This super simple banana cake with peanut butter frosting is a match made in heaven! The moist single-layer banana cake is topped with an intensely creamy peanut butter cream cheese frosting. The banana cake doesn't even need a mixer!
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Peanut butter and bananas are such a classic combo! When I was making my banana cake with chocolate frosting (YUM,) I did consider adding peanut butter in some way, but it felt like it would be too much altogether. Let me know if that's something you want to see!
This banana cake has a peanut butter frosting, but not any peanut butter frosting - it's a peanut butter cream cheese frosting! The peanut butter plus the cream cheese makes this cake not too sweet - it's perfect (in my humble opinion)
The banana cake is made in one bowl without a mixer, but you'll need a handheld mixer or stand mixer for the frosting (sorry!). It's a pretty easy cake to whip up during the week or for a lil weekend sweet treat.
Baking it in a single pan makes it so easy, no fuss or need to layer or stack anything!
Testing this recipe!
So many cream cheese frosting recipes are runny, but not this one! Want to know how? Whipped cream! Instead of doing a regular cream cheese frosting base of butter + powdered sugar, this peanut butter cream cheese frosting uses a base of whipped cream.
The cream cheese helps stabilize the whipped cream, giving us a frosting that isn't going to deflate and look sad within an hour.
Grab your ingredients!
- Bananas: Kind of an essential ingredient! You'll need bananas with a bunch of freckles and brown spots. They're way easier to mash up, and they taste sweeter too.
- Buttermilk: Adding buttermilk is going to give this cake a bit of tang and make it extra moist. No dry cake here, please and thank you!
- Peanut Butter: Make sure you're using commercial peanut butter, that super soft kind you find at the grocery store like Kraft or Jif or Skippy? I know, I usually use the natural peanut butter with oil on top for things like smoothies and yogurt bowls, but trust me. You want regular commercial peanut butter here.
- Cream Cheese: Make sure you're using full-fat cream cheese here.
Let's make this recipe!
- Melt the butter and whisk in the sugars.
- Whisk in the mashed banana. It's going to be lumpy, and that's fine! Add the remaining wet ingredients.
- Gently fold in the dry ingredients until just combined - we don't want to overmix (overmixing will make the texture dry and dense)
- Pour the banana cake batter into a greased and lined baking pan and bake in the oven.
- With a handheld mixer, beat heavy cream with sugar, salt and vanilla. Mix until it's very thick. Add the cream cheese and mix until combined.
- Add the peanut butter and whisk for a couple of minutes. Frost your (completely cooled!) cake and enjoy.
Tips from Ella's Kitchen
- Kitchen Scale: I am once again here to say, "You need a kitchen scale!!" You can get them for under 20 bucks now, and they will make your baking so much easier and faster (and fewer dishes, you're welcome!). It's so easy to add too much flour to your banana cake, which is going to make it dry and dense.
- Let the Cake Cool: warm cake and cool frosting? Bad idea, my friend. Make sure the cake is completely cool before you start frosting it.
- Decoration: I decorated with crushed peanuts, but I also think this would be amazing with shaved chocolate curls or dehydrated banana slices!
Made This Recipe?
Make sure to leave a ⭐️ rating and review below! You can tag me on Instagram @alpineella or follow along on Pinterest, Facebook and TikTok!
Thank you!
Ella
Recipe
Banana Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting
Equipment
- 1 8x8 baking pan
Ingredients
Banana Cake
- ½ cup (113 grams) unsalted butter
- 1 cup (250 grams) bananas mashed
- ½ cup (104 grams) light brown sugar
- ¼ cup (50 grams) white sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- ¼ cup (56 grams) buttermilk room temperature
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ¾ cup (210 grams) all purpose flour
Peanut Butter Frosting
- ⅓ cup (75 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup (105 ml) heavy cream cold
- ¾ cup (170 grams) cream cheese cold
- ½ cup (135 grams) smooth peanut butter
Instructions
Banana Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°Fahrenheit/175°Celsius. Grease and line an 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper and set aside. Make sure the parchment is overhanging so you can easily lift the cake out.
- Melt the butter in a large microwave safe bowl. Whisk in the mashed banana.½ cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, 1 cup (250 grams) bananas
- Add the sugar and light brown sugar and whisk into the banana mixture for 1 minute.¼ cup (50 grams) white sugar, ½ cup (104 grams) light brown sugar
- Add in the two eggs, buttermilk and vanilla extract, whisking until almost smooth - it will be a little bit lumpy because of the banana which is fine!2 large eggs, ¼ cup (56 grams) buttermilk, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Pour in the dry ingredients - the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and ground cinnamon. Use a rubber spatula to fold everything together until there are no more streaks of flour.1 teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, 1 ¾ cup (210 grams) all purpose flour, ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes. A toothpick inserted should come out with little to no crumbs. Let it cool in the pan for 20 minutes before gently lifting out and letting it cool completely on a wire cooling rack.
Peanut Butter Frosting
- In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, or a large bowl with a handheld mixer, whisk the heavy cream, salt, sugar and vanilla on medium-low for 2 minutes. The sugar needs to have completely dissolved.⅓ cup (75 grams) granulated sugar, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, ½ cup (105 ml) heavy cream, 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- Increase the speed to high and whisk for 2 minutes, until it looks very thick like Greek yogurt.
- Add the cream cheese and the peanut butter. Turn the speed to high, and whip for 3 minutes until smooth.¾ cup (170 grams) cream cheese, ½ cup (135 grams) smooth peanut butter
- Spread this peanut butter frosting on top of the banana cake.
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Katie says
Easy tasty lovely fall treat! Did this with the kids, easy without a mixer for the cake part. I thought the frosting would be too sweet, but paired with the cake it's right. Yum
Ella says
Thanks so much for your review Katie!