This post may contain affiliate links.
Meet your new favourite Banana Cake recipe! Whether you’re a baking beginner or just need to use up your ripe bananas, THIS is the cake recipe to try.
We all need a go-to banana cake recipe and this is mine!
I have been making a version of this recipe since I owned my very first recipe book 35 years ago(!)
Then, when I had children, this was a once a week entertainment activity to bake together. Low effort AND we got to eat cake at the end. What a win.
I still love it now, and I hope you and your family do too ❤️
Why you’ll love this Banana Cake recipe
⭐️ One bowl, no fuss
⭐️ Uses up sad-looking brown bananas
⭐️ Makes an energy-packed snack
I only had three small bananas and made up the difference with blueberries. I rarely manage to make a decent cake but this is perfect. So easy, very light and the best I have made in many years.
Banana Cake Ingredients
- Butter – Unsalted if you can get it. You will need this both for the cake mixture and for greasing the tin. Melt it for easy mixing (use the microwave or a small pan on the hob).
- Eggs – I recommend using medium free-range eggs.
- Bananas – These need to be very ripe for mashing – NOT firm or green at all. The banana skins should be very speckled, or (ideally) almost totally brown or black on the skins.
- What else you’ll need – Caster sugar and self-raising flour.
Variations on this easy banana loaf
(with just a few tweaks)
- Banana and Walnut Loaf – Follow the same recipe but add in 85g/3oz of chopped walnuts (you could also try pecans or hazelnuts).
- With Peanut Butter – Add 100g/3.5oz of peanut butter and, for added peanut crunchy goodness, 50g/3oz of salted peanuts.
- With Chocolate Chips – Add about 100g/3.5oz of chocolate chips in with the batter. You can also drizzle melted chocolate over the top.
- With Cream Cheese Frosting – Follow my recipe for a quick and easy cream cheese topping.
How to make Banana Cake
1. Grease the tin with soft butter (or line with baking paper) and preheat the oven as per the recipe below.
2. Break the eggs into a mixing bowl. Add the melted butter, sugar, flour and mashed bananas.
3. Mix well and spoon the mixture into the tin, and bake as per the recipe below.
4. When cool, slice and serve.
How to store Banana Cake
The cake will keep in an airtight container for up to a week (by which time it’ll have been devoured anyway!)
In the freezer You can also cook it and freeze it, either whole or in slices. Just make sure it’s completely cooled before doing so, wrap it in a couple of layers of greaseproof paper and defrost it thoroughly before eating.
Top Tips!
How to know the cake is cooked
First, check the cake isn’t still wobbly when you move it. If it is, put it straight back in the oven.
If not, push a skewer or sharp, thin knife into the centre of the cake. If it comes out clean, it means it’s cooked. (Some crumbs are fine, but not wet cake mixture.) If it doesn’t, it’s not quite there yet so leave it in for a few more minutes and check again.
If the top of your cake is cooked but it’s not inside yet, you can cover it with tin foil to stop it from burning.
what else to make with bananas…
FAQs
This is the size of loaf tin I like (23x13cm / 900g/2lb).
To make banana cake, your bananas need to be very ripe.
As they ripen, they get softer and sweeter. This is what gives the banana cake its texture and flavour. Please don’t try to make this with green or very firm bananas as it just won’t work in the same way.
The banana skins should be very speckled, or (ideally) almost totally brown or black on the skins. When you peel the bananas they will be very soft.
A large banana weighs approximately 130-150g, and we’re using 3 for this recipe. So if you don’t have large ones, use the equivalent weight of small, so about 390g – 450g total.
If you’ve frozen your overripe bananas before they go (further) over the the dark side and have to be binned, you can use them for this recipe.
Make sure they’re fully defrosted and any excess water is drained first. If you leave that water in there your cake will be far too mushy.
I sure do! Give these a try:
Yoghurt Pot Cake – Measure everything in the pot, no need for scales!
Lemon Drizzle Cake – Solid, failsafe and easy-to-follow recipe
Courgette Cake – Honestly so good. Give it a try.
Apple Cake & School Cake – Actually square tin recipes, but also so good!
Let me know how you got on and what you thought of these recipes. Please rate the recipe using the ⭐️ below.
Also I’d LOVE to see your cooking creations. If you’d like to share yours with me, you can tag me on Instagram (@tamingtwins).
Banana Cake {Foolproof Recipe!}
Ingredients
For the Banana Loaf:
- Butter for greasing the tin
- 75 g (2.5 oz) Butter, Melted, preferably unsalted
- 100 g (0.5 cups) Caster sugar
- 2 Eggs, Medium free-range
- 225 g (1 1/3 cups) Self-raising flour
- 3 Large bananas (very ripe), Peeled and mashed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°C fan/200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6.
- Grease the tin with soft butter (or line with baking paper).
- Break the eggs into a mixing bowl. Add the melted butter, sugar, flour and mashed bananas.
- Mix very well either by hand or using an electric mixer.
- Spoon into the tin, smoothing out with the back of the spoon.
- Bake for 40-50 mins until it is golden on top and a knife or skewer comes out clean.
- Allow to cool in the tin for 10-15 minutes and then turn out carefully.
Did you make this recipe? Click here to let us know how it went and give it a ⭐️ rating! Your feedback helps us to make more recipes you really want.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation. Nutritional values are per portion unless otherwise stated.
This recipe was first published here on June 5th, 2019. It was updated again on December 4th, 2025 to add additional step-by-step videos.
This post was originally published on December 4, 2025 and updated later to make improvements.
easy it certainly is.
Hi Olivia, so pleased you found it nice and easy to make! We hope it tasted just as good, thanks so much for taking the time to let us know.
I do not have a mixer. Can I hand mix the batter using whisker? Does it need to be very airy?
Hi LG, yes, absolutely fine to mix by hand! No need for it to be very airy, just make sure everything is really well combined. Happy baking!
Going to put in some Chocolate Chips in the next one I make. DELISH !!!
Hi Simon, chocolate chips would be a delicious addition, great idea! So pleased you enjoyed it, and do let us know how the choc chip version turns out. Thanks for the lovely review!
Yes I made it this morning, because I am gluten free. I made it with gluten free selfraising flour. It turned out great and tasted lovely, even my daughter in law loved it
Hi Lorraine, this is brilliant to know, thank you! So pleased it worked perfectly with gluten free self-raising flour, and even won over your daughter in law. Other gluten free bakers will find this really helpful!
It turned out lovely fir my ladies coffee morning thankyou!
Hi Val, what a lovely thing to serve at a coffee morning! We’re so pleased it turned out well for you, thank you for letting us know.
I’m no baker, but I enjoyed the simplicity of this process, and it turned out to be a real success! The instructions were easy to follow, even for a novice. Thank you!
Hi Anton, this is wonderful to hear! We love that the recipe worked so well even as a first bake, it really is a foolproof one. Thank you for the lovely comment!
it came out really well I was pleased with it
Hi Ross, that’s great to hear, thank you! We’re so pleased the banana cake came out really well, it truly is a foolproof favourite. Thanks for taking the time to comment!
Came out really moist, will use this recipe again, thank you.
Hi Penni, so glad it came out moist for you as that’s exactly how it should be! Thank you for the lovely review, we hope you enjoy it many more times!
lovely & moist, will be one of my favourite bakes in future.
Hi Brenda, lovely and moist is just what we want to hear and we’re so pleased this one’s earned a place among your favourite bakes. Thank you so much for trying it and letting us know!
Love the cake.
So simple and easy to do, being partially sighted.(only 1 mixing bowl.)
When it was cold and ready to eat I spread chocolate spread over it.
Hi Ann, we’re so pleased the one bowl method makes baking easier for you, and chocolate spread over the top sounds absolutely delicious! Thank you so much for sharing and for the lovely review.
Can I mix self raising flour and all.ond flour for this banana cake?
Hi Erin, we haven’t tested this cake with almond flour so we can’t promise the same result. Almond flour has no raising agents, so the cake would likely be denser. If you do make it using a mix then please let us know how it turns out!
made the recipe only didnt have loaf tin so put in cupcakes also added crushed walnuts they turned out lovely
Hi Laura, what a brilliant bit of improvising! Turning the mixture into cupcakes and adding crushed walnuts sounds delicious, and we’re so pleased they turned out lovely. A great way to use up what you had to hand.