If there was ever a dessert and a breakfast of my dreams that I put into real life, it’s this banana bread coffee cake. The layers, the crumble, the moist (sorry, I had to) banana bread layers, and the drizzle over top. Oh baby, this one has got it all.
If it isn’t crystal clear by this point in time, my dedication to banana bread is off the charts. I mean I know a lot of people love banana bread. But do you buy 10 bananas every week just to make sure you have enough for a weekly loaf?! Do you love seeing fruit rotting on your counter just to take comfort in the fact that you’ll make bread out of it? No? Yeah, no, me neither…..
And if banana bread isn’t good enough as is, layer in a few elements of a classic coffee cake in with your banana bread, and might as well win a Grammy. This is banana bread coffee cake. That shit is F I R E. Fire.
This banana bread coffee cake was born from 2 of my favorite recipes on the blog, to make, like, and ultimate super favorite recipe. It’s super light and airy, but has layers to it. This is banana bread, but it’s also cake. Plus, it even has an amazing crumble over top that’ll make you feel like a superstar baker!
Taste & texture…
This coffee cake is super moist and very fluffy! The bananas and maple syrup keep this cake moist and the size of pan its baked in, in combination with the layering of the filling, the crumble and the batter makes it a pretty thick cake.
Properly measuring your ingredients
Measuring your ingredients properly is arguably one of the most important parts of baking any recipe, yet one of the most overlooked! Believe it or not, there actually is a right and wrong way to measure ingredients.
How to layer the filling with the banana bread
Try to spread the second layer of banana bread batter carefully. It’s obviously okay if the cinnamon sugar layer gets messed up a bit, but if you keep it intact, you will get that beautiful little swirl in the middle of your coffee cake!
- Flour: to measure the flour for the batter in this recipe, use the scoop and level method! This means, instead of simply scooping the flour out of the bag or container with the measuring cup, scoop the flour out into the measuring cup with a spoon, and level it off with a flat edge (like a butter knife). The reason for this is that flour settles over time and if you scoop it out with a measuring cup, you’ll end up measuring too much, and your coffee cake is at risk of becoming too dense.
- Brown Sugar: For brown sugar, you can measure this a bit more easily than flour, but with brown sugar you want to pack it down! This simply means, once the brown sugar is in the measuring cup, press it down with your hand (and you may potentially need to add more). This will help make sure your cake is the right level of sweetness. 🙂
- Bananas: Now this isn’t technically a measuring tip, but let’s just go with it. The tip here is just in regards to the size of the banana! Use a medium or large banana, not ones that are teeny tiny!
How to store this coffee cake
Store any leftover coffee cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two days. The crumble of any recipe, this one included, becomes less crisp as time goes on, so I recommend enjoying this coffee cake within ~2 days of baking.
Super Easy Banana Bread Coffee Cake
9
servings20
minutes40
minutesIngredients
- Banana Bread
1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter
2/3 Cup Brown Sugar, packed
1/4 Cup Maple Syrup
2 Eggs, room temperature
1.5 Cup All Purpose Flour
2 Ripe Bananas
1/4 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
- Cinnamon Sugar Layer
2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp Cane Sugar
1/2 Tbsp Cinnamon
- Crumble Topping
1/2 Cup & 1 Tbsp All Purpose Flour
4 Tbsp Unsalted Butter, melted
1/2 Tbsp Cinnamon
4 Tbsp Brown Sugar
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line an 8×8 baking dish with parchment paper – set aside.
- Begin by preparing the crumble topping. Melt the butter for the crumble topping. Combine the butter in a small bowl with the flour, cinnamon, and brown sugar for the crumble topping. Mix everything with a fork until “crumbles” form. Once these have come together, set aside. You can use your fingers to break into smaller crumbles if needed.
- Next, melt your butter for the banana bread. Set aside.
- While the butter is cooling, add your bananas to a large mixing bowl and mash until smooth. Then, add both eggs to the same bowl and whisk.
- Next, add brown sugar and maple syrup to the eggs and banana, and mix again.
- Then, add the melted butter to the bowl with the bananas, eggs and sugar and whisk everything together once more.
- In a separate bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda & baking powder.
- Add the dry ingredients to the bowl with the wet ingredients and fold everything together until fully combined. Folding ingredients together here rather than mixing vigorously will keep the banana bread a nice light texture.Â
- Next, pour half of the banana bread batter (half is about 1.5 cups of batter) into your parchment lined pan. Set aside.
- In a separate small bowl, mix together the brown sugar, cane sugar and cinnamon for the cinnamon sugar filling layer, and sprinkle generously over the first layer of banana bread batter – covering it completely.
- Then, add the remaining half of the banana bread batter over the cinnamon sugar filling layer and carefully smooth out over top, trying to keep the cinnamon sugar layer intact. It’s ok if it messes up a bit, though. 🙂
- Finally, sprinkle all the crumble topping over the second layer of banana bread.
- Bake for about 45-50 minutes, or until fully cooked through. Check doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of the cake and ensuring no batter remains. Once done baking, remove your banana bread coffee cake from the oven and let it cool completely before storing in an airtight container. Slice into pieces and enjoy!
- Optional last step — mix 1 cup of powdered sugar with 3 tablespoons of milk of your choice for a frosting to drizzle over top!
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