Banana Snack Cake with Vanilla Frosting
Banana Snack Cake – put those overripe bananas on your counter to good use with this simple and delicious Banana Cake recipe! It’s topped with a delicious vanilla frosting and makes a perfect treat or snack for anytime!
For more delicious and easy Dessert Recipes, be sure to check out my Skinny Chocolate Cake, Raspberry Oatmeal Bars, and Lemon Poppy Seed Bundt Cake.
Today’s recipe is brought to you thanks to a huge bunch of overripe bananas I had last week. I’m normally a good banana eater as are my kiddos, but we weren’t able to eat them in time before the brown spots started to set in.
Those overripe bananas were staring me down so I decided it was time to make my favorite banana snack cake, which is the absolute best way to use up spotty bananas!
I also make Butterscotch Banana Bread or Kale, Apple, and Banana Smoothies a lot with overripe bananas, but this Banana Cake with Vanilla Frosting is a family favorite!
Ingredients for Banana Snack Cake with Vanilla Frosting
Ingredient measurements and full instructions are located in the recipe card below.
- granulated sugar
- sour cream
- egg
- unsalted butter
- bananas
- vanilla extract
- all purpose flour
- baking soda
- salt
- powdered sugar
- milk
How to Make Banana Snack Cake with Vanilla Frosting – Step by Step
Ingredient measurements and full instructions are located in the recipe card below.
- Combine sugar with the wet ingredients in a medium bowl using an electric mixer.
- Stir in the dry ingredients.
- Pour into a greased square baking dish and bake until golden brown.
- Beat the banana cake frosting ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Spread over the cooled banana snack cake.
Tips and Notes
- The recipe can be doubled and baked in a 9×13 baking dish.
- Use room temperature butter, sour cream, and egg for the cake. This will help your ingredients to incorporate more smoothly.
- Add a sprinkle of cinnamon on top of your frosted banana cake for a pretty presentation and a little flavor boost!
- To make your banana snack cake in advance, prepare as directed 1-2 days ahead of time and store covered in the refrigerator. I do recommend removing it from the refrigerator and allowing it to come closer to room temperature about 1-2 hours before serving.
- Store the frosted cake, covered, on the counter for up to 3 days.
- You can also freeze your banana snack cake for up to 6 months. Allow it to thaw on the counter top before enjoying.
The Best Banana Cake Frosting
This vanilla icing recipe is the best frosting for banana cake. It’s sweet, but not too sweet, and balances the flavor of the bananas perfectly. It’s super easy to whip up, and can easily be doubled if you’re making a larger cake.
More Amazing Banana Recipes You Should Try!
- Easy Banana Pudding Recipe
- One Bowl Banana Bread
- Banana Cream Pie
- Greek Yogurt Banana Pancakes
- Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Pumpkin Banana Bread Baked Oatmeal
If you try this recipe, please leave a comment and rating below. I love to hear from you and always appreciate your feedback!
Banana Cake with Vanilla Frosting
Ingredients
To make the cake:
- 2/3 cup white granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 egg
- 2 Tablespoons butter, softened
- 2 medium bananas, mashed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
To make the frosting:
- 2 Tablespoons butter, softened
- 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
- 2-3 Tablespoons milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8×8 baking pan with cooking spray and set aside.
- Using an electric mixer, beat together the sugar, sour cream, egg, and softened butter over medium speed until combined. Add in the mashed bananas and vanilla extract.
- Stir in the flour, baking soda, and salt by hand, mixing until just combined. Pour into the prepared baking dish and bake in the preheated oven for 22-28 minutes, until top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool completely on a wire rack.
- To make the frosting, beat the butter, powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract with an electric mixer until smooth. Evenly spread over the cooled cake and serve. I like to sprinkle the frosted cake with a little cinnamon for an extra boost of flavor and color, but this is optional! Refrigerate any leftovers.
Notes
- The recipe can be doubled and baked in a 9×13 baking dish.
- Use room temperature butter, sour cream, and egg for the cake. This will help your ingredients to incorporate more smoothly.
- Add a sprinkle of cinnamon on top of your frosted banana cake for a pretty presentation and a little flavor boost!
- To make your banana snack cake in advance, prepare as directed 1-2 days ahead of time and store covered in the refrigerator. I do recommend removing it from the refrigerator and allowing it to come closer to room temperature about 1-2 hours before serving.
- Store the frosted cake, covered, on the counter for up to 3 days.
- You can also freeze your banana snack cake for up to 6 months. Allow it to thaw on the counter top before enjoying.
Can I substitute Greek yogurt for sour cream? I want to make this and that’s what we have at home.
Hi, yes that should work.
Banana is my favorite flavor! This is a must make banana cake!
This is totally impossible to resist!! A huge hit at my house!
Wow, this cake was so tasty my kids loved it!
Looks absolutely delicious! I’m excited to make this!
This looks so delicious for a a nice summer time dessert, banana is always a favorite here at our house!
This is such a perfect comfort food dessert. Grew up enjoying it.
I actually have some overripe bananas I could use for this, it sounds delicious
Best and easiest banana cake ever! At the first bite, I was won over. That’s how good it is! So light and delicious! Thank you Ashlyn for such an incredible recipe and that all your recipes are so easy to follow and I don’t have to search for ingredients at the grocery store. You make cooking simple, enjoyable and delicious!
This is the very best banana cake I have ever tasted! Wonderful recipe, light and delicious. Don’t hesitate to use your ripe bananas on this recipe, it’s well worth it. You’ll want to make this again and again for your family and to give away. I’ve gotten great compliments on it.
Hi Ashlyn! Do you think this frosting would work with your butterscotch banana bread? Plan to make today thank you!
That sounds delicious! Let me know how it turns out if you try that!
Can I make this in a loaf pan?
I have not tried it that way, but I think it should work fine! You might just need to add in more time for baking.
This sounds so good definitely need to try!
Omg I love soft cakes, this sounds so yummy, I need make it
My kids will love this! They get tired of banana bread sometimes. Thank you!
I made this cake sugar free with monkfruit. I also used half ap flour and half carbquik to lower the carbs..added a little cinnamon and nutmeg and frosted with sf bananna pudding mix with sf cool whip..yum yum yum
Omg I have never tried banana cake with frosting before! Just Banana bread… and my kiddos are obsessed with it. So I can only imagine their faces when they taste and see this! I will definitely give this a whirl with my little girl this weekend.
Okay, this literally made my mouth water just by the sight of it. It looks so pretty and super moist!
I’ve made this cake many, many times now and it’s always a hit. Such a nice change from banana bread. It’s a very easy and forgiving recipe. For example, the last time I made it, I didn’t have sour cream on hand so I used plain Greek yogurt instead and it turned out fine. I’m very happy to have found this recipe. Thank you!
Can I make this cake in a 13 x 9 inch pan if I double the recipe?
Yes!