Banana Bread Bundt Cake
If you love banana bread, you’re going to LOVE this banana bread bundt cake! It tastes just like a delicious banana bread, topped with a yummy cream cheese frosting that is the perfect complement to this super moist banana bundt cake.
I have so many delicious banana recipes. There’s Chocolate Chip Banana Bread and Cinnamon Banana Bread for the banana bread lovers. Then there’s my Banana Coffee Cake with a streusel topping and Banana Cupcakes for the cake lovers. And Frosted Banana Cookies and Banana Cream Pie Cookies for the cookie lovers. It’s B-A-N-A-N-A-S how much I love to bake with bananas!
Why This Recipe Works
- Easy banana bundt cake recipe. I understand that bundt cakes can be intimidating, but truly, all you need is the right pan! The rest of this recipe is super simple. Mix your dry ingredients, mix your wet ingredients, pour into the bundt cake pan, and bake! It’s that easy!
- Phenomenal banana flavor. The best banana cake should taste like bananas. And this one definitely does. Plus, like classic banana bread, the flavor will continue to develop as it sits.
- Super moist bundt cake. This is the best banana bundt cake because it’s made with sour cream and vegetable oil to ensure it’s a moist and tender cake. No dry cakes here!
Ingredient Notes
- All-purpose flour: The building block of our banana bread bundt cake.
- Baking soda: To give our cake some lift.
- Ground cinnamon: In my opinion, all good banana bread has cinnamon in it. Therefore, so should our banana bread bundt!
- Salt: To balance out the sweetness.
- Unsalted butter: Softened butter is creamed together with sugar before adding the rest of the wet ingredients to create a more tender finished cake.
- Sugar: A combination of granulated sugar and brown sugar gives us the right balance of sweetness.
- Eggs: For structure and richness, a must for any cake. Since there are bananas in this cake, we only need a couple of eggs.
- Vanilla extract: Always my favorite ingredient for enhancing flavor!
- Sour cream: Sour cream adds moisture and richness, and it’s also going to react with the baking soda in the cake to help it rise.
- Vegetable oil: Using vegetable oil in addition to butter helps create a delicious cake that’s also super moist.
- Bananas: Obviously, we have to have bananas in our banana bundt cake recipe! Use overly ripe brown bananas for the best banana flavor.
- Cream cheese: Trust me, topping this bundt cake with cream cheese frosting is the right move!
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Prep oven and pan. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Spray a 10-cup bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray and lightly flour it. You may want to tip your pan upside down to get rid of any excess flour.
- Mix dry ingredients. To a large bowl, add 2¼ cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, and 1 teaspoon salt. Mix together and set aside.
- Mix wet ingredients. To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add ½ cup of softened unsalted butter, ½ cup of packed brown sugar, and ½ a cup of granulated sugar. Beat the butter and sugars together on medium speed for 2 minutes. Then add 2 eggs, 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract, ½ cup of sour cream, ½ cup vegetable oil, and 1½ cups of mashed bananas (about 4 medium bananas). Mix until combined.
- Combine wet and dry ingredients. Add the flour mixture to the stand mixer and mix until no flour streaks remain—but don’t overmix.
- Bake. Pour batter into your prepared bundt pan and spread it into an even layer. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning it onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Make frosting. Beat together 4 oz of softened cream cheese and ¼ cup softened butter until smooth. Add 1½ cups of powdered sugar and a pinch of salt, then beat until fluffy. If the frosting is too stiff, add milk or heavy cream 1 tablespoon at a time until it reaches your desired consistency.
- Frost cooled cake. Using a round piping tip or a ziptop bag with a corner snipped off, frost your banana bread bundt cake with cream cheese frosting. I like to pipe my frosting in between the lines of my bundt cake to show them off, but you can frost your bundt cake anyway you like. Once you’ve frosted your cake, cut yourself a slice and enjoy!
Recipe Tips
It’s important to realize this is not just banana bread in a bundt pan. There are certain specific cake-making techniques and portions I’ve tested to get the right amount of batter and the right texture. Simply making a banana bread recipe in a bundt pan will not have the same effect!
Use overripe bananas. This makes the banana flavor extra strong, so your cake will actually taste like bananas.
Don’t skip flouring your bundt pan! It’s famously tricky to remove a cake from a bundt pan unscathed. Greasing AND flouring the pan is key for a clean removal.
You can substitute sour cream for Greek yogurt.
If cream cheese frosting isn’t your thing, you can certainly skip it. This cake is super moist and delicious without it. Alternatively, I think it would pair really well with my Brown Butter Buttercream.
Make Ahead, Storing, and Freezing
Make Ahead: This cake keeps for a few days and the flavor continues to develop, so you can make it a day or two in advance. Wait to frost it until you’re ready to serve, since the frosting contains dairy and needs to be refrigerated.
Storing: Store leftover banana bundt cake in the fridge so the cream cheese frosting doesn’t spoil. If you keep the frosting separate, you can store the bundt cake in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-5 days. In the fridge with frosting it should keep for 3-5 days.
Freezing: You can freeze this cake without the frosting! Check out my How to Store and Freeze Cakes post for all the details.
Recipe FAQs
Sure! The batter should fit in a 9×9 square pan or a 10-inch round pan. Just be aware that you’ll need to adjust the bake time.
You’ll want to let your bundt cake cool almost entirely before adding any frosting, otherwise the frosting will slide right off.
Bundt pans are an American invention from the 50s, but their design was inspired by the traditional ring-shaped mold used to bake a Gugelhupf, a European cake with a long history.
I love the combination of banana and chocolate! You can add chocolate chips to this recipe. I recommend mixing in a cup of chocolate chips with the flour mixture, as coating the chocolate chips will help prevent sinking as the cake bakes. I also like to use mini chocolate chips, as they tend to sink less.
More Bundt Cake Recipes
- Pumpkin Bundt Cake
- Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake
- Red Velvet Bundt Cake
- Blood Orange Bundt Cake
- White Chocolate Raspberry Bundt Cake
Banana Bread Bundt Cake
Ingredients
Banana Bundt Cake
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter - softened
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar - packed
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 4 medium bananas - overly ripe, peeled and mashed (1 1/2 cups worth)
Frosting
- 4 oz cream cheese - softened
- 1/4 cup butter - softened
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk - or more, as needed
- pinch salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 10 cup bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray, and lightly flour. Set aside.
- In a large bowl mix the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. In a medium bowl, or bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Beat the butter and sugars on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add the eggs, vanilla, sour cream, vegetable oil, and mashed bananas and mix until combined. Add the dry ingredients and mix until no flour streaks remain, but don’t overmix!!! Pour the batter into the bundt pan and spread into an even layer.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning it out onto a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
- Frosting: Cream the cream cheese and butter until smooth and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and salt. Mix until fluffy. Add more powdered sugar as needed. If the frosting is too stiff, add a tablespoon of milk or heavy cream.
- Add the frosting to a piping bag fitted with a round tip, or spoon it into a zip top bag with a corner snipped off. Pipe the frosting along the sides of the bundt cake. Slice and serve!
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