Maybe one day I’ll run out of ways and ideas, but thankfully that hasn’t happened.
I love baking with bananas because everything turns out so soft and fluffy. This easy, one-bowl, no-mixer cake is another example of how bananas are such workhorses.
I loathe dry cake and in addition to juicy bananas, there’s a single-serving container of banana Greek yogurt, a bit of oil, and peanut butter. They all help keep this cake moist, bouncy, and springy. I used banana yogurt, which helps to boost the banana flavor profile. I’m traveling even found it in an Aruban grocery store, but if you can’t find it, vanilla or plain Greek yogurt (or sour cream) will work.
The cake has a nice banana flavor, but the peanut butter flavor also shines. There’s one-half cup of peanut butter in the cake batter, and before baking, one-quarter cup is swirled in on top. When you’re swirling, easy does it because the peanut butter seeps down while the cake bakes and if you over-do it before baking, you’ll never see the swirls after the cake comes out of the oven.
As it is, it’s hard enough to see the peanut butter because of the chocolate chunks on top. Chocolate is a perfect pairing with peanut butter and with banana. Okay, with anything. I just sprinkled the chunks on top of the cake because I’m not that fond of chocolate chips or chunks inside cake. I like cake interiors buttery soft and smooth, but you could stir in a handful of chocolate chunks to the batter before turning it out into the pan.
I wanted to keep the cake more along the lines of a coffee cake than an uber-decadent cake, but feel free to get more gung-ho with the chocolate. You’ll rarely go wrong with more chocolate.
By design, you don’t need to frost this cake. I made sure there’s enough going on between the sweet banana cake base, the peanut butter swirls and rich dark chocolate on top, that no frosting or glaze is necessary, for either taste or cosmetic purposes. It’s always a nice bonus and time-saver when you don’t have to frost a cake.
Maybe it’s because she got to eat cake for breakfast, but my 6-year old daughter gave it a 10/10. I told her that if she thought it was a 7, that would be fine, too. And she said, It’s a 10, mom. Okay, I’ll take it.
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What’s your favorite banana recipe?