Banana Cake

a cut banana cake missing a slice in a glass baking dish.

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4.88 from 8 votes

When life hands you overripe bananas about to meet their doom, make this budget-friendly Banana Cake instead!

Prep Time35

Cook Time45

Total Time1 20

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Total Cost: $11.99 recipe / $0.79 serving

Servings: slices (1 slice per serving)

Calories: 513kcal

Author: Jess Rice

Equipment

Hand Mixer
9x13 Baking Dish

Ingredients

Cake Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour sifted, $0.54
1½ tsp baking soda $0.02
½ tsp ground cinnamon $0.05
½ tsp salt $0.01
1 tsp lemon juice $0.01
3 bananas very ripe (mashed), $0.84*
1 cup granulated sugar $0.96
½ cup light brown sugar $0.24
3 eggs room temperature, $0.87
¾ cup unsalted butter $1.89
2 tsp vanilla extract $1.30
1½ cups milk $0.27

Frosting Ingredients:

8 oz. cream cheese softened to room temperature, $2.08
8 Tbsp unsalted butter room temperature, (1 stick) $0.99
3 cups powdered sugar $0.97
1 tsp vanilla extract $0.65
1 tsp lemon juice $0.01

Garnish:

2 Tbsp crushed walnuts $0.29

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and grease a 9x13” baking dish. Whisk the sifted flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together. Set aside.
Mash the very ripe bananas and lemon juice with a fork and set aside.
Using a handheld mixer, beat the butter and sugars on high speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.
Add the eggs and the vanilla to sugar/butter mixture. Beat on medium speed until combined.
Then, add the mashed bananas.
With the mixer on low speed, using your free hand, add 1/3 of the dry ingredients and 1/3 of the milk, back and forth until all ingredients are fully mixed in. Do not overmix. The batter will be slightly thick and a little lumpy from the bananas.
Spread batter into the buttered pan and bake for 45–50 minutes. When you insert a toothpick in the center and it comes out clean, you know your cake is done! If you notice the cake is browning very quickly, test it with the toothpick and cover loosely with aluminum foil for the remainder of the bake time if it’s not quite done.
To make your frosting, combine all frosting ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix with your handheld mixer until completely creamy and smooth.
Allow cake to cool completely (on the countertop it took my cake about an hour) before frosting. Frost and enjoy with an extra sprinkle of crushed walnuts on top!

See how we calculate recipe costs here.

Notes

*You'll need 3 very ripe bananas for this cake. Unripe or just ripe bananas will not mash well and won't have as much natural sweetness.

Nutrition

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