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This is SUCH an easy Banana Cake recipe! Whether you’re in a hurry, are a baking beginner or simply want to use up your overripe bananas, THIS is the cake recipe to try.
It’s all mixed together in one bowl in less than 10 minutes, is a fantastic one to make with the kids, it’s totally failsafe and completely delicious!
There are many reasons why I love this easy banana cake recipe, not least because it involves being frugal and resourceful as we throw this together when there are bananas that are past their best and need using.
It’s then baked in a loaf tin either as a plain loaf OR with your choice of additions, such as chocolate chips, walnuts or raisins. You can even fancy it up with a cream cheese frosting on top for a party or celebration. Honestly, what else do we need, really?!
There is always a call for cake, but owning over ripe bananas is the perfect excuse if we need one.
Whether it’s to enjoy with friends and a cuppa, an after-school snack or a packed lunch, believe me when I say it probably won’t last long before it’s all scoffed.
Why you’ll love this Banana Cake recipe
⭐️ One bowl, no faff
⭐️ Uses up sad-looking brown bananas
⭐️ Makes an energy-packed snack
Banana Cake Ingredients NOTES
- Butter – You will need this both for the cake mixture and for greasing the tin, unless you’re using tin liners like these
- Eggs – I always use medium free-range in my recipes. If you’re using larger or smaller, bear in the mind the consistency might be affected
- Bananas – These need to be very ripe for mashing – NOT firm or green at all. The banana skins should be very speckled, or (ideally) almost totally brown or black on the skins. Think ‘past their best’ as a piece of fruit for snacking on
- What else you’ll need – Caster sugar and self-raising flour. You can use gluten-free if you like
Variations on this easy banana loaf
(with just a few tweaks)
- Banana and Walnut Loaf (or Banana and Walnut Cake) – Follow the same recipe but add in 85g of chopped walnuts (you could also try pecans or hazelnuts)
- Peanut Butter Banana Bread – Add 100g of peanut butter and, for added peanut crunchy goodness, 50g of salted peanuts. Or you could simply follow this recipe and drizzle some peanut butter icing (peanut butter, butter and icing sugar) over the top for banana cake with peanut butter icing
- Banana Bread with Nutella – Swirl in 100g of Nutella when you’ve put the batter in the baking tin
- Gluten-Free Banana Bread – Substitute the self-raising flour for a gluten-free variety
- Banana Bread with Raisins – Add in 100g of raisins instead of chocolate chips
- Banana Bread with Choc Chips – Add about 100g of chocolate chips in with the batter. You can also drizzle melted chocolate over the top
- Banana Bread with Cream Cheese Frosting – Follow my recipe for a quick and easy cream cheese topping. This is great for making your cake extra impressive for a party or celebration
How to make Easy Banana Cake
1. Grease the tin with soft butter (or line with baking paper) and preheat the oven to 180C.
2. Break the eggs into a mixing bowl. Add the melted butter, sugar, flour and mashed bananas. Mix very well either by hand or using a mixer.
3. Spoon into the tin, smoothing out with the back of the spoon, and bake for 40-50 mins at 180C.
4. When cool, slice and serve.
How to store Banana Cake
The cake will keep in an airtight container for up to a week (by which time it’ll have been devoured anyway!)
In the freezer You can also cook it and freeze it, either whole or in slices. Just make sure it’s completely cooled before doing so, wrap it in a couple of layers of greaseproof paper and defrost it thoroughly before eating.
TOP TIPS!
How to know the cake is cooked
First, check the cake isn’t still wobbly when you move it. If it is, put it straight back in the oven.
If not, push a skewer or sharp, thin knife into the centre of the cake. If it comes out clean, it means it’s cooked. (Some crumbs are fine, but not wet cake mixture.) If it doesn’t, it’s not quite there yet so leave it in for a few more minutes and check again.
If the top of your cake is cooked but it’s not inside yet, you can cover it with tin foil to stop it from burning.
How many bananas to use
A large banana weighs approximately 130-150g, and we’re using 3 for this recipe. So if you don’t have large ones, use the equivalent weight.
Try to get the quantities the same, but don’t worry about it being exact.
Using frozen bananas
If you’ve frozen your overripe bananas before they go (further) over the the dark side and have to be binned, you can use them for this recipe AS LONG as you make sure they’re fully defrosted and any excess water is drained first.
If you leave that water in there your cake will be far too mushy.
what else to bake with ripe bananas…
FAQs
To make banana cake, your bananas need to be very ripe.
As they ripen, they get softer and sweeter. This is what gives the banana cake its texture and flavour. Please don’t try to make this with green or very firm bananas as it just won’t work in the same way.
The banana skins should be very speckled, or (ideally) almost totally brown or black on the skins. When you peel the bananas they will be very soft.
This is the size of loaf tin I like (23x13cm / 900g), plus these loaf tin liners to make it even quicker!
Make sure those bananas are nice and squidgy and you’ve mashed them up well. Also double check you’ve got the right amount of butter and eggs to make sure you get the right consistency.
I sure do! Give these a try:
Yoghurt Pot Cake – Measure everything in the pot, no need for scales!
Lemon Drizzle Cake – Solid, failsafe and easy-to-follow recipe
Pumpkin Cake – Better than Starbucks!
Courgette Cake – Honestly so good. Give it a try.
Nutella Cake – Delicious and easy swirl loaf
Mini Pumpkin Bread Loaves – Cute and warming for autumn
Let me know how you got on and what you thought of these recipes. Please rate the recipe using the ⭐️ below.
Also I’d LOVE to see your cooking creations. If you’d like to share yours with me, you can tag me on Instagram (@tamingtwins).
Banana Cake {Foolproof Recipe!}
Ingredients
For the Banana Loaf:
- Butter for greasing the tin
- 75 g Butter, Melted
- 100 g Caster sugar
- 2 Eggs, Medium free-range
- 225 g Self-raising flour
- 3 Large bananas (very ripe), Peeled and mashed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C.
- Grease the tin with soft butter (or line with baking paper).
- Break the eggs into a mixing bowl. Add the melted butter, sugar, flour and mashed bananas.
- Mix very well either by hand or using a mixer.
- Spoon into the tin, smoothing out with the back of the spoon.
- Bake for 40-50 mins at 180C.
- When cool, slice and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
It’s just gone in oven I added raisins …simple to make …I’ll pop back on with results xx
This recipe looks fab! I am a newbie so can you please advise if the cooking temperature of 180 C is for a conventional oven or for a fan assisted oven? Very many thanks. Glen
This is the only banana loaf I will ever make from now on. This is the second TT recipe I’ve made today. Sarah is my guru x
So glad you like it Cathy! Thanks for your lovely comment, I really appreciate it so much x
I make this Banana Cake often along with my favourite Lemon Drizzle Cake. It’s so easy and quick to make!
These are our two one bowl favourites !!
This was incredibly easy and it baked beautifully. The chocolate drizzle on the top
made it look and taste extra special!
Very quick and easy to make. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Yuuuuuuummmy😋😋😋
My daughter would never eat banana bread. Tried this recipe and she absolutely loves it. Keeps craving it – she’s tried Starbucks and apparently it’s not a patch on this recipe.
I love this banana bread, super easy to make and freezes well.
Do you use salted or unsalted butter in your recipe?
I prefer unsalted but either will be fine really.