Best Ever Banana and Zucchini Cake
It seems that I either have no ripe bananas on hand or I have more than I know what to do with. I made this cake because it was one of those times I could have fed all the monkeys in the zoo because I had so many. I also had a little zucchini in the crisper drawer that needed to be used before it turned into a limp noodle. I decided using zucchini in cake sounded better than just, you know, slicing it on top of a salad. The cake turned out to be falling-apart-soft, tender, and moist. I cannot stand dry cake and between the stick of melted butter, the soft bananas, the high moisture content in zucchini, and the six ounces of Greek yogurt added to the batter, this little cake was as moist as they come.
And it is just a little cake, baked in a 9-by-9 inch pan. Although having too much cake laying around isn’t the worst problem in the world, I prefer smaller cakes since they’re eaten and finished up while still at their freshness peak. Plus, variety is the spice of life and with large cakes, I’m ready for a change long before the cake is anywhere near finished, so I try to bake smaller cakes whenever possible. I added one packet of dry instant vanilla pudding mix to the batter to turn this cake into a pudding cake. I just love the pudding cakes that are sold in grocery store bakeries and figured I could make my own and this cake turned out to be a close approximation, full of creamy and sweet vanilla pudding notes. When it comes to banana cake, I prefer denser as opposed to light and airy, and bewteen the mashed bananas, the Greek yogurt, and the pudding, this golden nugget is definitely dense. I wouldn’t call it a lead balloon, but it’s not a fluffy angel food, that’s for sure. It’s a pudding cake.
I could have made it lighter by adding baking powder, but purposely did not because I wanted the crumb to remain more compact and wet, as opposed to drier and lighter. I find that as much as baking powder leavens, it also dries out whatever it’s added to and I don’t prefer that result. Instead, I added just enough baking soda to get the job done, omitted baking powder entirely, and my strategy paid off because I got what I wanted in the form of a melt-in-your-mouth, rich, pudding cake. The flavor of the cake is definitely one of banana, rather than zucchini. Zucchini is so flavor-neutral, otherwise known as bland, and is masked or takes a backseat to whatever other ingredients and flavors are present. On the opposite end of the scale, bananas tend to dominate the flavor profile whenever they’re present, and they dominated this cake.
Likely due to the stick of melted butter in the batter, as I was shoveling forkfuls of this cake into my mouth, I couldn’t help but think it tasted like a banana-butter cake or a banana-based rendition of a yellow cake-mix cake, with the familiar sponginess and springiness that yellow cake-mix cakes have. Sticking with a butter theme, I glazed the cake with a browned butter glaze that complemented the sweet bananas and pudding beautifully. If you’ve never had or cooked with browned butter, you need to board this butter train. Browned butter adds a depth of flavor, nuttiness, boldness, and an intensity and richness to everything it touches. It brings out everything that’s good and right with butter to begin with. You can do it on the stovetop but I brown butter in the microwave and it’s a piece of cake. Pun intended. If there’s one way to make fruits and vegetables taste decadent, a browned butter glaze on top of a slice of this cake is how. Just think about all the servings of fruit and vegetables you’ll be working into your diet by way of cake!
Banana Zucchini Cake Ingredients
For this easy zucchini banana cake recipe, you’ll need:
Unsalted butter Granulated sugar Light brown sugar Egg Greek yogurt Vanilla extract Bananas Zucchini Instant vanilla pudding mix All-purpose flour Baking soda Mini chocolate chips (optional) Confectioners’ sugar Cream or milk
How to Make Banana Zucchini Cake
This is such a simple zucchini dessert to make! Here’s a look at how the cake comes together:
Can This Recipe Be Doubled?
Yes! Simply double the ingredients list and bake the cake in a 9×13-inch pan.
Can I Use Cook and Stir Pudding Mix?
No! You must use instant vanilla pudding mix. Add it to the batter like a dry ingredient, do NOT actually make pudding with it.
Do I Need to Wring the Excess Moisture from the Zucchini?
I didn’t wring the shredded zucchini between kitchen towels to remove the excess moisture, but if your zucchini appears to be too wet you can certainly do so.
Can I Add Different Mix-Ins?
Of course! I added mini chocolate chips, but a different baking chip, chopped nuts, or dried fruit could all be used instead.
Tips for Making a Banana Zucchini Cake
I added just one-half cup of mini chocolate chips to the cake batter and I used mini chips because they sink less easily to the bottom of the cake than regular sized-chocolate chips do, but regular-sized chocolate chips will work just fine. I didn’t want to overwhelm the cake with chocolate so kept it at a modest half cup of chocolate chips. I wanted it pudding-laden, buttery, and banana-ey more so than chocolaty. There’s just a enough to chocolate to complement the bananas. However, you’re welcome to add more chocolate chips if desired.
More Easy Banana Cake Recipes:
Soft & Fluffy Strawberry Banana Cake— This cake is so soft, moist, fluffy! It’s packed with creamy bananas and sweet strawberries. It’s such a rich, flavorful cake! Tried this recipe? Leave a review! Consider leaving a 5 star rating if you’ve made and loved one of my recipes!
Six-Banana Banana Chocolate Chip Cake — Yes, 6 bananas in 1 cake means it’s super SOFT, moist, and has robust banana flavor with chocolate chips in EVERY bite!! EASY and one bowl!
Upside-Down Banana Bread Cake — Don’t settle for making another loaf of plain banana bread when you can have caramelized banana slices on top of soft banana cake!! A decadent spin on banana bread!
Caramelized Banana Upside-Down Cake — This upside down cake is super moist thanks to the combination of sour cream, buttermilk, and vegetable oil. It’s so easy to make, and the caramelized banana flavor is impossible to resist!
Hummingbird Cake — A super SOFT and moist cake with bananas, pineapple, coconut, cream cheese frosting, and pecans!! Makes a huge cake that’ll feed a crowd!
Apple and Banana Bundt Cake – Apple cake meets banana bread with a to-die-for glaze! Best ever!
