Banana Snacking Cake

Print Recipe

Cook Time1 30

Course: Breakfast or Snack, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Banana Snacking Cake, Dessert, Dessert recipes

Servings: people

Calories: 465kcal

Equipment

1 8-inch square baking pan

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature, plus more for greasing pan, or avocado oil
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour or gluten-free baking mix
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs at room temperature
1/2 cup buttermilk well-shaken
3-4 bananas very ripe, with black skins (1 to 1/2 cups)

Optional Toppings

1 banana soft (but not overripe)
Turbinado sugar for sprinkling

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8- or 9-inch square baking pan with butter. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper, creasing the inside edge so it fits snugly into the pan. Let two sides of the parchment paper hang over the pan, which will help you remove it easily later. Grease the parchment as well.
In a medium bowl, add the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; whisk well to combine. Set aside.
In a large bowl with a handheld mixer, beat the butter on medium speed for about a minute; use a rubber spatula to scrape down the inside of the bowl. With the mixer running on medium to medium-high speed, slowly pour in the sugar in a steady stream. Continue beating for 3 to 5 minutes, until very light and fluffy and a light yellow color, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl about halfway through. Add the vanilla, then add the eggs one at a time, completely incorporating each egg. Turn the mixer to low speed and pour in one-third of the flour mixture, one-third of the buttermilk and one-third of the mashed bananas. Repeat until all the dry ingredients, buttermilk and bananas are incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
To top with the optional banana slices before baking, gently slice the banana in half lengthwise with its peel on. This will make it less likely that the banana will break in half. Carefully remove the peel and place each slice cut side up, gently push into the batter, leaving about 2 inches of space between the halves. Sprinkle the banana with turbinado sugar.
Bake for about 70 to 90 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out mostly clean. Check after 30 minutes, covering the pan with foil if the cake is getting too brown. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack. Once mostly cool to the touch, you can lift the cake out of the pan using the overhanging parchment paper. Store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Notes

Instead of baking the banana halves into the top of the cake, you can make a glaze by mixing together 1 tablespoon buttermilk and 1 cup powdered sugar. Drizzle on top of the cake after it bakes. Try adding 1⁄2 cup chocolate chips to the batter or to the top of the cake before baking.

Nutrition