Easy Banana Peanut Butter Cake

A moist banana cake that’s topped with a creamy and nutty peanut butter whipped cream frosting, this banana peanut butter cake is the perfect snack cake! No need to bake layers of cake and no need to stack and decorate either, it’s perfect for beginners!

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About This Recipe

This banana peanut butter cake is made of two components: a super moist banana cake and peanut butter whipped cream frosting. It’s the perfect cake for beginners because it requires no electric mixer and is made in a square tin, so no layers, no stacking, and no decorating, which also makes it the perfect snack cake with pairs so well with a cup of tea or coffee!

The banana cake take minutes to whip up. It’s made with simple, pantry-staple ingredients, and of course ripe bananas. Although I made this cake in a square pan, you could also use a round pan if you don’t have a square pan.

I chose a whipped cream frosting instead of a buttercream frosting, because it’s so mush easier to make, and I personally am not a big fan of buttercream. The peanut butter whipped cream is made with only 3 ingredients. heavy cream, powdered sugar and peanut butter. It so creamy and nutty, and if your a peanut butter lover, you are going to absolutely adore this frosting!

What You Need To Make This Recipe

Flour: all you need is regular all-purpose flour, nothing fancy like cake flour or self-rising flour.

Brown sugar & granulated sugar: I’m using a mixture both types of sugar because I love the caramel-y flavor the brown sugar adds to the cake. It pairs so well with the flavor of bananas.

Milk: you can use full-fat or skimmed milk, make sure it’s at room temperature.

Baking powder and baking soda: these are the rising agents which will make the cake nice and fluffy. Make sure to check the expiration dates on your baking powder and soda before using them, expired rising agents could cause the cake to become dense rather than fluffy.

Butter: you’ll need melted, unsalted butter, make sure to let it cool down before using in in the cake batter, you do not want to use scorching hot butter.

Sour cream: the acids in this will react with the rising agents making the cake rise, this can also be substituted with full-fat yogurt.

Bananas: it’s best to use ripe bananas for this recipe. If your bananas aren’t ripe, here’s a quick way to ripen them in the oven.

Egg: this is the binding agent, use at room temp. for the best result.

Ingredients for peanut butter whipped cream

Heavy Cream: the heavy cream should have a fat percentage of 35% or higher and should be chilled, otherwise it will not beat into stiff peaks.

Powdered sugar: you only need a little bit of powdered sugar because the peanut butter is also sweet.

Peanut Butter: use room temperature peanut butter. This recipe is made with sweetened peanut butter, if you’re using an all natural peanut butter, you’ll have to increase the amount of powdered sugar accordingly.

How To Make Banana Peanut Butter Cake

Step 1: Make the banana cake: Combine the dry ingredients and set aside.

Step 2: In a separate bowl, mash ripe bananas with a fork until smooth. Whisk in melted butter and the sugars.

Step 3: Whisk in sour cream and egg.

Step 4: Add in half of the dry ingredients and whisk to combine.

Step 5: Add in the milk and mix to combine.

Step 6: Add in the remaining dry ingredients and use a spatula to fold in into the batter. Transfer the batter to a lined 6-inch square pan and bake at 180 °C / 350 °F for 30 minutes. Once baked cool completely, then trim the top of the cake to level it.

Step 7: Make the frosting: Beat cold heavy cream, powdered sugar, and peanut butter using an electric hand/stand mixer or even a whisk until stiff peaks form (6-7 min), see tips below.

Step 8: Spread the frosting over the cooled cake and decorate how ever you’d like. I drizzled on some peanut butter using a piping bag and finally added some chocolate chips. Cut the sides off if you’d like or leave it as is. I cut a very thin slice off all four sides for a neat look.

Storing The Banana Peanut Butter Cake

Store the cake covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, but it’s best enjoyed fresh. If you don’t cover it, the cake will dry out. Serve the banana peanut butter cake at room temperature.

Pro Tips

If your bananas aren’t ripe you can bake them in an oven preheated to 170 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit) for 10 min.
If the cooking time is over and your cake still isn’t baked through, cover it with tin foil and bake for another 5 minutes or as needed. This will prevent the top of the cake from burning
Mash your bananas very finely.
Before making the frosting, place your bowl(metal or glass), and beaters in the freezer for 10-15 minutes, this will make the process of beating the cream to stiff peaks much faster.
Use room temperature peanut butter while making the frosting, cold peanut butter will be difficult to incorporate into the cream
Any refrigerated ingredients should be used at room temperature for the cake, this includes, egg, sour cream, milk etc. (the butter does not have to be at room temp. because we’re going to melt it anyway.)
Fold in chocolate chips into the cake batter if you’re a chocolate lover!
If you’re peanut butter enthusiast, you could also make holes in the cooled cake and fill them with peanut butter.
if you have a convection oven (oven with a fan setting), reduce the temperature by 20 degrees.

FAQ’s

How to quickly ripen bananas?

Preheat your oven to 300°F (150°C). Place unpeeled bananas on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for- 10-15 minutes or until the peels turn dark brown or black. Remove from the oven and let them cool. The bananas inside should be soft and sweet. Enjoy!

Can I make gluten-free banana cake?

You could swap out the flour for gluten-free flour, or at flour. Keep in mind that, I have not tried making this cake with those flours.

What can I substitute for sour cream?

You could use full-fat yogurt in place of sour cream in about any recipe.

If you love bananas, you need to try out my No-bake Banana Pudding! It’s easy, and tastes incredible!

Check out my YouTube Channel for detailed recipe tutorials! Made one of my recipes? Tag me on Instagram, I would love to see your creations!

Recipe Card

Banana Peanut Butter Cake

A moist banana cake that topped with a creamy and nutty peanut butter whipped cream frosting, this banana peanut butter cake is the perfect snack cake! No need to bake layers of cake and no need to stack and decorate either, it’s perfect for beginners!

Prep Time: 20 min

Cook Time: 30 min

Total Time: 50 min

Course: Dessert

Servings: 9

Calories: 336kcal

Ingredients

For the banana cake:

1 1/2 cup AP flour (180g)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup mashed bananas (2 medium sized ripe bananas)
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted & cooled (60g)
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed (100g)
1/4 cup granulated sugar (50g)
1/4 cup sour cream, room temp (60g)
1 large egg, room temp.
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup milk, room temp. (60ml)

For the peanut butter frosting:

3/4 cup heavy cream, cold (180ml)
2 tbsp powdered sugar (25g)
2 tbsp peanut butter (50g)

Equipment/Utensils

2 medium sized bowls
A large bowl
Whisk
Spatula
6 inch square pan, greased and lined (or a round pan)
Electric hand/stand mixer (for beating the cream, a whisk will work as well)
Large serving plate

Instructions

Make the banana cake

Preheat your oven to 180 °C / 350 °F, and grease and line a 6-inch square pan(or round) with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a medium sized bowl, sift and whisk together the dry ingredients (AP flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt). Set this aside.
In a separate large bowl, mash ripe bananas using a fork until you have a smooth paste. Add in melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar and whisk to combine.
Add in sour cream, egg, and vanilla extract, whisk to combine.
Add in half of the dry ingredients and whisk until fully incorporated.
Add in all of the milk and whisk to combine. Now switch to a spatula.
Add in the remaining dry ingredients and use a spatula to fold it into the batter. Do not overmix!
Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few crumbs on it.
Let the cake cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, then transfer it onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

Make the peanut butter frosting:

Combine cold heavy cream, powdered sugar, and peanut butter in a medium sized bowl.
Use an electric hand/stand mixer (or a whisk, but it will take longer) to beat the cream on high speed for 6-7 minutes until stiff peaks form.

Assembly:

Cut of the top of the cooled cake to level it.
Spread on all of the frosting. You can keep it messy or smooth it out using an offset spatula.
Optional: Chill the cake for 10-15 minutes, then cut thin slices off all four sides.
Decorate the cake how ever you’d like and enjoy!

Nutrition

Calories: 335.91kcal

Total Fat: 17.68g

Carbs: 39.92g

Sugars: 22.42g

Protein: 5.17g

Sodium: 182.38mg

Fiber: 1.13

Saturated Fat: 9.52g

** Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more. **