This banana coffee cake has a cinnamon swirl running through it and is topped with cinnamon streusel! It's made with sour cream, making it extra soft and moist. This simple banana coffee cake doesn't need a mixer, just a few bowls and a whisk! This coffee cake is perfect with, well, a cup of coffee!
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Fun fact for you, coffee cake does not actually have coffee in it! I know, who knew?? Coffee cake was made to have with your afternoon cup of coffee.
This banana bread coffee cake is based on my favorite banana bundt cake with chocolate chips. After a BUNCH of testing, I got the cinnamon filling and streusel just right. I added a little bit of cocoa powder to the filling (thanks to a hot tip from King Arthur Baking Company!) so it actually shows up - because slicing into coffee cake and seeing that swirl is part of the fun!
My original streusel was a tad bit too crunchy for my liking, so I increased the amount of melted butter in the topping. This gives us a very slightly crunchy topping that doesn't completely melt into the top of the cake.
If you still have a plethora of ripe bananas on your countertop, try making my banana cake with chocolate frosting, banana cake with peanut butter frosting, or super moist chocolate chunk banana bread!
Testing (and Re-testing) This Cake
This banana coffee cake went through a LOT of testing. I wanted it to be the perfect combo of banana bread and a coffee cake, and a lot of that testing was the filling and the topping.
- Filling: When I was first testing this cake, the filling was only a touch darker than the rest of the cake. The color of the cake was quite dark (I mean, compared to a vanilla cake!) because of the bananas and the spices. In the second test, I added two teaspoons of cocoa powder, but that made it too dark. Once I got to the third test, I decreased it to just one teaspoon of cocoa powder, and it was perfect!
- Streusel Topping: I wanted a coffee cake topping that was crunchy but not too crunchy (I know, I'm impossible to please!). The first test was way too hard; while the texture was good when eating it, it meant that when you sliced into the cake, the topping was collapsing. In the third test, I increased the amount of butter and sugar but kept the amount of flour the same.
Grab Your Ingredients!
- Bananas: Kind of essential here. Make sure they have lots of brown spots and freckles. Not only are they way easier to mash up, but they taste sweeter too!
- Sour Cream: I love adding sour cream to cake recipes. It gives it a bit of tang and makes the cake super moist.
- Cocoa Powder: Cocoa powder?? In a coffee cake? I know, I know. I first saw King Arthur Baking Company use a dash of cocoa powder in their coffee cake filling to make it darker and ran with that idea! I promise you don't taste it.
Let's Make This Recipe!
- Step 1: Whisk the filling ingredients and set aside.
- Step 2: Melt the butter for the topping. Add the remaining topping ingredients and then place in teh fridge.
- Step 3: Melt the butter in a large bowl, then add the mashed bananas.
- Step 4: Whisk in the sugar and light brown sugar. Then add in the sour cream, vanilla and eggs. It'll be lumpy but that's fine!
- Step 5: Add in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
- Step 6: Pour half of the cake batter into an 8x8 pan. Sprinkle over the filling. Pour the remaining batter on top, then sprinkle over the streusel. Bake!
Top Tips from My Kitchen!
- Streusel Clumping: The streusel might clump together in the fridge. Use a fork or your hands to break it up into smaller chunks, then sprinkle that over the cake.
- Kitchen Scale: I always, always say this - use a kitchen scale when you're baking! You can get them for under $20 now, and it means fewer dishes for you. I test all of my recipes with metric measurements and not cups!
- Lining the Pan: Because this isn't like a regular layer cake that you can flip upside down to get the cake out, make sure you line the baking pan with enough parchment paper that it makes a 'sling' that you can easily lift out!
- Baking Time: This is a thick cake and ovens differ, so your cake might need more time in the oven! I have an oven thermometer that I can keep in my oven at all times so I can make sure it really is at the right tempersture.
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
Easy Banana Coffee Cake with Sour Cream
This banana coffee cake is ultra-moist with a cinnamon swirl and buttery streusel topping-no mixer needed! Perfect for using up ripe bananas.
Equipment
- 8x8 baking pan
- Kitchen Scales
- 2 Small Bowls
- 1 Large Bowl
- Whisk
- Rubber Spatula
Ingredients
Cinnamon Filling
- ½ cup (100 grams) brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon cocoa powder
Cinnamon Streusel
- ¾ cup (90 grams) flour
- 6 tablespoons (85 grams) butter
- ¾ cup (150 grams) sugar
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ tablespoon cinnamon
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) sour cream
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ¾ cup (210 grams) all purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Ella's Baking Tip!Weigh your ingredients with a kitchen scale for the best results!
Instructions
- 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!
- Whisk the filling ingredients together and set aside.½ cup (100 grams) brown sugar, 1 tablespoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon cocoa powder
- For the topping, melt the butter in a small bowl. Pour over the remaining topping ingredients. Place in the fridge.¾ cup (90 grams) flour, 6 tablespoons (85 grams) butter, ¾ cup (150 grams) sugar, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, ½ tablespoon cinnamon
- 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 mashed
- Add the sugar and light brown sugar and whisk into the banana mixture for 1 minute.½ cup (104 grams) light brown sugar, ¼ cup (50 grams) white sugar
- Add in the two eggs, sour cream and vanilla extract, whisking until almost smooth - it will be a little bit lumpy because of the banana which is fine!2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 2 large eggs, ¼ cup (56 grams) sour cream
- Pour in the dry ingredients - the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and ground cinnamon and nutmeg. 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 ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, 1 ¾ cup (210 grams) all purpose flour, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Pour half of the cake batter into the prepared pan.
- Sprinkle over the filling. Pour over the remaining banana bread cake batter.
- Take the streusel out of the fridge. It might have clumped together, so I recommend using a fork or your hands to break it apart into separate pieces.
- Sprinkle the topping over the cake evenly.
- Bake for 35-45 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
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Notes
My recipes have been developed and tested in metric grams. I highly recommend using a weighing scale and measuring out your ingredients the metric way. I have provided a conversion to US cups but please note that I haven't tested the recipe with this method. Just click on 'US customary' above the ingredients.
Room Temperature: I make sure that all of my ingredients are at room temperature before I start the recipe, so pull out all of the ingredients about 2 hours before you start baking.
Salt: If you don't have kosher salt, halve the amount of salt called for in the recipe. 1 teaspoon kosher salt = ½ teaspoon fine salt. I'm also using Diamond Crystal kosher salt, not Morton Kosher Salt, which is far too salty for this!
Sour Cream: you can substitute sour cream for full fat yogurt. I don't recommend using any low fat or non fat products as it will change the texture and taste.
Storage: Keep the cake wrapped up tightly or in an airtight container. It will last 3 days at room temperature and up to a week in the fridge
Tried this recipe?Leave a comment below! You can also tag me on Instagram @alpineella so I can see what you made!
Valerie says
This is delicious! Fresh out of the oven 30 minutes ago and my toddler and I could wait to try it. The best of both worlds for banana bread and coffee cake lovers!
Ella says
Thank you so much for your review!