Banana Coffee Cake

Waking up to four black bananas attracting fruit flies on the counter, with throwing them away feeling like a personal failure, is exactly what led to this banana coffee cake at six on a Tuesday morning. Not being a morning person makes mixing this together before the first cup of coffee a genuine testament to how aggressively simple it is.

A previous attempt at a complicated yeast-based breakfast ring once ended in tears over dough that looked like gray cement, which explains the permanent switch to quick breads. This recipe is basically what happens when banana bread and crumb cake have a baby. Here is exactly how I do it.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Zero fancy techniques. Separating eggs, whipping whites, or pretending to know what folding gently actually means never enters the picture.
• It justifies eating cake for breakfast. Fruit in the batter officially qualifies this as a balanced morning meal.
• The texture is incredibly forgiving. A slight overmix still produces a very moist banana coffee cake that people devour.
• It uses up the guilt-bananas. Those terrifyingly black bananas swore off for weeks finally find a delicious purpose.

Tools You’ll Need

Nothing fancy, I promise.

• 9×9 baking pan – You need this to bake the cake. If you only have an 8×8, it will overflow and ruin your oven floor, ask me how I know.
• Mixing bowls. Two of these, one for wet and one for dry, keep the process from turning messy.
• A sturdy fork. This mashes the bananas and claws the streusel together like a feral baker.

key Ingredients

For the Streusel

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour – Measure this properly with a spoon and level it, do not just scoop with the measuring cup or your streusel will be dry dust.
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar – Pack it in there tightly.
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar – For that essential crumbly texture.
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon – Do not skimp on this, it makes the whole house smell amazing.
• 1/4 teaspoon salt – Balances the aggressive amount of sugar we are using.
• 1/3 cup chopped pecans or walnuts – Completely optional, but highly recommended if you like a little crunch.
• 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter – Melted. This is what makes the streusel so incredibly easy to pull together.
• 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips – Also optional, but why would you skip chocolate?

For the Cake

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter – Softened to room temperature. If you forgot to take it out, just microwave it for 5 seconds, I will not tell anyone.
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar – Just plain white sugar.
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar – Firmly packed for extra moisture.
• 2 large eggs – Lightly beaten. Room temperature is best, but cold works if you are in a rush.
• 1 cup mashed overripe banana – This is about 2 to 3 bananas. The uglier and blacker they are, the better.
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract – The cheap stuff is totally fine here.
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour – Again, spoon and level.
• 1 teaspoon baking powder – Check the expiration date if it has been sitting in your pantry since 2019.
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda – This reacts with the buttermilk to make the cake rise.
• 1/2 teaspoon salt – Essential for flavor balance.
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon – Just a hint for the cake batter itself.
• 1/4 cup buttermilk – This makes the crumb incredibly tender.

How To Make Banana Coffee Cake

Do not panic when you see the ingredient list, this banana streusel coffee cake comes together faster than you can find something to watch on TV.

1. Preheat and prep: Preheat oven to 350F and lightly grease a 9×9 baking pan with baking spray (or grease and flour, or line with parchment paper). Set aside and prepare streusel. If you forget to grease the pan, you will be eating this with a spoon directly from the metal.
2. Mix dry streusel ingredients: Whisk together flour, sugars, cinnamon, salt, and nuts. If a few clumps of brown sugar survive, that is between you and the bowl, nobody else needs to know.
3. Add butter to streusel: Drizzle melted butter over mixture and use a fork to claw together until you have a clumpy streusel. Measure out chocolate chips and set aside along with streusel for later. It should look like wet sand; resist the urge to eat it raw.
4. Cream butter and sugars: Combine butter and sugars in a large mixing bowl and use an electric mixer or stand mixer to beat until well creamed. Do this until it looks fluffy, which takes a little longer than you think.
5. Add wet ingredients: Add eggs and beat until well-combined. Stir in mashed banana and vanilla extract. If you drop an eggshell in there, fish it out with another piece of shell, it works like a magnet.
6. Whisk dry ingredients: In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Yes, you have to wash two bowls for this recipe, I am genuinely sorry.
7. Combine wet and dry: Add half of the dry ingredients to the wet and use a spatula to gently fold together until nearly combined. Add buttermilk, stir until nearly combined, then add remaining flour mixture and stir until just combined. Fold gently, do not beat the batter like it owes you money or the cake will be tough.
8. Assemble the cake: Spread the batter evenly into prepared pan. Top batter with the streusel mixture in an even layer and sprinkle mini chocolate chips overtop, if using. The batter is thick, just push it into the corners the best you can.
9. Bake: Transfer to center rack of oven and bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool before slicing and serving. Your kitchen is going to smell incredible, try not to pace in front of the oven door.

Make it yours

• Walnut and chocolate version. You combine both walnuts and mini chocolate chips in the streusel for maximum texture and flavor.
• Cream cheese swirl version. You dollop softened cream cheese into the batter before adding the streusel for a richer, tangier bite.

Perfect Pairings

This banana coffee cake suits two specific pairings particularly well.

• A cold glass of milk works especially well with a slice eaten warm right out of the pan.
• Sunday brunch with the in-laws needs exactly this kind of bake that looks like far more effort went into it.

Banana Coffee Cake

This banana coffee cake proves that a few overripe bananas and a buttery streusel can turn into a genuinely impressive breakfast bake with almost no effort. This banana coffee cake recipe layers a cinnamon pecan streusel over a tender, buttermilk-enriched crumb, delivering everything a proper banana crumb cake should taste like. Whether served at Sunday brunch or sliced for a quiet weekday morning, this moist banana coffee cake earns a permanent spot in the regular rotation.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Servings: 9 servings

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Calories: 552

Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar (firmly packed)
• ⅓ cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• ⅓ cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
• 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter (melted)
• ⅓ cup mini chocolate chips (optional )
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (softened)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar (firmly packed )
• 2 large eggs (lightly beaten (room temperature preferred))
• 1 cup mashed overripe banana ((about 2-3 bananas for me))
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup buttermilk

Equipment

• 9×9 baking pan
• Mixing bowls
• A sturdy fork

Method

 

1. Preheat oven to 350F and lightly grease a 9×9 baking pan with baking spray (or grease and flour, or line with parchment paper). Set aside and prepare streusel.
2. Whisk together flour, sugars, cinnamon, salt, and nuts.
3. Drizzle melted butter over mixture and use a fork to claw together until you have a clumpy streusel. Measure out chocolate chips and set aside along with streusel for later.
4. Combine butter and sugars in a large mixing bowl and use an electric mixer or stand mixer to beat until well creamed.
5. Add eggs and beat until well-combined. Stir in mashed banana and vanilla extract.
6. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
7. Add half of the dry ingredients to the wet and use a spatula to gently fold together until nearly combined. Add buttermilk, stir until nearly combined, then add remaining flour mixture and stir until just combined.
8. Spread the batter evenly into prepared pan. Top batter with the streusel mixture in an even layer and sprinkle mini chocolate chips overtop, if using.
9. Transfer to center rack of oven and bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool before slicing and serving.

Recipe Notes

Bananas: I only use overripe, very black bananas.
Buttermilk: I use real buttermilk or a vinegar and milk substitute.
Butter: I keep this cold for the streusel, softened for the batter.
Cooling: I let the cake cool a full hour before slicing.
Storage: I keep this in an airtight container to protect the streusel topping.