This tender banana coffee cake has a pecan and cinnamon streusel topping that gives it extra flavor and crunch. It's an elevated version of banana muffins and banana bread and is the perfect treat to enjoy with a cup of coffee.
This banana coffee cake is an example of frugality at it's finest. Not only are you salvaging leftover brown bananas, but you can make an extra portion and freeze it to enjoy another day when your cookie jar is empty.
Did you know that you can stock your freezer with baked goodies too? You certainly can. Many cookies, muffins and breads can be frozen. You can easily make a double batch of whatever you're baking and store one in the freezer.
The tender and crumbly coffee cake with distinct banana flavor is topped with crunchy pecans and a dusting of cinnamon. It's so good to enjoy with a cup of coffee or a glass of milk.
Ingredients:
- cream cheese - this is the secret ingredient in this tender coffee cake
- butter - you'll need butter for the batter and the streusel topping
- sugar - granulated sugar for the batter and brown sugar for the streusel topping
- eggs - use large eggs in this recipe
- bananas - the bananas should be really ripe and dark brown
- vanilla extract
- all purpose flour
- baking powder & baking soda
- salt
- pecans - you can use other nuts too, such as walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, etc.
- cinnamon - this will add a lovely flavor and spice to the coffee cake
Video of How To Make a Banana Coffee Cake:
Recipe for Banana Coffee Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13x9 inch baking pan with baking spray.
- First, prep the bananas. If you're using frozen bananas, like I usually do, defrost them, peel and place in a fine mesh sieve. Drain until no liquid is left, about 5 minutes. Mash the bananas.
- Then, cream the cream cheese, butter and sugar. In a standing mixer with a paddle attachment, mix the cream cheese, butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. It is really important that the cream cheese, butter and eggs be room temperature, so take them out before you start making the batter. This will ensure that they mix up evenly and are really light and fluffy. This will create a really tender cake.
- Next, add the eggs, one at a time. With the mixer running on low, add eggs, one at a time until the eggs are incorporated. The eggs also need to be room temperature, otherwise the batter will look curdled if you add cold eggs into the cream cheese and butter mixture.
- Add the mashed bananas and vanilla to the batter and mix to combine.
- Mix the dry ingredients together and add to the batter. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl until evenly mixed. Add the dry ingredients to the batter and mix just until the dry ingredients are incorporated.
- Spread out the batter evenly in the prepared baking dish.
- Make the streusel topping. Combine all the streusel ingredients together in a small bowl and then spread evenly over the batter.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes.
Helpful Tips For the Best Banana Coffee Cake
The best bananas for baking are the ones that are really soft and dark brown. They are sweeter and more flavorful, so keep the firm yellow bananas for baking and wait for the bananas to become really ripe before you use them for baking. You can even freeze bananas to use them in baking at another time, then thaw them before using.
It is important for the cream cheese, butter and eggs to be room temperature for the batter to mix properly. The cake will turn out really tender and have a soft texture. The butter and cream cheese will be able to whip into an airy texture if they aren't too cold or too hot. If the eggs are too cold, they will cause the cream cheese/butter mixture to curdle.
Instead of pecans, you can use any other kind of nuts - walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts, etc. Coconut flakes are a great option too. You can omit the nuts altogether and just sprinkle the top of the coffeecake with brown sugar, cinnamon, butter and flour. You can also add chocolate chips and nuts to the batter itself.
Yes! Banana Coffee cake freezes really well.
I usually cut the coffee cake into 4 portions. Wrap each portion in parchment paper and remember to label. Wrap each portion in several layers of plastic wrap or place in a ziptop bag or sealed container. It will stay fresh, if sealed properly, up to 6 months.
To thaw, unwrap the coffee cake and defrost. You can eat it as soon as it thaws or place it in the microwave for about a minute or heat up for 5-10 minutes in a 400 degrees Fahrenheit oven.
More Delicious Banana Recipes:
- Banana Egg Pancakes
- The Best Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies
- HEALTHY Banana Ice Cream
- Bananas Foster Banana Upside Down Cake
Banana Coffeecake
A tender banana coffeecake with a pecan and cinnamon streusel topping that gives it extra flavor and crunch. It's the perfect recipe to use up brown bananas and is an elevated version of banana bread and banana muffins.
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 40 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Category: Sweets
Ingredients
- 1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
- 1 stick of butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup mashed bananas, 3-4 medium
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 ¼ cups flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Topping:
- ¾ - 1 cup chopped pecans
- 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
- ½-1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 Tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 ½ Tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13x9 inch baking pan with baking spray.
- If you're using frozen bananas, like I usually do, defrost them, peel and place in a fine mesh sieve. Drain until no liquid is left, about 5 minutes. Mash the bananas.
- In a standing mixer with paddle attachment, mix the cream cheese, butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- With the mixer running on low, add eggs, one at a time until the eggs are incorporated.
- Add the mashed bananas and vanilla and mix to combine.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl until evenly mixed. Add the dry ingredients to the batter and mix just until the dry ingredients are incorporated.
- Spread out the batter evenly in the prepared baking dish.
- Combine all the ingredients for the streusel topping together in a small bowl. Spread evenly over the batter.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes.
To freeze:
- I usually cut the coffecake into 4 portions. Wrap each portion in parchment paper and remember to label. Wrap each portion in several layers of plastic wrap or place in a ziptop bag or sealed container.
- To serve: Unwrap the coffecake and defrost. You can eat it as soon as it thaws or place it in the microwave for about a minute or heat up for 5-10 minutes in a 400 degrees Fahrenheit oven.
This is an updated version of the Banana Coffeecake recipe that was published originally on February 4, 2013. The recipe is the same, with updated pictures and a new video.
Hi, Olga Cake was made very tasty and it was an absolute hit!, please tell me More Lovely Cake Recipes.
So happy to hear that you enjoyed the coffeecake:). Thank you for taking the time to write.
I was really excited to try this because it has cream cheese in the batter. I’ve never seen that before in a quick bread. It was really delicious, and the texture was so soft and pillowy.
I'm so glad you enjoyed the Banana Coffeecake, Brittney:).
Hi Olga, I made this and it turned out delicious! Exactly what I expected. Thank you for the detailed instructions.
Made this last night and it was so delicious!!! I spent like 20 minutes on Pinterest looking for the perfect banana coffee cake and decided to settle for this recipe. I am so glad I did! It was perfectly moist inside, not too sweet. And the top was also perfectly crunchy and sweet. I had half the amount of pecans on top, but next time I'll put the full amount. Thank you Olga for this recipe! It was better than my usual banana bread. I think this will be my go-to from now on 😋😋
Hi Leah,
I am so happy that you enjoyed this Banana Coffeecake:). Thank you for taking the time to write.
I tried out cake with the above recipe. The cake was very soft and tasty. Thank you.
Had to make this cake 3 days in a row. My family absolutely loved this! What a treat! Thank you for sharing your awesome recopies Olga!
I'm so happy to hear that the cake was such a hit, Mia:). Thanks for taking the time to write.
Thank you Olga for a wonderful recipe. My family absolutely loves it & I make it over & over again.
That's great, Olya!
so I've been baking this bread for about 40 minutes and it's still liquid(( wonder why because I put all the ingredients just like you said
Maybe your oven temperature isn't working properly? It's shouldn't be liquid at that point.
This is soooo delicious and very easy to make!
This was so easy to make and came out so delicious! I cut the sugar a little to account for the bananas and also baked a little longer because i had a smaller/deeper dish. Thank you for your recipes!!
I'm so happy that you enjoyed it, Tatyana.
Thank you for taking the time to write.
Thank you so much for this. I love coffee cake. The fact that it has the word "coffee" in it, is a win. (I know it doesn't contain any caffeine), it's just such a simple and non fuss recipe. And cinnamon.... We like our cinnamon, lol. I'll definitely be making this soon. I've got several bananas that will reach their prime in just another day or 2. Can't wait to try this one out. Thanks
I hope you enjoy the coffeecake, Oksana:).
I’m currently enjoying this coffeecake with a glass of cold milk... yum! It’s so tender and moist and 100 times better than banana bread, in my opinion. Since the ripe bananas add some sweetness to the cake, I adjusted the amount of sugar to my preference and added a quarter less. Next time I will add only half the amount of sugar and it will be perfect for me:)
Thank you for sharing, Olga!
I'm so happy you enjoyed the coffeecake, Marina. Thank you for taking the time to write. I really appreciate it.
Amazing coffee cake. I'm normally not a fan of coffee cake, but I guess I just haven't found the perfect recipe until now! It was moist and tender and absolutely delicious. Thank you for a tasty recipe, will definitely make again!
Yay! I'm so glad you were happy with this coffeecake, Kristina:).
Hi Olga. I made this coffee cake yesterday and as soon as it was out of the over I had to cut into it, just couldn’t wait. Let me let you how impressed I was with the results. It rose beautifully, very fluffy/airy and perfectly moist. The streusel was amazing addition to the cake (although I only had some walnuts and almonds) i will definitely be making it again very soon. Thank you
I am so happy that you enjoyed the Banana Coffeecake, Yana. Thank you for taking the time to write.
This was really good & super easy to make. Thank you for yet another wonderful recipe 😊
I'm happy to hear that you enjoyed it, Katie:).