Peanut Butter Banana Cake combines a moist, tender banana cake with decadent peanut butter cream cheese frosting to create a cake with the classic flavor combination of peanut butter and banana in every bite.
Quick Look: Peanut Butter Banana Cake
- ⏱ Prep Time: 10 minutes
- 🔥 Cook Time: 40 minutes
- ⏳ Total Time: 50 minutes
- 🍌 Servings: 24 slices
- ⚡ Calories: 210 calories per serving
- 🍂 Flavor Profile: sweet banana cake and creamy peanut butter frosting pair for the perfect bite
- 👌 Difficulty: Easy - an awesome cake when you want to keep it simple without sacrificing flavor
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I love baked goods, but it's so much safer to make my own. Living with Celiac's Disease means being very careful with food, and I find it easier to make my own desserts, rather than chancing a flare-up with something from the bakery.
This moist, tender banana cake with peanut butter frosting is one of my favorite gluten-free desserts to make for any occasion because everyone loves its flavor and texture. It's loaded with banana and peanut butter flavors that everyone can enjoy!
This delicious cake is the perfect way to use up brown bananas. I love to make it when my bananas are way too soft to eat on their own. That's when you get the best banana cake flavor!
It tastes almost like my protein banana bread, but it's lighter and cake-like. However, you still get all that great banana flavor. Adding the butter-flavored olive oil really sets this flavor profile apart, and topping it with peanut butter cream cheese frosting is a match made in heaven.
Try serving it as dessert after a hearty meal of my puff pastry chicken pot pie for a dinner that's nothing but comfort food.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Basic Ingredients: You can find everything you need for this cake at your local grocery store. Even gluten free flour is commonplace these days.
- So Easy: Just mix, bake, and frost. There's nothing to it!
- Moist and Tender: This is a moist, tender cake with the perfect crumb.
- Rich Flavor: The combination of deep banana flavor in the cake and the creamy, sweet, earthy peanut butter frosting creates a rich flavor you'll love.
- Versatile: This cake is perfect for a weeknight dessert or any special occasion.
- Freezer-Friendly: You can make extra and store the slices for up to a month for future use!
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Ingredients
For the great combination of peanut butter and banana flavors, I use this peanut butter cream cheese frosting.
You can find a complete list of the frosting ingredients and instructions on how to make it in the link above, as well as a list of all the cake ingredients and their exact amounts in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Flavor Variations
- Olive Oil: You can omit the butter olive oil and use an equal amount of regular olive oil in this cake, although the butter olive oil really provides a great flavor.
- Dairy-Free: For a dairy-free cake, simply use dairy-free sour cream in place of regular sour cream. You can also frost it with this dairy-free cream cheese frosting.
- Plain: This is good all by itself, should you decide to forego the cream cheese frosting.
- Extra Sweet: For a sweet flavor, simply use a vanilla buttercream.
- Chocolate Frosting: For another classic flavor combination, try frosting this cake with chocolate buttercream frosting.
How to Make Peanut Butter Banana Cake
Step 1: Whisk the dry ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside. Then, whisk all the wet ingredients except the vanilla in a stand mixer.
Step 2: Add the mashed bananas and vanilla and mix again. Then, mix the dry ingredients into the wet by thirds until the batter is fully mixed.
Step 3: Pour the batter into a prepared 9x13 baking dish. Bake at 300°F until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Step 4: Let the cake cool completely. Then, prepare the peanut butter cream cheese frosting according to the directions.
Step 5: When the cake is fully cooled, frost it with the peanut butter cream cheese frosting.
Step 6: Dive in!
Expert Tips
- Line the bottom of your pan with parchment paper. This allows you to remove the cake from the pan easily.
- Use the ripest bananas possible. Unless they smell, are oozing, or have mold on the skin, the bananas can't be too ripe.
- Mash your bananas until they're as smooth as possible.
- Bring your sour cream and eggs to room temperature for the easiest mixing and best cake texture.
- Bob's Red Mill 1:1 gluten-free flour is the best gluten-free flour I've found for baking cakes.
- Dark, coated cake pans bake cakes much more quickly than light pans. If you're using a dark pan, reduce the heat by 10 degrees and start checking your cake about 5 minutes earlier.
Peanut Butter Banana Cake FAQ's
Yes, you can! Peanut butter and banana are a delicious combination. Use peanut butter frosting with your banana cake, as I did, or add peanut butter directly to the batter.
Almost 100% of the time, a banana cake is soggy because too much banana was added. It's tempting to want to add even more banana for more flavor. However, adding more banana also adds more moisture, which results in a soggy cake.
When it comes to banana cake and bread, the riper your bananas, the better. In fact, unless they've gone bad, bananas can't be too ripe. At minimum, your bananas should have dark brown spots on the skin. However, as long as they don't have an off smell, mold on the skin, or are oozing fluid, bananas with skins as dark as black can and should be used. They're terrible for snacking, but they give your bread and cake amazing flavor.
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📖 Recipe
Banana Peanut Butter Cake
Video
Ingredients
- 3 ½ cups Bob's Red Mill 1:1 gluten free flour
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 3 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 ½ tsp cinnamon
- ¾ cup sour cream room temperature
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup Costabile olive oil plus 2 tbsp
- 2 tablespoon Costabile butter olive oil
- 1 ¾ cups bananas mashed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Then, line the bottom of a 9x13 baking pan with parchment paper and coat the pan with coconut oil.
- Mix the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl and set aside.
- Next, combine the sugar, olive oils, sour cream, and eggs in a stand mixer. Then, mix with the whisk attachment for 30 seconds on medium.
- Then, add the mashed bananas and vanilla extract and mix on medium for another 60 seconds until completely combined.
- Add ⅓ of the dry ingredients to the wet and mix on medium speed for 30 seconds. Repeat this step two more times until all the ingredients have been combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and bake on the center rack for 35 to 42 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Cool the cake for 30 to 45 minutes in the pan, then turn it out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Alternately, you can let it cool for at least 1 ½ hours in the pan.
- Frost the cake using my peanut butter cream cheese frosting recipe.
Notes
- Refrigerate for up to 4 days in an airtight container.
- Chill cake slices, wrap them in plastic wrap, and freeze them for up to a month in an airtight, freezer-safe container. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight.
- Serve cold or at room temperature.
- Line the bottom of your pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on each side. This allows you to remove the cake from the pan easily.
- Use the ripest bananas possible. Unless they smell, are oozing, or have mold on the skin, the bananas can't be too ripe.
- Mash your bananas until they're as smooth as possible.
- Bring your sour cream and eggs to room temperature for the easiest mixing and best cake texture.
- Bob's Red Mill 1:1 gluten-free flour is the best gluten-free flour I've found for baking cakes.
- Dark, coated cake pans bake cakes much more quickly than light pans. If you're using a dark pan, reduce the heat by 10 degrees and start checking your cake about 5 minutes earlier.
Liz says
This cake is AMAZING!!! Moist, delicious and I adore the pb frosting, too!!!
Tiffany says
Basic banana bread will be taking a back seat for a while. This cake is SO DANG GOOD! very moist and the frosting really takes it to a whole other level. I have zero regrets enjoying this gluten free treat!
NKendrick says
Yay!! SO happy to hear that you enjoyed this!!!
Jodi says
What can i use that would replace the butter olive oil? Could I use 2 Tablespoons of melted butter?
NKendrick says
Absolutely you can make that substitution. Additionally, you could just use regular olive oil!
Stacey Baker says
Can you make this with all purpose or self rising flour?
NKendrick says
All purpose flour will work!
Ashlee says
What if I don't want to go gluten free? Can I just use reg ap flour instead without making any other adjustments? Lmk! Thanks.
NKendrick says
Absolutely, just switch the flour out for regular flour.
Desiree Cilenti says
Looks so good!. Can you use a different gluten free flour, and coconut sugar in place of regular sugar?
NKendrick says
Yes, this will work with another brand of GF flour, or even regular flour. It will also work with coconut sugar!
Anonymous says
This worked exactly as written, thanks!
Amy Liu Dong says
Thank you for sharing this recipe
Nora says
My family loved this!
Anonymous says
Thank you for sharing this recipe
Amy Liu Dong says
My family loved this!
TAYLER ROSS says
Peanut butter and banana is one of my favorite combos! This cake was my favorite way to enjoy it!
NKendrick says
peanut butter and banana just simply go together in the best way!
Kim says
Bananas and peanut butter make the best combo! Such a tasty cake.
NKendrick says
Thank you!
kushi says
It's one of my favorite combos. Looks so moist and delicious.
Paula says
This peanut butter banana cake was so moist and delicious! We absolutely devoured dit!
NKendrick says
Thank you for sharing!
Chenee says
I cannot possibly think of a better flavor combination for cake. This looks and sounds so good!