Banana Crumb Cake

For a breakfast treat or after dinner sweet, this ultra moist, buttery, cinnamon spiked Banana Crumb Cake hits the spot. 

Sometimes a recipe seems to come to me by pure serendipity. A few months ago, my friend made a banana cake for our weekly breakfast gathering. I’ve mentioned our breakfast crew several times before. It’s where I got this recipe for Easy Caramel Monkey Bread and the best Buttermilk Syrup. This particular banana cake was super moist with a crunchy brown sugar crumb topping. It was dessert masquerading as breakfast, and I couldn’t have been happier about it.

All of us requested the recipe, and I made a note to make it as soon as I had the chance. Of course, weeks passed and I completely forgot about it. Then one day, I had a few black spotted bananas to use up, and I asked Will to scroll through my Pinterest feed and pick out a banana recipe for me to make. He immediately chose a banana crumb cake that looked suspiciously like one I had eaten just a few weeks earlier.

I clicked on the recipe then compared it to the one my friend had sent in an email. Sure enough, they were nearly identical. Clearly, I was meant to make this banana cake…immediately.

I was pleasantly surprised to find the batter comes together in no time, and we were soon greeted with the smells of warm cinnamon and brown sugar. We were too impatient to let the cake cool, so we cut ourselves fat slices and drizzled it with glaze while it was still warm and fragrant.

The secret to this ultra moist cake is the layer of crumbs in the middle. The crumbs disappear during baking, leaving their buttery, spicy warmth behind. The crunchy brown sugar crumbs on top are just the icing….errr crumbs….on the cake.

It’s so good,  you might find yourself letting bananas rot just so you can make it.

Banana Crumb Cake

Prep Time 25 minsPrep Time

Cook Time 45 minsCook Time

Total Time 1 hr 10 mins Total Time

Yields 24

4.0 rating

1 reviews

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Ingredients

For the cake

• 2 cups flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 very ripe bananas
• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup milk

For the crumbs

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) cold butter, cubed
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

For the glaze

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1-2 Tbsp milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 inch pan. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In another large bowl, mash the bananas. Beat in the butter until well combined. Add the sugar, eggs, and vanilla and beat until combined.
2. Stir in the flour and milk alternately, beginning and ending with the milk. Set aside.
3. In another bowl, combine all of the crumb ingredients and use a pastry cutter or forks to cut in the butter until pea sized crumbs form.
4. Pour half of the cake batter into the prepared pan then layer with half of the crumbs. Pour the remaining batter on top followed by the rest of the crumbs. Bake in the preheated oven for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
5. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Whisk together the glaze ingredients in a measuring cup then drizzle over the cake. Serve warm or at room temperature. Cake will keep for 3 days in a covered container, but the crumbs will lose their crunch after the first day.

by Courtney

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Recipe adapted from Cookies and Cups