This Banana Crumb Cake Recipe is a moist and tender banana cake with layers of brown sugar crumb topping and a sweet icing drizzle.
With fall baking well under way, I’m super pumped to be partnering with Land O’Lakes again to share this quick and easy Banana Crumb Cake Recipe!
How To Make Banana Crumb Cake Topping:
- Start by mixing up your crumb topping – combine COLD butter with brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and a pinch of salt if desired.
- Use a pastry cutter or a sturdy fork to create a crumble mixture.
- Set this aside and quickly mix up the banana cake batter.
How To Make Banana Cake:
- Mash 4 medium ripe bananas in a large bowl, then pour in melted butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla extract. Whisk until combined.
- In a separate bowl combine the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder and salt.
- Add half of the dry ingredients to the wet and whisk to combine; add half of the milk, then whisk, followed by the remaining dry ingredients and more milk.
- Pour half of the batter into a 9″x13″ pan that’s been sprayed with non-stick spray and sprinkle with 1/3 of the crumb mixture.
- Add the remaining banana cake batter over the top and then finish off with the remaining crumb mixture.
What’s so great about this recipe is that you can easily whisk all the ingredients together by hand. Meaning you don’t have to pull out the electric hand mixer or stand mixer to get to this sweet goodness!
Can I Make This Cake Ahead of Time?
Yes! While I really enjoy this cake warm out of the oven, you can definitely make it ahead of time too. The cake stays moist for days. Just make sure to cover it tightly.
You can store this cake at room temperature. No need to refrigerate.
Is Banana Cake a Dessert or Breakfast?
I mean, since it’s loaded with bananas, one might lean towards the breakfast side, but I’ll let you decide on this one.
We serve this at Sunday brunch or as a quick weeknight dessert, but I know I wouldn’t pass up this goodness for breakfast either.
Just wait till you smell the amazing aroma coming from your oven while this cake is baking. The middle layer of crumb topping melts right into the fluffy banana cake creating a pocket of pure deliciousness.
Drizzle a simple powdered sugar glaze right over the top and let it melt right into the beautiful brown sugar crumb topping. YUM!
Can I Halve This Recipe?
Yes! This recipe makes a large 9×13″ pan, but if you don’t need that much (or maybe only have two ripe bananas), this recipe is easily cut in half. In fact, using the Land O Lakes® Unsalted Butter in Half Sticks make this recipe a breeze to scale down.
- Reduce the pan size to 8×8″
- Bake for 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
- Cut all ingredients in half and prepare as instructed.
Craving More Banana Recipes?
Helpful Products To Make This Recipe:
Banana Crumb Cake Recipe
Ingredients
For the Crumb Topping:
- 8 tbsp COLD Land O Lakes® Unsalted Butter in Half Sticks, cubed
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
For the Banana Cake:
- 4 medium ripe bananas
- 8 tbsp Land O Lakes® Unsalted Butter in Half Sticks, melted
- 1 3/4 cups sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup milk
For the Glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
For the Crumb Topping:
- Combine the cold butter, flour, brown sugar and cinnamon in a large bowl and use a pastry cutter or sturdy fork to cut the butter into the dry ingredients, creating a crumbly topping. Set aside.
For the Banana Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9x13" baking dish with non-stick spray and set aside.
- Mash the bananas in a large bowl until smooth. Add in the melted butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla extract and whisk until combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add half of the dry ingredients to the banana mixture, whisk to incorporate. Add in half of the milk, whisking again to incorporate. Whisk in the remaining dry ingredients followed by the remainder of the milk.
- Pour half of the cake mixture into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the top with 1/3 of the crumb mixture. Pour the remaining cake batter over the top, followed by the remaining crumb topping.
- Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean.
- Let cool slightly before adding glaze.
For the Glaze:
- Combine the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla in a small dish and whisk until smooth. Drizzle over warm cake. Enjoy!
Video
Nutrition
PIN THIS IMAGE TO SAVE THE RECIPE:
Perfect Instant Pot Baked Potatoes
Bri R
Easy to make (which is always the best because repeating an easy recipe is really satisfying) and delicious! Cake is very banana-y and moist and just the right amount of sweet for me, very similar level to regular banana bread. Baked at 350 for 45 mins and it was good to go. I skipped the glaze because I thought that would put it over the top in the sweet department and my partner who loves anything and everything banana doesn’t like things too sweet. He loved this banana cake. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
S.E.M.N.
It was a huge hit! It baked perfectly. I might next time may just side on a little less sugar ( calorie counting perspective only) but otherwise soo good. Everyone loved it. Thank you for the clear instructions
Christina
I thought it was way too sweet. I decreased the sugar to 1 1/4 cups and only used half of the crumb topping. With 4 bananas, it was still so sweet that I felt a little sick afterwards. I will make it again with 3/4 cups sugar, and then I think it will be amazing!
Shawn
Sorry you felt it was too sweet. You can definitely reduce the sugar to your liking.
Mary
I’d love to experiment with new recipes! The one I tried was delicious, but it had quite a bit of sugar. I think reducing the sugar by half or even more would be a good idea :). Bananas, brown sugar, and white sugar made it very sweet, but many people prefer less sugary options nowadays. Thank you!
Kari
I made this recipe the other day and it turned out really yummy! The only thing is my cake turned out quite dense. (Still delicious though!) And then I noticed, the recipe didn’t call for any baking soda. So I think next time I will cut the baking powder down to a ½ tbsp and add in 1 tsp of baking soda to hopefully help give it a bit more rise. My bananas weren’t as ripe as they should’ve been either, so that could be another reason it turned a bit dense. They were ripe, but only a little bit brown spotted. Thank you for the great recipe!♡
**Friendly tip for the streusel topping: Instead of using a fork or pastry cutter to combine the cold butter cubes with the flour and brown sugar, use your hands instead. It comes together much better, AND much quicker! =)
Jackie
Made this cake yesterday & love it. I did add an extra banana. Super moist. Loved the texture. Definitely will be making again. Thank you for such a great recipe.
Robin Peppard
Sounds delicious. Can I use 8×8 pans, instead of 9×13 pans? 9×13 pan won’t fit in my Breville oven.
Robin
Can I use this recipe to make muffins? How much time to bake and the same oven temp?
Michelle Drozdibob
I’m a long time cook and baker and I have tried many of your recipes. You have such a nice, bubbly personality that it is a pleasure to watch your videos. We have enjoyed all the recipes we have tried so thank you! It’s good to keep your game fresh and interesting after so many years! Loved this one, too…
Melissa Gibbons
Banana cake recipes
Kristy
Rich, sweet and delicious. It did take longer for me to bake, but likely that was due to moisture in the dead-ripe bananas. I skipped the spices, added extra vanilla and banana extract, plus a good amount of walnuts. My neighbor said it was the best banana anything he’s ever had
Shayla
Made this for my Christmas treat, just took it out the oven and drizzled icing on top looks and tastes SO GOOD! Def making this again!
Shawn
Yay! So glad you enjoyed it Shayla!
Lynn
This cake was excellent. Turned out very moist. Baked for 45 minutes on the 3rd rack of my oven. Perfection! A definite keeper!
Dee Wolp
I am looking forward to making this cake. What is the best way to store it? Does it have to be refrigerated? Can it stay on the counter and if so how long? Thank you.
Rose
In step 4 you say to add 1/3 of the crumb topping to half of the cake batter. Is there suppose to be 2 layers or three? I cut the recipe in half, used 1/2 cup sugar, baked for 50 minutes in a toaster oven. It was dense, but very good!!! If it was suppose to be lighter, I would say that my bananas were not very ripe. I don’t know if that would make a difference. Anyway, I would make it again. Thanks.
Shawn
You’ll add the remaining 2/3 of the crumb to the top of the cake. 🙂 Banana cakes are definitely more dense than a typical cake. I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Sally
Oh boy! Cake is in oven and I realized I only added 1tsp baking powder! Hoping it turns out ok because the recipe sounds so amazing.
Shawn
I hope it turned out well for you Sally! 🙂
Sarah
Hi Shawn:
I thought the cake was delicious, however, I baked mine from the start at 50 minutes, it was definitely to long a time in my oven.
Shawn
I’m glad you enjoyed the cake Sarah, next time try to check at the 45 minute mark and go from there. 🙂
Laura
Hi! I made this today, followed the recipe and it turned out AmaZiNG!
Thank you!
Shawn
Woohoo! So glad you enjoyed it!
Sue T
I halved the recipe and it was perfect. So moist. My 23 year old daughter told me it was the best thing I’ve ever made ! Thank you!
Shawn
Awesome! So glad you guys enjoyed it!
Maysa Hasan
Please can showing the video how to make?
Thank you and nice to have this ingredients..
Shawn
Hi Maysa! I actually do have a video on how to make this. I can’t believe I never uploaded it! I’m adding it to the blog post now. Thanks and enjoy!
Halley
Nope. NOPE. That cook time can NOT be right. I followed the recipe to a T. DAMN NEAR BURNT MY APARTMENT DOWN. SMOKE EVERYWHERE. WTF
Shawn
Sorry you had a mishap in your oven! Sounds like something fell out of the cake pan and hit the bottom of the oven? 45 minutes is definitely the correct time.
Christina D
My cake came out chewy. Any thoughts as to what I might’ve done wrong?
Thanks so much for your input!
Shawn
No idea why it would turn out chewy? Did you forget to add the baking powder??
Tosin
Hey! The recipe was good, although I think baking soda would have made my cake turn out better. Also, the crumb was clumped together and not crumb like at all so it made spreading it a lot harder. What could have been the cause of this?
Shawn
Hey Tosin, it sounds like maybe your butter wasn’t very cold when you were making the crumb mixture. Also if your crumbs are really small, they will end up just melting together under the heat. So, COLD butter and larger crumb should do the trick!
Joann
This has got to be the best banana recipe! Never again do I need to search for a brrad or cake or muffin recipe. This is it!! So happy with how it turned out. It was freakin’ delicious!! Thanks for this.
Shawn
Aww!! I’m so glad you are enjoying the recipe Joann! 🙂
Christina Tonnu
This by far is the best coffee cake recipe ever! The bananas make it so moist and yummy. My family absolutely loved it! The only thing I did differently was omit half a cup of sugar because it was too sweet (I used 1 1/4 cup sugar). This coffee cake is great because you can eat it for breakfast and as a dessert. Thank you so much for this amazing recipe.
Shawn
Woohoo! So glad you enjoyed it Christina!
Belinda
Hi! Today is the second time l made this cake. The first time l made half the recipe and it came out light and delicious 🙂 Today, l made the full recipe and it is dense and looks very different from my first attempt. l double checked the recipe and l didn’t miss anything. Could l have over or under baked it? I did use bananas that l had previously frozen this time. Thanks!
Shawn
When the bananas have been frozen and then thawed they seem to be filled with much more liquid, which could give your cake a more dense feel. I know I’ve experienced that when I’ve used frozen/thawed bananas. Usually you can reduce the amount of banana in the cake in this instance to 2 or 3 since it’ll still have plenty of banana flavor and not be too heavy. Hope that helps!
Belinda
It sure does! Thanks for the tip, it makes perfect sense. I never hesitate to use them in banana bread but that is a totally different texture than this cake so l suppose that is why l never had problems with using bananas l had frozen. Going to try again today with some over ripe bananas…l am sure the results will be delicious!!! Thanks again!!
Marla F
My crumb topping came out “mushy” instead of “crumby” Do you know the reason why?
Shawn
Sounds like there might have been too much butter and/or it could have been too warm when added to the cake. Make sure it’s nice and cold when cut into the crumb mixture.
Theresa
wow weeeee – this is great and it has the house on hand simpliest of ingredients – I also made this same recipe with apples. The bananas were great – Theresa.
Shawn
Fantastic! So glad you enjoyed it Theresa!
Arlene
This cake sounded good, but it was waaay too sweet! I see others have questioned the amount of sugar used; at the very least, omit the glaze!
Shawn
I’m sorry you felt the cake was too sweet Arlene. I personally don’t find it too sweet, but it could be that the bananas you used weren’t ripe enough? They tend to lose some of their sweetness as they ripen.
Patty
A very Merry Christmas to you Shawn and your beautiful family too!! What a beautiful photo of your family, you are truly blessed. Patty
Shawn
Thank you Patty. Merry Christmas to you and your family. 🙂
Bolo
Amazing recipe, i love banana. Banana cake? hmmm
Shawn
So glad you enjoyed it Bolo!
Frances Moore
First time i ever made one of your recipes and WOW it was AMAZING! The best banana cake i ever made! Thank u for a great recipe, i will make more of your recipes! Is there something i can do to say thank you, wish i could do more than thank u like a good recipe to give u!
Shawn
Ah, I appreciate Frances. I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Rose
Hi Shawn. I just made this cake. This is the second recipe that I have tried from your collection. My family absolutely love the One Bowl Chocolate Chip Banana Bread. And now this cake is their favourite too. So crumbly and moist. Love it. Will explore more of your recipes. Thank you so much for sharing.
Shawn
Very nice! I’m so glad you’re enjoying the recipes Rose. I hope you find many more to try! 🙂
Linda K
Can this cake be made in a loaf pan as a bread?
Shawn
I’m thinking it would work in a loaf pan, but you would probably need two loaf pans, and then it would need to cook longer, until the center come clean with a toothpick.
Marti Moran
I made this yesterday and it was awesome!! I had to roast my bananas (400 for 30 min) b/c they were not ripe. This made them really soft and intensified the flavor. I also added some toasted walnuts to the middle that I had on hand. Otherwise I followed the recipe. It is really a nice cake and very very tasty!! We were eating it before the glaze was on, but the glaze is really good on it also. This is a “keeper” so thanks so very much!!!
Shawn
Mmm roasted bananas sound amazing, and I love the addition of the toasted walnuts. Thanks for the comment Marti!
Enza Antonucci
Can i use salted butter instead? I don’t use unsalted butter.
Shawn
Yup! You sure can. Just reduce the salt in the recipe to 1/2 tsp and you should be good!
Sheri
This recipe has a ridiculous amount of sugar in it. Is it possible to cut the sugar in half and replace it with something else like applesauce?
Shawn
I did try this recipe with less sugar in the cake portion and wasn’t pleased with the taste. But if you want to try and substitute in some applesauce it might work? I haven’t tested it with applesauce so I’m not sure on the amount you would need.
Iona
We love this recipe! I saw it on Facebook last weekend… and, being pregnant, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I also was on day two of a nasty cold, and didn’t have an appetite for much, but my husband hopped to work making this in our tiny guesthouse kitchen, using a toaster oven, and it came out great— even with frozen bananas that had been waiting to be used for baking. We will be making this again (hopefully one day in a real oven)!
Shawn
That’s awesome! I am so glad you were able to make it and enjoy it! And how neat that you made it in a tiny toaster oven! Woohoo!