Super Moist and Fluffy Banana Cake Recipe

Super soft and fluffy banana cake that melts in your mouth. It’s honestly the best way to make use of overripe bananas. Made with cake flour, this banana cake recipe is extra moist and tender with a super soft crumb.

I always think there’s something really satisfying about eating a piece of a cake with your hands. Sometimes a fork and plate just doesn’t belong! With this cake, I find myself grabbing these squares right out of the pan for afternoon snack (I cover it with Saran wrap and leave it on the counter in full view….) The square size also makes packing them in kid lunch boxes easier too. And yep, I legitimize making this cake too regularly by overripening my bananas on purpose!

Simple Ingredients in this Fluffy Banana Cake Recipe

This cake just needs a few simple pantry ingredients which means it can be whipped up on the fly.

Cake Flour

The cake flour is what will give this cake its fluffy texture. I’ve made banana cakes with AP flour, whole wheat flour, a combination of both but I love the soft crumb and light texture of cake flour. This is a banana cake I also enjoy just by itself without nuts or icing to highlight the softer texture. Keep in mind, this is definitely a cake and not a banana bread. For a bread or a layer cake, I’d definitely use a flour with more protein for more structure, chew and versatility for mix-ins.

Unsalted Butter

The butter gives this cake a beautiful golden color and a lovely top crust. #buttermagic Make sure the butter is at room temperature so that it can be creamed easily with the sugars.

Bananas

This banana cake uses 4 bananas for an extra moist cake. I also like to roughly mash them to leave a few bigger chunks dispersed in the batter. It’s important that the bananas are browning and freckling so that they

Eggs

Two room temperature large eggs are used for structure and richness. Room temperature allows better emulsification of the butter and sugar.

Sugar

This recipe uses both white and brown sugars for perfect texture and flavour. I wouldn’t reduce the sugar in this recipe since it will change the texture. Also if you’re enjoying this cake on its own, a little extra sweetness doesn’t hurt.

Baking Soda, Vanilla, Salt

For lift and flavour of course!

Preparation Tips

When preparing this cake, I usually use 3 (2 medium & 1 large) bowls and a hand mixer. The 2 medium bowls are to mash the bananas and mix the dry ingredients. The largest bowl is to cream together the butter and sugars and combine all the wet ingredients. Both the contents of the medium bowls will then be poured into the large bowl where the cake comes together.

Mixing the ingredients

This recipe requires creaming the butter and sugar together. To make a fluffy cake, this part is what takes the longest and is also the most important. 90% of your prep time should be this step.

When adding the dry ingredients (flour, salt and baking soda) into the wet batter, gently fold it in with a spatula until its almost mixed it – a few dry spots is ok! This should take less than a minute. Overmixing the flour in will create a stiffer cake (this is because the gluten bonds strengthen the more you mix leading to more chewiness)

Pouring the batter

I use an 8″x8″x3″ shallow square pan for a quicker bake time. I also prefer to butter and line it with parchment paper for easy release and cutting into squares. The small size also makes this a perfect cake to put in your toaster oven saving you time from preheating your larger oven. So if you’re in a crunch and need to whip up something fast, this cake is perfect!

This cake lasts in an air tight container at room temperature for about 3 days. It also freezes well up to 3 months but honestly, it’s never really makes it there…

If you’re a fan of cake, check out my lunchbox cake recipe as well. A smaller size so you can feel less guilty! Leave me a comment if you tried this cake!

Adapted from food.com banana bread recipe