This ultra-moist and tender Banana Coffee Cake is a cross between the most perfect banana bread and your favorite cinnamon-laced coffee cake! It is so good and perfect for serving up for brunch at home.

My banana coffee cake recipe is a tender banana cake laced with brown butter, a cinnamon swirl center, and a crispy walnut streusel topping.

The Best Banana Coffee Cake

I love a classic sour cream coffee cake as much as the next person, but this banana coffee cake recipe is something special! It’s got all the banana bread flavor you love with an extra kiss of cinnamon and a crispy streusel topping with walnuts.

With Mother’s Day just around the corner, this is truly the perfect breakfast/brunch or dessert recipe that any mom would love! You can even bake it up the day before and then serve it up with coffee on Sunday morning.

I love banana bread and I love coffee cake, but when you put them together it’s just magical! This cake is so addicting that you definitely won’t be able to stop at one slice.

Looking for more recipe ideas for Mother’s Day? Check out my guide to crafting the perfect Mother’s Day Brunch.

What Makes this Cake so Good?

This is truly one of my favorite baking recipes to date and it took several tries to get it perfect! So let’s break down what makes this banana coffee cake so good:

The cake – This cake is everything you love about banana bread! It’s moist and soft but it has the added flavor from brown butter which just takes it over the top.

Cinnamon swirl – Would it even be a great coffee cake without a little swirl of cinnamon sugar in the center? The cinnamon and banana go so well together!

Crispy walnut streusel – No coffee cake is complete without a crispy crumble topping. This one is extra special thanks to some toasty walnuts that provide the perfect crunch. Not a fan of nuts? No problem! Just omit the walnuts and add a bit less butter.

Glaze – This is an optional element, but the maple glaze just takes this banana coffee cake to the next level! It’s so simple to make but adds tons of flavor.

How to Make Banana Coffee Cake

This banana coffee cake is so easy to make! Make sure to use a quality light-colored metal baking pan (like the one linked below) so that the cake bakes evenly.

Tools Needed

• 8×8 Metal Baking Pan
• Mixing Bowls
• Measuring Cups
• Whisk
• Saucepan

Ingredients and Substitutions

• Bananas. Make sure to use ripe, brown bananas.
• Sugar. You’ll need both white and brown sugar for this recipe, plus powdered sugar for the glaze.
• Butter. Unsalted works best and you’ll be browning it for extra flavor.
• Egg. You’ll need one egg. Make sure it’s at room temperature!
• Sour cream. Sour cream adds fat and moisture, so I don’t recommend using low fat or swapping in another ingredient like yogurt.
• Flour. All-purpose flour is best here.
• Baking soda. Baking soda helps the cake rise while keeping it moist.
• Walnuts. An optional ingredient, but it adds a nice texture to the crumble on top of the cake.

The Process

1. Brown the butter. Add the butter to a small saucepan. Cook, swirling the butter occasionally, until golden brown with a nutty aroma. Pour the brown butter into a heat-safe mixing bowl and cool for 10 minutes.
2. Make the crumble topping. In a small bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, walnuts, and salt and mix with a fork. Pour in the melted butter and mix until clumpy. Transfer to the fridge to firm up.
3. Make the cinnamon sugar. In a small bowl, whisk together the brown sugar and cinnamon until well mixed. Set aside.
4. Mix the dry ingredients for the cake. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl and whisk until combined. Set aside.
5. Mix the wet ingredients for the cake. Add the brown and white sugar to the slightly cooled brown butter. Whisk well for 2-3 minutes until thick and foamy. Whisk in the egg, sour cream, vanilla, and mashed banana until very smooth. Switch to a rubber spatula and fold in the dry ingredients until just combined and no streaks of flour remain.
6. Layer and bake. Spread half of the cake batter in the prepared baking pan in an even layer. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar all over, then top with the remaining batter. Remove the crumble from the fridge and use a fork to break up the crumble into small pieces and sprinkle all over the top of the cake. Transfer to the oven and bake for 45-50 minutes, until slightly puffed in the center and a cake tester comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool for 45 minutes.
7. Mix the glaze. Whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, and maple syrup until thick but drizzle-able. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cake before cutting and serving.

Recipe Tips & Tricks

Make sure your bananas are ripe. Underripe bananas don’t have the sweetness and flavor that makes a good banana bread or cake special. Make sure your bananas are soft with brown spots all over the peel.

Use a scale. I highly recommend using a scale to weigh the flour and the banana! These make the most difference in whether the cake turns out well or not at all. Too much banana and the cake won’t set up, too little and the cake will be dry. You run into the same problems with the flour (too much and it’s dry, too little and it won’t bake). Use a scale for the most accurate baking results.

Don’t overmix. When I add my dry ingredients, I always switch from a whisk or hand mixer to a rubber spatula. Being able to mix the dry ingredients by hand keeps me from over-mixing the batter and ending up with a dense and dry cake.

Bake low and slow. Baking the banana coffee cake loaf at 325 F instead of 350 F allows us to bake the cake all the way through (while supporting the weight of the streusel topping) without the edges drying out. This is my secret for a lot of my cakes!

How to Brown Butter

Making brown butter is so easy and it’s the perfect way to level up your baking.

1. Melt the butter. Start with a shallow saucepan and melt your butter over low heat.
2. Bubbling. After the butter is melted, it’ll start to bubble a bit. You’ll notice the color will change and the butter will get much clearer.
3. Foaming. Next, your butter will start to get foamy. I like to swirl the pan every minute or so while this is happening. The butter will start to brown and you’ll smell the change.
4. Browning. Keep a close eye at this stage because it’s easy to burn! You want the butter to just be golden brown at this point.

Once the butter is golden brown, remove it from the heat immediately. Transfer it to a heat-proof bowl and let it cool to room temperature. From here, it’s ready to use in a variety of baked goods! Don’t leave the little browned bits behind, that’s where all the flavor is.

When to Serve Banana Coffee Cake

While it’s tempting to serve right away, you want to let the cake cool in the pan for about 45 minutes to 1 hour before removing and serving. The cake should still be slightly warm. This is when you should add your drizzle of glaze so that it doesn’t melt all over the hot cake.

You can also make this cake in advance, let it cool, wrap it well, and store it at room temperature for up to 3 days. When it’s time to serve, you can warm the cake slices slightly in the microwave.

Storage Instructions

I love this banana coffee cake loaf because it’s so easy to store and freeze!

To store, you can wrap the cake in parchment paper and then plastic wrap and keep it at room temperature for 3 days. Warming the cake for a few seconds in the microwave totally refreshes it! You can also store the wrapped cake in the fridge for up to 1 week.

To freeze, wrap the unsliced cake in plastic wrap really well and transfer to a freezer-safe ziplock bag. This helps prevent freezer burn. You can also freeze individual slices, just make sure to wrap each slice really well in plastic wrap so that they don’t dry out. Freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge overnight and then microwave for 20 seconds before serving.

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This Banana Coffee Cake is absolutely magical and the perfect treat for Mother’s Day. When you’re craving something sweet, this is the perfect recipe to turn to! If you do give this recipe a try, be sure to let me know! Leave a comment with a star rating below. Be sure to subscribe to my weekly newsletter and never miss a new recipe! You can also snap a photo & tag @JENNYGOYCOCHEA on Instagram. I LOVE hearing about & seeing your SMF creations!

More Cake Recipes to Try

Chocolate Whiskey Cake
Sour Cream Coffee Cake Loaf
Apple Cider Donut Cake
Almond Ricotta Cake
Apple Crumb Cake

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