Moist Banana Cake (Printable)
Tender, moist banana cake with mashed ripe bananas and buttermilk; ideal for dessert, brunch, or an afternoon treat.
# What You'll Need:
→ Dry Ingredients
01 - 2 cups all-purpose flour
02 - 1½ teaspoons baking powder
03 - ½ teaspoon baking soda
04 - ½ teaspoon salt
→ Wet Ingredients
05 - 1 cup granulated sugar
06 - ½ cup vegetable oil or melted unsalted butter
07 - 2 large eggs, room temperature
08 - 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
09 - 4 medium ripe bananas, mashed (about 1½ cups)
10 - ½ cup buttermilk or plain yogurt
→ Optional Add-ins
11 - ½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans
12 - ½ cup chocolate chips
# How To Make It:
01 - Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9x13-inch cake pan or line it with parchment paper.
02 - In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until evenly distributed.
03 - In a large bowl, beat the granulated sugar with vegetable oil or melted butter until well combined and smooth.
04 - Add the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Stir in the vanilla extract.
05 - Gently fold in the mashed bananas and buttermilk (or yogurt) until just combined.
06 - Add the dry ingredient mixture to the wet ingredients, folding gently until no flour streaks remain. Take care not to overmix.
07 - If desired, fold in the chopped walnuts, pecans, or chocolate chips until evenly distributed throughout the batter.
08 - Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan, using a spatula to smooth the top evenly.
09 - Bake for 35–40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
10 - Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn it out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Serve plain or topped with your favorite frosting.
# Expert Hints:
01 -
- The crumb stays improbably tender for days, almost as if it is secretly getting better while it sits under a tea towel on the counter.
- You probably have every single ingredient sitting in your kitchen right now, which means zero emergency grocery runs.
02 -
- Overmixing the batter once the flour goes in will make the cake chewy and dense, so stop folding the moment the last streak disappears.
- Underripe bananas will taste flat and starchy, so wait for those dark spots or speed things along by roasting unpeeled bananas on a sheet tray at 300 degrees for fifteen minutes.
03 -
- Mash the bananas by hand with a fork rather than using a blender, because a few small lumps create pockets of intense banana flavor throughout the cake.
- Rotate the pan halfway through baking if your oven has hot spots, because an evenly browned top means the center is cooked through without the edges drying out.