Comments

  1. Can you explain the 45 minutes in the freezer? How / why this will “make the cake extra moist”?

    1. Hi Trista, freezing a warm/hot cake will trap the steam within the cake making it extra moist.

  2. ive been searching for a banana bread that’s not dense as a brick for ages; this is moist and light and not overly sweet- exactly what i was looking for. i did not try the icing but plan to next time.5 stars

  3. Delicious very moist. Me and my husband love it . These my new banana recipe from now on. Thank you..5 stars

  4. Delicious and super moist! Best banana cake I’ve had (I didn’t follow the icing recipe as I’ve nailed my own version). Thank you!5 stars

    1. Hi Rachel, it should last up to 2 days in the counter or 4-5 days in the fridge.

  5. This Banana cake is absolutly the best banana cake I have ever had. I was craving a banana cake and found this recipe and liked it right away. I didn’t want a recipe that called for sour cream and/or cream cheese, my Grandmother would not have used these items and she made the best cakes. The recipe is easy to follow and the cake is so pretty when baked it doesn’t need icing but I have to admit I did not use the cream cheese frosting, I used a simple vanilla frosting in which I added a small amount of banana extract. I could have eaten the whole cake, when my husband tried it he was very impressed and it is now added to my keep and make again folder. Thank you so much Holly.5 stars

  6. I doubt this review sees the light of day as I can’t understand how this recipe earns the ratings it “apparently” does. It is dry, and the addition of lemon and cream cheese frosting gives it a strange flavor profile. Do people usually combine lemon and bananas? I actually hated it and can never remember supplying this negative of a review.1 star

    1. If it was dry, it may have been over baked or perhaps your oven runs a bit hotter as we have found this cake to be very moist as most readers do. Per the recipe notes, it’s best to check it a bit early. Hope that helps!

      We love the addition of lemon but cream cheese frosting or vanilla frosting are also great options.

  7. The best banana cake I’ve ever made. I made 2.5 dozens of cupcakes instead of a 9×13 cake. My husband took 2 dozens to work to share and he said they were ALL GONE in an hour. He said he also saw his coworker grabbing multiple for her kids to try because it was the best she’s ever had lol. Thank you so much :). Now I feel like a pro baker lol5 stars

  8. This cake was perfectly moist. The cream cheese frosting was delicious (I did only use about 1.5 cups of powdered sugar though). Even my picky eater loved it and said he wants to request it for his birthday!5 stars

    1. In step two you are making buttermilk so you could skip that step and replace it with premade buttermilk.