Banana Coffee Cake

Just a couple more days until 2021, and if you’re in that weird limbo between Christmas and New Years right now, I think this will help you finish out the year happy. Let’s wander around the house with coffee cake in our hand, ok?

There’s a million banana bread recipes out there, including a good many on this very site. Today we’re just turning it into a warm, spicy, coffee cake with a layer of cinnamon and sugar running throughout, and a pile of crumb topping too. It’s the way we were always meant to eat banana bread. And before we go getting all super healthy for 2021, let’s just take a moment for this please.

How to Make Banana Coffee Cake

Let’s talk about how to prep your pan for this one- it’s easy to just grease a loaf pan and then tip the cake out. But this time around, we’re making more of a coffee cake situation, and we don’t want to have to tip it upside-down and lose a bunch of that crumb topping. So, I highly recommend that you line the bottom of your baking dish with parchment paper that has over-hangs. I’m using sheets that are made for round pans, but you can definitely bake this in a square pan as well, which makes it easier to line with a standard sheet of parchment paper.

After mixing up the batter, we’re spreading about half of it into the pan, and then covering it with a really generous layer of cinnamon and sugar. It’s going to seem like too much cinnamon and sugar, but it’s not- use it all!

And then gently spread the remaining batter over the top. I like to kind of spoon the batter all over the surface to make this a little easier- the batter is fairly thick, so it takes a little time to spread this second layer on top. And finally, allllll the crumb topping gets piled high on top.

Then it’s just off to the oven for some sweet, sweet baking time. This takes a while to bake, and you want make sure you are using a toothpick to make sure it’s fully baked. It’s a lot of cake, and it’s worth the wait. You’ll want to let it cool for at least 30 minutes before removing from the pan, slicing, and enjoying!

Tips & Tricks For High-Altitude Banana Coffee Cake

I’ve got a few tips to help you make this recipe just right!

• Prep your pan If you want to be able to remove the entire cake from the pan (instead of slicing and serving from inside the pan), you’ll want to line your baking pan with parchment paper. With the crumb topping, you don’t want to turn the pan upside-down to remove it, so instead you should line your greased pan with parchment paper that has over-hanging pieces on it.
• You have options for baking pan: I am using an 8 inch round cake pan here. You can also use an 8 inch square pan without any adjustment to bake time. Or, you can bake it in a loaf pan, though it may take a bit longer to bake.
• Dollop the second layer of batter all over the cinnamon/sugar mixture. The batter is a bit thick, so by scooping in large dollops all over the top, you’ll be able to more easily spread the batter and cover the cinnamon/sugar mixture completely.
• I am at about 5,000 ft above sea level and find that most people who live between 3,000ft and 7,000ft do not need to make any adjustments to my recipes.
• Use all of the toppings and fillings: It seems like a lot of cinnamon/sugar and a lot of crumb topping, but trust me on this one! You want a generous ripple of cinnamon running through the inside of the cake, and the crumb topping is super yummy!

I hope you guys enjoy this one, and Happy New Year! It’s been an odd, stressful, and unexpected year for everyone, but I’m so grateful that so many of you have found my site this year. I am honored that you took my recipes into your homes, and baked like crazy. Cheers to another year of life with a warm oven in all our homes!

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Banana Coffee Cake

Ingredients

For the Banana Cake:

• 3/4 cup sugar plus more for dusting
• 6 tbs. softened butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbs. vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups mashed bananas over-ripe about 3 large bananas
• 2 cups flour
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt

For the Filling:

• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon

For the Crumb:

• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt

Instructions

For the Banana Cake:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease an 8-inch round or square cake pan, and line it with parchment paper that has overhangs for easy removal. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until fluffy and well-combined. Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract, and then add in the mashed bananas until just combined. Finally, add in the flour, baking soda, and salt, and beat until there are no dry pockets of flour, and you have a thick batter. It will have a few small lumps in it depending on how over-ripe your bananas are- that's ok!

3. Spread about half of the batter evenly into your prepared pan, and then make the cinnamon/sugar filling.

For the filling:

1. In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar and cinnamon until well combined. Sprinkle the entire mixture evenly over the half of the batter in your prepared pan already. You want the mixture to be pretty even, and to cover the entire layer of batter.

2. Dollop the remaining cake batter on top of the cinnamon sugar mixture to make it easier to spread, and then use the back of a spoon or a small offset spatula to spread the batter all the way to the edges, covering the cinnamon mixture completely.

For the crumb topping:

1. In a medium bowl, using a fork, stir together the butter, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt until a crumb starts to form. This may take a few minutes and a little working with the fork. You want the mixture to form large crumbs when pressed together.

2. Sprinkle the crumb mixture evenly all over the top of the cake batter. Bake the cake in your preheated oven for 55-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 30 minutes, and then remove by pulling it out with your parchment paper over-hangs. Slice and enjoy!

Dough-Eyed

Hello and welcome! My name is Nicole, and Dough-eyed is a food blog for people who want to bake for their family and friends in high-altitude areas. Think of me as a friendly voice there with you in the kitchen, here to give you confidence when you’re baking, and to help you with the struggles of baking at high-altitude. Come back every week for new recipes, tips, and advice on high-altitude baking!

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