In case you didn’t know….we’re still banana enthusiasts here. Bananas are so good on their own, but even better in a cake! This super easy banana sheet cake is the BEST recipe to make for a party, event, or if you’re looking for ways to get rid of those old bananas! Topped with a silky smooth chocolate buttercream, this is the best chocolate/banana combo for your sweet tooth!
More AMAZING Banana Recipes:
BANANA BAKING TIPS
Bananas are the key flavors in this recipe! Here’s a few things to keep in mind when baking with bananas:
- Use overripe bananas
- The brown spotted bananas you’re thinking of throwing out? Don’t! These are filled with the perfect flavors and ready to be thrown into your desserts!
- Mash bananas before adding it to your batter
- No one wants clumpy bananas throughout their batter. Mashing bananas helps smoothly blend in all of the ingredients
- Use the correct banana size
- Bananas can be large, medium, or small. Each recipe should specify which size of bananas to use. Adding too much banana can give you a longer bake time, or using too little banana can give you no flavor with a shorter bake time.
Our Vegan Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins is another popular banana recipe on this site!
Cake frosting tips
- Beat the butter first until it becomes fluffy, then add powdered sugar in small chunks.
- using softened butter is best
- Use milk or heavy cream
- heavy cream will help you get that thick, creamy texture, while milk will give you a fluffier texture.
- add your milk or cream slowly. you can always add more, but you can never take the milk out.
- Add vanilla extract (or any other flavored extract)
- this brings extra flavors and added sweetness to your buttercream
- Cover the bowl with a towel while mixing
- there are many times I’ve had powdered sugar flying everywhere when adding it to the mixer because it wasn’t covered
- The spatula test!
- this is a quick way to confirm that your frosting is the perfect consistency
- press a spatula into your frosting and pull it up.
- the frosting should be a stiff peak with a slight curl on the end
- if it’s too stiff add more milk, if it’s too thin, add more powdered sugar (1/3 cup at a time)
The best buttercream-rich recipes:
KEY INGREDIENTS:
Bananas: Use overripe bananas & mash the bananas before adding it to your batter.
Butter: Softened butter will add to this extremely fluffy I love to pair butter with sour cream because it brings out a softer, moist cake crumb.
Brown Sugar: The brown sugar adds sweetness to the cake! It’s the perfect pair to anything banana-based.
Eggs: The base structure of this cake is eggs! For a non dairy alternative, sub flax eggs, applesauce, or use Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer.
Sour Cream: Add sour cream to get a soft & moist crumb. You can sub full fat greek yogurt, dairy-free vanilla yogurt, or milk.
Vanilla Extract: This is our flavor component (in addition with bananas) For different flavors, add different extracts (almond, coconut, rum, etc).
Butter: Softened butter is the most important part to buttercream. Leave your butter out for 30-45 minutes for the best softened butter. A great substitute is vegan butter!
Powdered Sugar: Sift your powdered sugar before beating it with the butter. This will give you the best clump-free buttercream frosting!
Cocoa Powder: This is the backbone of this amazing buttercream! This gives the buttercream a rich chocolate flavor. Of course you can leave out the cocoa powder, but you wouldn’t really want to do that right?
Let’s get into this amazing super easy banana sheet cake!
Easy Banana Sheet Cake
INGREDIENTS
- 2¼ cups all purpose flour
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup butter softened
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup sour cream
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 overripe bananas mashed
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
- ½ cup butter softened
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tsp milk
- 3 tbsp cocoa powder
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 350°F
- In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt together.
- In a separate medium bowl cream together the softened butter and brown sugar (about 1-2 minutes) with a hand mixture*. Add in the eggs & beat it until it's fully mixed in. Blend in the sour cream, vanilla, and bananas.
- Add in the flour mix & beat on low until it's fully combined.
- Line a 9×9 baking pan with parchment paper. Pour in & evenly smooth out the batter.
- Bake the cake for 28-30 minutes. Let the cake cool to room temperature before adding the frosting.
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
- In a large bowl, beat the butter until it's fluffy (1-2 minutes). Add in the powdered sugar (½ cup at a time) & beat on medium. Add in the milk & cocoa powder. Beat until a smooth buttercream forms.**
- Gently spread the frosting over the cake.
Notes
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