Banana Crumb Cake
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This banana crumb cake includes a moist and tender banana cake made from scratch and topped with a buttery brown sugar crumb topping that will have you coming back for more.
There’s nothing quite like the aroma of freshly baked Banana Crumb Cake wafting through your kitchen. This cake is the perfect blend of soft, moist banana flavor with a buttery, crumbly topping that adds just the right amount of sweetness and texture. Whether you’re looking for a cozy treat with your morning coffee or a dessert to impress friends and family, this recipe is sure to deliver.
Made with ripe bananas, this cake boasts a naturally sweet flavor, perfectly complemented by layers of rich brown sugar crumb topping. The use of self-rising flour gives the cake a lighter texture, and if you don’t have any on hand, don’t worry—I’ve got an easy guide in the notes for making your own with pantry staples. Paired with the creaminess of unsalted butter and the warmth of vanilla extract, each bite melts in your mouth.
Best of all, this Banana Crumb Cake is incredibly simple to whip up. With just a few basic ingredients—bananas, butter, sugar, and eggs—you’ll have a bakery-quality treat in no time. Whether you opt for light or dark brown sugar in your crumb topping, both will create a rich caramelized flavor that complements the banana base perfectly. Enjoy it warm from the oven, and it’s bound to become a household favorite!
What You’ll Need to make Banana Crumb Cake
Ingredients
- sugar
- ripe bananas
- milk
- self-rising flour
- light or dark brown sugar
- unsalted butter
- eggs
- vanilla extract
How to Make Banana Crumb Cake
To start this unbelievable Banana Crumb Cake, peel the bananas and add them to a mixing bowl.
Mash bananas slightly and add granulated sugar to the mixing bowl and blend with an electric mixer until the bananas are liquified.
Add softened butter to the banana mixture and beat well.
Add flour, eggs, milk, and vanilla extract and blend well.
Spray two 8 x 8 pans with cooking spray.
Make the crumb topping by adding a cup of flour, a stick of butter, and a cup of brown sugar to a separate medium bowl.
Cut in the butter using a long-tined fork or a
Add chopped walnuts and stir together with a fork.
Pour 1/4 of the batter into each prepared pan to create each bottom cake layer.
Top each batter layer with 1/4 of the crumb mixture.
Divide the remaining batter and crumb topping in half and top each cake with a batter layer and a crumb layer.
Bake at 350 for about 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
Store leftover Banana Crumb Cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. You can also freeze leftovers for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature before serving.
Notes for making Banana Crumb Cake
- Whenever you have bananas going brown, place in a plastic baggie and mash. Write on the baggie how many bananas are in each bag. If you want to simplify baking Banana Crumb Cake – add three to a bag! When you are ready to bake, thaw before using.
- For an even more indulgent cake, top your banana crumb cake with a simple vanilla glaze. Make by combining 1 cup of powdered sugar with 1–2 tablespoons of milk and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and drizzling it over the cooled cake.
- Adding spices create a further dimension and depth of flavor: add 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon and/or 1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg to the streusel topping.
- For an extra moist cake, use buttermilk instead of whole milk.
- To make your own self-rising flour, simply add 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt for EACH cup of all-purpose flour.
- To soften cold butter, microwave one cube of butter in wrapper for approx 1 minute 30 seconds at 20% power. You may need more or less time depending on your microwave. It can take up to 4 minutes to soften. Be careful not to melt the butter! Microwaving at such low power gives you the best control.
More Recipes You’ll Love Using Bananas:
- Healthy Banana Pancakes
- How To Make Banana Bread
- Gluten-Free Banana Nut Muffins
- Bananas in Red Stuff (a.k.a Strawberry Glaze)
- Caramel Banana Pie (a.k.a Easy Banoffee Pie)
- How To Make Homemade Banana Pudding From Scratch
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup chopped nuts, optional
- 2 cups self-rising flour
- 1 stick butter
- 2 eggs
- 3 bananas
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Crumb Topping
- 1 stick butter
- 1 cup dark or light brown sugar
- 1 cup flour
Instructions
- Spray two loaf pans or 8×8 pans with cooking spray.
- Place peeled bananas in a mixing bowl and add sugar. Mix until bananas are liquefied.3 bananas, 2 cups granulated sugar
- Add butter and mix until creamed together with the banana mixture.1 stick butter
- Add all other ingredients and blend well.1 cup milk, 1 cup chopped nuts, optional, 2 cups self-rising flour, 2 eggs, 1 tsp vanilla extract
- In a medium bowl, place all of the topping ingredients. Cut together with a long-tined fork until well blended.1 stick butter, 1 cup dark or light brown sugar, 1 cup flour
- Pour 1/4 of the cake batter into each pan and top with 1/4 of the crumb mixture.
- Pour in the remaining batter and top with the remaining crumb mixture.
- Bake for 45 minutes to an hour at 350. The cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Just made this. Had problems with crumbs as I read others state. Thought it was because I used butter instead of marg. Made second batch with marg. and got the same thing. Thinking maybe humidity is the cause. I never saw a response on how to fix it. Help?
Hey Hilary!
The crumbs in this crumb cake are going to be soft, not dry like they are in some of the store-bought ones. Does that answer your question or help with your problem? If not please let me know exactly what it is you’re going for and I’ll check back later today and do my best to help!
Thank you so much!
Gratefully,
Christy
Oh myyyyyy! We made this tonight as we are having guests here tomorrow after a large funeral. It is delicious! I’m sure everyone will love it. Thanks for the idea. Simple and scrumptious … yes!
I am so glad to hear that you liked the cake Bobbi. And so sorry to hear about your loss. My thoughts and prayers are with you.
~waves back at Christy~
Bountiful Blessings for sure!!
love the way you are so organized and get so much baking and cooking done. And that you give so much away. Admire you for doing so much.
I happened to be on FB this morning, and I came across this. I was already thinking about banana pudding because my bananas are REALLY ripe. Now, I’m going to make this. I love having all of the ingredients to do things like this. Yay!
This sounds amazing! I constantly have leftover too-ripe bananas, so I definitely want to try this soon. I am curious though… the directions don’t mention preheating the oven. Are you supposed to wait until you’re ready to put the pans in the oven to turn it on?
Christy,
I was glad this came across Facebook today. We had a family get-together yesterday and I made a triple batch of banana puddin… I was glad to see that you and I have the same opinion of banana puddin…..the ONLY “real” banana puddin eeeeee-is from scratch….. anyway, I had 3 bananas left over so this came in perfect timing. My crumb topping didn’t turn out crumbly, I had to drop globs on as a previous poster did but it came out great anyway. I suspect my brown sugar was the culprit but who knows….Have you ever tried it with some instant oats added to the crumb mixture??? I’m gonna try that next time. Thanks for writing out the recipes that have been kitchen taught in my family for years. Now my girls have it in writing – I bought each of them a copy of your cookbook- and I wrote notes and tips on the sides. thanks again!
I had a real ‘sticky’ problem with the crumbs, too. I added a little more flour and sugar…then that thickened it but didn’t quite do the trick, I used dry oats. Seems to have worked very well.