While you could buy a pre-made banana nut cake easily enough, making it from scratch just tastes so much better. Between the warming spices of cinnamon and nutmeg, the creamy sweetness of ripe bananas, and the satisfying crunch of chopped walnuts, this banana nut cake is a delicious, satiating and popular treat to share. You’ll use basic baking ingredients (flour, sugar, salt, leavening agents) and add flavor and moisture (bananas, pineapple, vanilla extract). The result is a simple banana bread-style cake that’s straightforward but delicious. Serve warm with a steaming cup of milky chai tea.
Ingredients for Banana Nut Cake
- Dry ingredients: Combine all-purpose flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, ground cinnamon and ground nutmeg.
- Wet ingredients: Wet ingredients include large eggs, well-ripened bananas, canola oil, crushed pineapple and vanilla extract.
- Walnuts: This recipe calls for chopped walnuts, but you can use pecans or hazelnuts as well.
- Optional: Confectioners’ sugar and whipped cream to serve.
Directions
Step 1: Make batter, combine
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan. In a large bowl or stand mixture, whisk flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg. In another bowl, combine eggs, bananas, oil, pineapple and vanilla. Add the wet mixture to the dry; stir just until moistened. Gently fold in the nuts.
Step 2: Bake and garnish
Pour batter in prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 60 to 65 minutes. Cool in pan for 15 minutes, and then remove it to a wire rack to cool completely. If desired, dust with confectioners’ sugar and serve with whipped cream, additional sliced bananas and crumbled walnuts.
Banana Nut Cake Variations
- Add chocolate: Stirring in chocolate chips along with chopped walnuts will take this cake to the next level. To do so, add in as much chocolate as you’d like starting with a 1/4 cup, and stir gently. Add more as desired. Be careful to not over-stir, as this will make the banana cake tough.
- Top with a glaze: The confectioners’ sugar garnish at the end is simple and pleasing, but if you want a sweeter, more cake-like serving, consider adding a glaze. This homemade vanilla glaze is a good choice. Or swap the vanilla for almond extract–a yummy option to complement the banana flavor of the cake.
- Frost it: The glaze above is similar to a frosting but it’s lighter and drippy. If you’d like a true frosting, homemade cream cheese frosting is a delicious choice.
How to Store Banana Nut Cake
Securely wrap any leftover banana and nuts cake with wax paper, aluminum foil or in another airtight container and pop it in the fridge. Additionally, this banana nut cake recipe freezes well. To do so, place the cake in an airtight, freezer-safe container.
How long does banana nut cake last?
Enjoy leftover banana nut cake leftovers within 3 days. If you’re storing it in the freezer it will last 3 to 4 months.
Banana Nut Cake Tips
Why is my banana cake rubbery?
The more that you stir a batter with flour in it, the more gluten will develop. The result? A rubbery, tough banana cake. It’s important to stir until just moist and leave it at that. To add in the walnuts and chocolate chips, gently stir or fold in so as not to over-mix.
Why is my banana cake soggy in the middle?
Bananas typically have a high moisture content. This is partly what makes banana cake so delicious–it’s rich, gently sweet and moist. But if you’re continually seeing a sunken middle, you do have a few options for troubleshooting the issue. Be sure to preheat the oven fully and while the cake is baking, try to not open the door to check its progress. Check for doneness with a small item, such as a cake tester or toothpick. And one trick that seems to work well is actually leaving it in the oven to cool gradually. You can open the door to let the heat out more quickly so as not to over-bake.
Can I make this vegan?
This particular banana nut cake recipe is easy to make into a vegan option. Simply swap out the eggs for a vegan egg option and bake as the recipe calls for.
