Chocolate Banana Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting

Chocolate Banana Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting is flavorful and amazingly moist thanks to the magic of mashed bananas, sour cream and buttermilk.

Brace yourself for a rollercoaster of flavors as we dive fork-first into Chocolate Banana Cake. If you’ve never tried a cake with this novel flavor combination, prepare to be speechless after the first bite. Literally. You’ll start shoveling cake in your mouth so fast you won’t be able to talk. That’s because the recipe is loaded with mashed bananas, buttermilk and sour cream for upmost moisture then it doubles down on chocolate with cocoa powder and mini chocolate chips. To say the least, it’s a unique take on banana cake. It’s also dense and heavy as hell so I powerlift it above my head in between bites to help offset the calories.

Now that we’ve talked about the inside of this crazy delicious cake, let’s talk about the outside: the thick, creamy peanut butter frosting that I can barely resist the urge to faceplant into. Ironically, peanut butter is one of those things you can’t bring through airport security without being suspected of terrorism, but mix it with powdered sugar, butter and some cream then then BOOM: it’s the bomb. And since you can’t have a bomb on a plane, keep Skippy in your kitchen and out of your carry on bag. Whipped into buttercream frosting, peanut butter becomes so good it’s dangerous.

The next time you’ve got a craving for cake, give this recipe a go. Just be sure to grab a box of tissues first, because the yummy combination of chocolate, banana and peanut butter in one epic dessert will make your sweet tooth weep tears of joy.

Before sharing the recipe for Chocolate Banana Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting, here are a few tips to help you out:

Ingredient Tips

How many bananas do you need for a banana cake? Four large bananas is perfect for this recipe. For the upmost banana flavor, be sure to use overripe bananas that are so brown and covered with bruises that they look like Mike Tyson punched them.

If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make a sour milk substitution by stirring 1/2 teaspoon of fresh lemon juice into 1/2 cup of whole milk then letting it set for 5 minutes before use.

Eggs need to be at room temperature before beginning. If you’ve forgotten to take yours out of the refrigerator ahead of time, speed up the process by placing them in a bowl of warm water. Don’t use hot water; we want to warm the eggs, not hatch them.

We only stock our pantry with all-natural peanut butter, but the way the oil tends to separate is not a good match for peanut butter frosting. Therefore, I recommend using a processed brand like JIF or Skippy.

Preparation Tips

Always use the spoon and level method to measure flour. Scooping flour is a no-no. That technique overpacks flour into the measuring cup which will cause your cake to be dry.

Cool cake layers completely before topping with peanut butter frosting.

Chocolate Banana Cake can be made 2 days in advance. Cover the cooled, unfrosted cake layers in plastic wrap then store in the refrigerator until ready to frost and serve.

How to Store Chocolate Banana Cake

Cover and store frosted cake in the refrigerator up to 5 days.

Can you freeze banana cake? Yes, this cake can be frozen up to 3 months frosted or unfrosted. For best results, double wrap cake, first in plastic wrap then in aluminum foil, before placing in an airtight container in the freezer.

I hope you enjoy this Chocolate Banana Cake recipe. Please leave a rating and review below when you give it a try. And, while you’re at it, sign up for my weekly Recipe Newsletter so you never miss a tempting recipe.

Finally, if you’re looking for more incredible banana recipes then you’ll love Banana Chocolate Chip Cake with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting. Loaded with mashed bananas, buttermilk and mini chocolate chips the secret to this simple recipe is cooling it in the freezer!

Chocolate Banana Cake

Heather Wolf

This Chocolate Banana Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting is flavorful and amazingly moist thanks to the magic of mashed bananas, sour cream and buttermilk.

5 from 9 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 40 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Course Cakes and Cupcakes

Cuisine American

Servings 8

Ingredients

  

Chocolate Banana Cake

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour unbleached
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp sea salt fine
• 1 tsp espresso powder (optional)
• 1 cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs room temperature
• 2 cups overripe bananas, mashed (approximately 4 large bananas)
• 1 cup full fat sour cream room temperature
• 2 tsp vanilla extract pure
• 1/2 cup buttermilk room temperature
• 1 cup mini chocolate chips
• 1 tbsp all-purpose flour unbleached

Peanut Butter Frosting

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature
• 1 cups creamy peanut butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 3 tbsp heavy cream room temperature

Instructions

 

Chocolate Cake

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Grease bottoms and sides of two 9-inch round, high-sided baking pans. Place parchment paper rounds into bottom of pans then grease the parchment paper. Set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, sift together dry ingredients: flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt and espresso powder. Set aside.
• In a separate bowl, use an electric mixer to beat butter and sugar until creamy smooth – approximately 3 minutes.
• Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed.
• Beat in mashed bananas, sour cream and vanilla.
• Reduce mixer speed to low. Alternate between adding 1/4 cup of buttermilk and half of flour mixture in 2 separate batches, beating after each addition until just barely combined. Avoid overmixing.
• Coat mini chocolate chips with 1 tablespoon of flour then gently stir them into the cake batter with a spoon until evenly distributed.
• Evenly divide batter between the 2 baking pans, smooth the tops with a spatula then bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until a tester inserted into the center of cake comes out clean.
• Remove baking pans from oven then place on a wire rack to cool completely, approximately 2 hours, before frosting.

Peanut Butter Frosting

• Beat butter and peanut butter with an electric mixer until creamy and smooth.
• Reduce mixer speed to low, add powdered sugar and heavy cream. Beat for 1 minute then increase mixer speed and beat until fluffy.

  Note: If frosting is too thick, add more cream in 1 tablespoon increments until desired consistency is reached.

Assembly

• After cakes have cooled completely, turn them out from their pans then level tops with a cake leveler or serrated knife.
• Using an offset spatula, frost the top of both cakes with an equal amount of buttercream then gently stack one cake layer on top of the other.

  *If you'd like to frost the sides of the cake, double the peanut butter frosting recipe.

Store

• Cover and store frosted cake in the refrigerator up to 5 days.

Keyword banana, cake, chocolate, frosting, peanut butter