Banana Coffee Cake with a crumbly cinnamon walnut streusel topping and simple creamy glaze. Super easy brunch or breakfast for the weekend!
If you're a fan of Cinamon Walnut Coffee Cake,you're going to love this version of coffee cake with bananas. It's where coffee cake meets banana bread and it's divine.
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Banana streusel cake is SUPER easy to mix with a mixer or by hand in a bowl. It's the perfect pan of fluffy banana cake heaven. It has a nice crunchy walnut and cinnamon streusel on top, and a creamy vanilla glaze because WE CAN.
We like to make this a nice, moist banana coffee cake with sour cream or greek yogurt, it helps to make the cake tender with a lighter crumb than banana bread.
Jump to:
- Why You'll Love This Recipe
- 🛒 Key Ingredients
- For the Cake Batter
- For the Cinnamon Streusel
- Optional Glaze
- ✏️ Substitutions & Variations
- 🧑🍳 Instructions
- 📌 Troubleshooting
- ❄️ Make Ahead, Store, and Freezing Tips
- ❓Frequently Asked Questions
- 🍽️ Serving Ideas
- 🍳 More Delicious Breakfast Recipes
- 📝 Printable Recipe
- 💬 Comments
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Taste: a buttery banana crumb cake, the topping has the crunchy cinnamon oat and walnut topping that's just lovely.
- Ease: I have a few tips to make it easier with less dishes! Baking required, not difficult as far as complicated techniques go. Just mixing wet and dry ingredients and the topping.
- Time: Takes 10 minutes to prep and 45-55 to bake!
Why Bananas Make This Coffee Cake Better
- Natural sweetness - less sugar needed.
- Adds moisture for a lovely soft texture.
- Healthier twist compared to a classic coffee cake.
🛒 Key Ingredients
For the Cake Batter
- Bananas - overripe preferred, the riper the better. Black spots mean they have more sweet banana flavor.
- Sugar - brown and white granulated for the streusel and cake.
- Sour Cream or plain greek yogurt (you can make it homemade!) - this and the bananas make the cake nice and moist!
- Baking Powder & Soda - the combo helps to make the cake fluffy but not brown too much since it has such a long baking time.
- Milk - dairy or plant based is fine, it helps the cake not be super dense from the sour cream and bananas.
For the Cinnamon Streusel
- Brown sugar, cinnamon, flour, butter
- Optional walnuts or pecans for crunch
Optional Glaze
- Powdered sugar + milk/cream + vanilla
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Pro Tip: Use overripe bananas for sweeter cake, under-ripe for a milder flavor.
✏️ Substitutions & Variations
- Banana Nut Coffee Cake - add pecans instead of walnuts, or even macadamia nuts!
- Banana Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake - fold chips into batter.
- Banana Cream Cheese Coffee Cake - swirl cream cheese mixture between layers made of 8 oz cream cheese and 1 cup powdered sugar mixed well.
🧑🍳 Instructions
- Step 1. Use an electric mixer (handheld or stand) to cream together butter, brown sugar, and white sugar on high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Step 2. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.
- Step 3. Add sour cream and mashed bananas (I peel them and put them straight into the mixer, they get mashed as they mix).
- Step 4. Add in flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. mix on low speed until just combined. Do not overmix.
PRO TIP: If your bananas are soft (ripe) enough, just break them into pieces and add them to the mixing bowl and let the mixer do the work of mashing them. It saves a few minutes and a dirty dish from mashing separately!
- Step 5. In a medium bowl combine flour, brown sugar, softened butter and cinnamon and mix well. Stir in walnuts.
- Step 6. Sprinkle evenly over coffee cake batter. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cool 15-20 minutes before glazing.
- Step 7. Mix together ingredients for glaze and put into a plastic bag or small bowl.
- Step 8. When the cake has cooled for 15-20 minutes, snnip off a tiny corner of the bag or use a spoon and drizzle glaze over the cake diagonally one direction, then diagonally the other direction like a letter X. Slice and serve!
📌 Troubleshooting
- Why cake sinks: too much banana, underbaked center.
- How to get crunchy streusel: use cold butter.
- Dry cake: overbaked! Make sure to check at the minimum baking time with a toothpick.
❄️ Make Ahead, Store, and Freezing Tips
- Room temp: 2-3 days in airtight container.
- Refrigerate: up to 1 week.
- Freeze: Slice, wrap, and store up to 2 months.
❓Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, thaw fully before using them. Frozen bananas once thawed won't affect the texture of the cake, just make sure you have the right amount of mashed banana by measuring.
Use thick batter and chill streusel before sprinkling. Streusel usually sinks because of thin batter.
Greek yogurt is the best substitute, but buttermilk can work with adjustments.
🍽️ Serving Ideas
- Perfect for breakfast, brunch, or dessert.
- Serve warm with coffee, hot cocoa, tea, or milk.
- Great for holiday mornings, brunch, or potlucks.
🍳 More Delicious Breakfast Recipes
Did You Try This Recipe? ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Make sure to leave a star rating and a comment below the recipe card. I love hearing from you, and it is so helpful to other readers! Better yet, share it with family and friends. Thank you!!
📝 Printable Recipe
Banana Coffee Cake
Ingredients
- ¾ cup butter (1.5 sticks, 170g)
- ½ cup brown sugar 105g
- ¼ cup granulated white sugar 50g
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla 4g
- 1 cup sour cream (or greek yogurt) 226 g
- 1½ cups mashed banana (about 3 medium bananas)
- 2¾ cups all purpose flour 371g
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
For the streusel topping:
- 1 cup flour 135g
- 1 cup brown sugar 215g
- ½ cup butter, softened 113g
- 1 Tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 cup walnuts, chopped
For the glaze (optional):
- 1 cup powdered sugar 115g
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 1½ Tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray. If mixing by hand, follow along with instructions in a large mixing bowl. In stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream together ¾ cup butter, ½ cup brown sugar, and ¼ cup granulated white sugar on high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Add2 large eggs and 1 teaspoon vanilla and mix well.
- Add 1 cup sour cream (or greek yogurt) and 1½ cups mashed banana (I peel them and put them straight into the mixer, they get mashed as they mix).
- In separate bowl combine 2¾ cups all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons baking powder, and ½ teaspoon baking soda. Pour into the wet mix and mix on low speed until just combined. Do not overmix.
For Streusel topping:
- In a medium bowl combine 1 cup flour, 1 cup brown sugar, ½ cup butter, softened and 1 Tablespoon cinnamon and mix well. Stir in 1 cup walnuts, chopped. Sprinkle evenly over coffee cake batter.
- Bake at 350 F for 40-45 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cool 15-20 minutes before glazing.
- In a small bowl or plastic bag, mix together 1 cup powdered sugar,½ teaspoon vanilla, and 1½ Tablespoons milk. Use a spoon (or snip off a tiny corner of the bag) and drizzle glaze over the cake diagonally one direction, then diagonally the other direction like a letter X. Slice and serve. Enjoy!
Notes
- Room temp: 2-3 days in airtight container. Make up to 2 days ahead.
- Refrigerate: up to 1 week.
- Freeze: Slice, wrap, and store up to 2 months.
- Make recipe as directed.
- Place in refrigerator overnight, and when ready to bake increase baking time by 5-10 minutes. Make sure to never place a glass pan in a very hot oven or it could shatter. Put it in as the oven is preheating.
- Insert toothpick every 5 minutes after 40 minutes to check doneness.
Nutrition
Hi, I'm Sara!
Registered Nurse by day, food blogger by weekend. Perfect dip tester & snack quester. I love short walks on the beach and long naps. Sharing my love for food, one bite at a time.
Lisette Frankton says
Wow, what an AWESOME recipe!
Everyone in my house ate it, which is win number one. I’m taking another cake into my office tomorrow and I’m sure it’ll be gone by tea time.
The flavor was wonderful, texture perfect. This one is going into the repertoire!
Lynn S says
Easy to make and super delicious! Now my go-to coffee cake recipe. The banana adds another element of simplicity and flavor but is subtle enough to not overpower.
Donna Carnrite says
Very good,nice and moist. I added a cup of oatmeal to the streusel topping. My husband loves them and so do the neighbors!