🍌🍰 This is the best banana cake with cream cheese frosting: soft, tender, moist, and full of banana flavor thanks to four ripe bananas. A tangy-sweet cream cheese frosting finishes it perfectly, making this an easy family favorite that’s quick to prepare.
Best Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe
If you love banana recipes, this cake is a standout. It has earned near five-star reviews from readers because it delivers excellent banana flavor and a great texture: moist, tender, and just dense enough without feeling heavy. The cream cheese frosting is a natural match for banana and balances sweetness with a pleasant tang.
- Soft, tender, moist: The cake keeps a tender crumb while still holding its shape, and four ripe bananas give it bold banana flavor.
- Cream cheese frosting: Tangy and smooth, the frosting elevates the cake. You can skip frosting or swap in a different frosting, but cream cheese is our preferred pairing.
I made it for Mother’s Day. It was so fluffy and delicious! I used sour cream for the cake, but it wasn’t heavy at all. Good recipe for using bananas! No need for frosting for my family — it’s sweet enough. Will bake again 🙂
— June
Recipe Ingredients
These are common refrigerator and pantry ingredients that most home cooks will already have on hand.
- Milk + lemon juice or buttermilk: If you don’t have buttermilk, add 1 tablespoon lemon juice to 1 cup 2% or whole milk and let sit 5 minutes to sour. This stands in for buttermilk in the recipe.
- All-purpose flour: Measure correctly to avoid a dense cake—spoon flour into the cup and level off or use a kitchen scale.
- Leaveners: Baking soda and baking powder give the cake lift and lightness.
- Spices: Ground cinnamon adds warmth; salt brightens the flavors.
- Unsalted butter: Use room-temperature butter for proper creaming with the sugars.
- Sugars: Granulated sugar plus light brown sugar provide sweetness and moisture; brown sugar adds a subtle molasses note that complements banana.
- Large eggs: At room temperature for best mixing.
- Greek yogurt or sour cream: Adds moisture and improves texture.
- Vanilla extract.
- Four very ripe bananas: Overripe bananas are sweeter and mash easily into the batter.
- Cream cheese frosting: Room-temperature full-fat brick-style cream cheese, room-temperature unsalted butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, and a pinch of salt. Optional: add 1–2 tablespoons heavy cream while beating for a silkier frosting.
Tip: If you want a silkier frosting, add 1–2 tablespoons heavy cream while beating. It will make the frosting fluffier without making it runny.
How to Make the Best Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Follow these straightforward steps for a reliable result:
- Mix milk with lemon juice (or use buttermilk) and let it sit while you prepare other ingredients.
- Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
- Cream room-temperature butter until smooth, then add granulated and brown sugars and beat until combined. Add eggs, Greek yogurt (or sour cream), and vanilla and mix until incorporated. Add the bananas and mix; if bananas are very ripe you can add them whole and the mixer will mash them.
- Add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk in three alternating additions, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix lightly—avoid overmixing. The batter will be thick and slightly lumpy from the bananas.
- Pour batter into a prepared 9×13-inch pan and bake at 350°F for about 45–50 minutes, or until the top is set, lightly golden, and a toothpick comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs. Watch closely near the end of baking to avoid overbaking.
- Cool the cake completely in the pan, then beat the frosting ingredients until smooth and spreadable. Frost the cake and, if desired, garnish with banana slices and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Serve and enjoy.
Pro tip: For an extra-moist crumb, place the cake (still in the pan) in the freezer for 45 minutes right after it comes out of the oven. Rapid cooling locks moisture into the cake and you can frost it once it has chilled.
Recipe FAQs
Yes. If you want convenience, a whipped cream cheese tub frosting will work well and covers a 9Ă—13 cake in most cases. Scratch frosting is preferred for flavor, but store-bought is an acceptable shortcut.
Yes. For a layer cake, use either three 8-inch rounds or two 9-inch rounds. For a Bundt, use a 12-cup Bundt pan. Do not fill pans more than two-thirds full and adjust baking time as needed.
Yes. Fill standard liners about two-thirds full and bake at 350°F for 18–22 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.
Overbaking is the most common cause. Ovens vary, so start checking at the earlier end of the bake time. Also check that your leaveners aren’t expired.
Underbaking, overmixing, or old leaveners are usual culprits. Make sure the center is fully set and a toothpick inserted comes out clean before removing the cake from the oven.
Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Equipment
- 9Ă—13-inch baking pan
- Glass measuring cup
- Two large mixing bowls
- Stand mixer with paddle attachment or hand mixer
Ingredients
Banana Cake
- 1 cup 2% or whole milk + 1 tbsp lemon juice, or 1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp fine salt
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar (or 1 1/3–1 1/2 cups for a sweeter cake)
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 5 ounces Greek yogurt or sour cream
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 medium very ripe bananas (about 1 3/4–2 cups mashed)
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 8 ounces brick-style cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 3 to 3 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt, or to taste
Instructions
Banana Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line or spray a 9×13 pan and set aside.
- Combine lemon juice with milk and let sit, or have buttermilk ready at room temperature.
- Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt; set aside.
- Cream butter until light, add sugars and beat until smooth. Add eggs, yogurt (or sour cream), and vanilla; mix to combine. Add bananas and mix—if very ripe, add whole and let the mixer mash them.
- Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the buttermilk in thirds, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Mix just until combined.
- Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 45–50 minutes until set and golden and a toothpick comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs. Cool in the pan; it may sink slightly as it cools.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add 3 cups confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, and salt; start on low to incorporate the sugar, then increase speed and beat until creamy. Add up to 1/2 cup more sugar if you want a thicker frosting.
- Spread frosting over cooled cake and serve immediately or when ready.
Notes
For convenience, a whipped cream cheese tub frosting can be used as a substitute. Storage: Frosted cake can be stored at room temperature for a day; for longer storage keep covered in the refrigerator for up to one week (note that refrigeration can dry cakes slightly). Nutrition information is an estimate and should be used as a guideline only.
More Desserts Using Lots of Bananas:
Six-Banana Banana Chocolate Chip Cake — Packed with banana flavor and chocolate chips for a super-soft, moist cake made with many ripe bananas.
Caramelized Banana Upside-Down Cake — A rich, buttery cake topped with caramelized bananas for a decadent dessert when your bananas are ripe.
Cream Cheese-Filled Banana Bread — Banana bread with a cheesecake-like cream cheese center for a special twist on a classic loaf.
Six-Banana Banana Bread — For when you have a lot of ripe bananas and want a super-moist loaf with pronounced banana flavor.
The Best Strawberry Banana Bread — Combining strawberries and bananas adds moisture and flavor for a moist, fruity loaf.
Zucchini Banana Bread — Adding zucchini keeps the loaf very moist while adding texture and volume without overpowering the banana flavor.
Banana Bread Bars with Vanilla Bean Browned Butter Glaze — Banana bread in bar form with a glaze that soaks in for an indulgent treat.
