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Banana Coffee Cake combines banana bread and coffee cake – it’s the best way to use up overripe bananas. I have been making this recipe FOR YEARS and every time I do people gobble it up. It’s soft and moist with tons of banana flavor and a crunchy streusel on top.

coffee cake on a white plate next to some banana slices.

I’ve been making this Banana Bread Coffee Cake for years. It’s my mom’s homemade coffee cake combined with her banana bread recipe. Sounds amazing, right? If you haven’t tried coffee cake made with bananas you are in for a treat – it’s the best of two baked treats combined to make one amazing coffee cake.

It should come as no surprise that I am addicted to coffee cake. I have made so many versions: carrot cake, peanut butter, cinnamon roll pie, pumpkin, and zucchini. This easy banana coffee cake is one of my all-time favorites – it’s soft and moist with tons of banana flavor and a crunchy streusel on top!

coffee cake on a white plate next to some banana slices.

How to make Banana Coffee Cake Tips

  • Bananas need to be overripe – lots of brown spots. The more spots the sweeter the banana gets – and they’re perfect for baking. See below the recipe card for tips on how to freeze and store bananas.
  • You’ll need both brown sugar and granulated sugar (one for the cake and one for the crumble).
  • I love this made with browned butter – you can use regular melted butter but the brown butter is just amazing in this.
  • I usually just mix the cake batter in one large bowl. You can use a hand mixer, stand mixer, or just mix with a whisk by hand.
  • Whole milk is best (the more fat content the milk has, the moister the coffee cake will be) but you can use 2%, fat free, or nondairy milk.
  • Stir together the crumble topping in another bowl and sprinkle it on top of the cake batter.
  • You can bake this coffee cake in a 10-inch round pie pan or 9-inch square pan or 9-inch round cake pan.
egg, baking powder, melted butter and other ingredients in glass bowl with whisk.
flour and milk in mixture in glass bowl with whisk.
streusel ingredients in small glass bowl.
cake batter and streusel in bowl.

Storing Instructions

  • Store cooled cake wrapped in plastic wrap or in an airtight container. You can store at room temperature for 2 days or in the fridge for 3 days.
  • You can freeze the entire baked and cooled cake or freeze slices in sandwich baggies.

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coffee cake on a white plate next to some banana slices.

Expert Tips

  • Test for doneness with a toothpick – if it comes out clean your cake is done.
  • You can add chocolate chips or nuts, about 1 cup of either.
  • If you want a simple powdered sugar drizzle, mix 1/2 cup powdered sugar with about 1-2 tablespoons milk for the topping.
  • You can make coffee cake banana muffins using muffin liners. It’ll make about 12 muffins, and bake in about 15-20 minutes.
4.75 from 47 votes

Banana Coffee Cake Recipe

By: Dorothy Kern
Banana Bread Coffee Cake – this EASY coffee cake recipe is full of banana bread flavor with a nutty streusel on top! It’s everyone’s favorite breakfast or brunch recipe!
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes
Servings: 12 servings
coffee cake on a white plate next to some banana slices.
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Ingredients

Coffee Cake:

  • ¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
  • ¼ cup (59ml) brown butter, (see step 2)
  • 2 overripe bananas, mashed
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup (118ml) milk
  • 1 ½ cups (186g) flour

Streusel Ingredients:

  • ⅓ cup (67g) packed brown sugar
  • ¼ cup (31g) all purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon
  • ¼ cup (57g) browned butter, (see step 2)
  • 1 cup pecans or walnuts, optional

Instructions 

  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9” square pan or a 10” pie plate with cooking spray.
  • Add ½ cup (8 tablespoons) of unsalted butter to a small frying pan. Cook over low heat, stirring until it browns. It will foam up, then turn brown. Keep stirring the entire time. Once it turns brown the foam will diminish and the butter will become golden. Remove from heat. You are using this butter for both the cake and streusel.
  • Mix sugar, ¼ cup of the browned butter, and egg in a large bowl. Stir in baking powder and salt, then stir in mashed bananas. Whisk in flour and milk stir until just combined. Pour in prepared pan.
  • Make the crumb topping: stir together brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and remaining ¼ cup browned butter, and nuts, if using. I like to stir them together with a fork.
  • Top cake with the streusel. Bake time will depend on pan, but it will take anywhere from 30-40 minutes. My thin pie plates and 9-inch pans take about 30 minutes, but the thick pan used in the photos took 40.
  • Cool slightly before serving.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 178kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 29mg | Sodium: 145mg | Potassium: 112mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 19g | Vitamin A: 160IU | Calcium: 58mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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How to Freeze Overripe Bananas

Am I the only one who is thrilled when there are brown overripe bananas on the counter? When it happens, all I can think about is making this banana coffee cake recipe. I usually stack the deck in my favor and buy more bananas than we can eat in a week just so I have an excuse to make it.

You can freeze bananas so if you have some that are just right for baking, but you’re not ready to use them, you can pop them in the freezer for later. People gasp when I tell them that but I do it all the time!

  • Peel the bananas first because it’s really hard to do this after they’ve been frozen.
  • Once peeled, you can cut them into chunks or keep them whole. I like to keep them whole since most banana bread and cake recipes call for whole bananas.
  • Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. You want to freeze them before placing them in a bag – that way they won’t get stuck together in the bag as they freeze.
  • Freeze them on the baking sheet for 30 minutes and then transfer them to a freezer-safe bag. They will keep for three to four months.
  • To thaw, just leave them out at room temperature.

That’s the complicated way. The way I do it: I toss them in the freezer, peels and all. Before I use them, I let them thaw on a plate at room temperature.

Other brunch ideas

Dorothy Kern

Welcome to Crazy for Crust, where I share recipes that are sometimes crazy, often with a crust, and always served with a slice of life.

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4.75 from 47 votes (19 ratings without comment)

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81 Comments

  1. I doubled this recipe using 5 bananas. It turned out great! I didn’t do the topping not realizing I had only enough flour for the cake itself. I did not brown the butter (I started to, but there was a series of popping and splashing and it was too early for me to deal with but I’m sure it would have added a nice flavor). I did add some cinnamon and walnuts to the mix. Ended up making a 9×11 casserole dish sized banana bread, with about 45 mins cooking time. Moist and delicious.

    Reply

  2. Although it came out edible, this was confusing to follow. I guess I need to see the ingredients separated a little clearer. My topping was extremely runny and not crumbly at all. I’ll try it again though.

    Reply

  4. Flavor of the cake was good – very familiar. I usually overcook banana bread so I tried not to overcook this cake. The result was that it was a little undercooked – not wet, but supermoist. Then I followed the suggestion to use melted butter to make the topping if there wasn’t time to crumble the sugar, flour and butter together. That made for a very wet topping (couldn’t use nuts; they might have given it more structure). I dabbed the topping on over the top of the cake. Between my underbaking the cake and the wet topping, the overall coffee cake was just too moist (my fault on both counts). However, as I said it was a good, familiar tasting coffee cake. I would try it again, following the directions without shortcuts.

    Reply