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Banana Coffee Cake combines two favorite breakfast treats into one amazing coffee cake! If you love banana bread you are going to love this coffee cake – it’s the best way to use up overripe bananas. I have been making this recipe FOR YEARS and every time I do people gobble it up. Coffee Cake never lasts long in my house.

coffee cake on a white plate next to some banana slices.


Best Breakfast Banana Coffee Cake

I’ve been making this Banana Bread Coffee Cake for years. It’s my mom’s homemade coffee cake combined with her banana bread recipe. Sounds amazing, right? If you haven’t tried coffee cake made with bananas you are in for a treat – it’s the best of two baked treats combined to make one amazing coffee cake.

It should come as no surprise that I am addicted to coffee cake. I have made so many versions: carrot cake, peanut butter, cinnamon roll pie, pumpkin, and zucchini. But this easy banana coffee cake is one of my all-time favorites. I mean, it’s my mom’s so maybe I’m biased but every time I make it everyone fights over the last piece. That’s always a good review!

coffee cake on a white plate next to some banana slices.

How to Freeze Overripe Bananas

Am I the only one who is thrilled when there are brown overripe bananas on the counter? When it happens, all I can think about is making this banana coffee cake recipe. I usually stack the deck in my favor and buy more bananas than we can eat in a week just so I have an excuse to make it.

You can freeze bananas so if you have some that are just right for baking, but you’re not ready to use them, you can pop them in the freezer for later. People gasp when I tell them that but I do it all the time!

  • Peel the bananas first because it’s really hard to do this after they’ve been frozen.
  • Once peeled, you can cut them into chunks or keep them whole. I like to keep them whole since most banana bread and cake recipes call for whole bananas.
  • Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. You want to freeze them before placing them in a bag – that way they won’t get stuck together in the bag as they freeze.
  • Freeze them on the baking sheet for 30 minutes and then transfer them to a freezer-safe bag. They will keep for three to four months.
  • To thaw, just leave them out at room temperature.

That’s the complicated way. The way I do it: I toss them in the freezer, peels and all. Before I use them, I let them thaw on a plate at room temperature.

Important Ingredients Needed

  • Sugar – you’ll need granulated and brown sugar for the cake and topping
  • Browned butter – you can use regular melted butter but the brown butter is just amazing in this.
  • Mashed Ripe Bananas – the more brown spotted the better!
  • Cinnamon – a MUST in coffee cake!
egg, baking powder, melted butter and other ingredients in glass bowl with whisk.
flour and milk in mixture in glass bowl with whisk.
streusel ingredients in small glass bowl.
cake batter and streusel in bowl.

How to make Banana Coffee Cake with Cinnamon Streusel

  • Combine the sugar, browned butter, and egg in a large bowl. Add the milk and mashed bananas and stir until combined. In a separate bowl whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt.
  • Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. You can do this by hand with a whisk or using a mixer.
  • Pour the batter into a prepared pan. You can use a 9×9” square baking dish or a 10” pie pan.
  • Add all streusel ingredients to a medium bowl. Stir with a fork. Sprinkle the buttery sugary mixture over the top of the cake batter in the pan. 
  • Pop the coffee cake in the oven and bake it for 25 to 30 minutes at 350°F and enjoy the amazing scent of bananas, butter, and cinnamon as it wafts from the oven. 
coffee cake on a white plate next to some banana slices.

Tip From Dorothy

Expert Tips

  • Test for doneness with a toothpick – if it comes out clean your cake is done.
  • Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
  • Want chocolate? Add 1/2 cup chocolate chips to the batter.

FAQs

Can I Make Muffins Instead?

If you don’t want to make a whole cake you can make coffee cake banana muffins instead. Just line a muffin pan with liners, add the batter and sprinkle the crumble topping over the top. 

coffee cake on a white plate next to some banana slices.

Banana Coffee Cake Recipe

4.73 from 43 votes
Banana Bread Coffee Cake – this EASY coffee cake recipe is full of banana bread flavor with a nutty streusel on top! It’s everyone’s favorite breakfast or brunch recipe!

Recipe Video

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Yield 12 servings
Serving Size 1 serving
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Ingredients
 

Coffee Cake:

  • ¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
  • ¼ cup (59ml) brown butter (see step 2)
  • 2 overripe bananas mashed
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup (118ml) milk
  • 1 ½ cups (186g) flour

Streusel Ingredients:

  • ⅓ cup (67g) packed brown sugar
  • ¼ cup (31g) all purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon
  • ¼ cup (57g) browned butter (see step 2)
  • 1 cup pecans or walnuts optional
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Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9” square pan or a 10” pie plate with cooking spray.
  • Add ½ cup (8 tablespoons) of unsalted butter to a small frying pan. Cook over low heat, stirring until it browns. It will foam up, then turn brown. Keep stirring the entire time. Once it turns brown the foam will diminish and the butter will become golden. Remove from heat. You are using this butter for both the cake and streusel.
  • Mix sugar, ¼ cup of the browned butter, and egg in a large bowl. Stir in baking powder and salt, then stir in mashed bananas. Whisk in flour and milk stir until just combined. Pour in prepared pan.
  • Make the crumb topping: stir together brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and remaining ¼ cup browned butter, and nuts, if using. I like to stir them together with a fork.
  • Top cake with the streusel. Bake time will depend on pan, but it will take anywhere from 30-40 minutes. My thin pie plates and 9-inch pans take about 30 minutes, but the thick pan used in the photos took 40.
  • Cool slightly before serving.

Recipe Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 178kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 29mg | Sodium: 145mg | Potassium: 112mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 19g | Vitamin A: 160IU | Calcium: 58mg | Iron: 1mg
Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate
Course Breakfast
Cuisine American
Author Dorothy Kern

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Other brunch ideas

Banana Coffee Cake is a way to make banana bread into coffee cake! This is my mom’s coffee cake recipe with banana and a crumble topping and is the perfect breakfast or brunch recipe if you have overripe bananas!



Dorothy Kern

Welcome to Crazy for Crust, where I share recipes that are sometimes crazy, often with a crust, and always served with a slice of life.

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4.73 from 43 votes (19 ratings without comment)

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71 Comments

    1. In the US, coffee cake refers to a cake you’d drink for breakfast (i.e. with coffee) instead of putting coffee IN the cake.

      Reply

  5. Hi. I used the brown butter but accidentally used only 1/4c milk and it was perfect. I recommend to prevent the too moist issues experienced by others. I also found the topping too liquid and added a significant amount of flour to bring it up to more of a crumb topping. The flavor profile was lovely, buttery-nutty slightly banana. Perhaps for ease, the recipe could be condensed into wet and dry ingredients to make prep easier. Great recipe that I’m proud to bake for others.

    Reply