If you love peanut butter and bananas - and who doesn’t - this cake is for you!

Crowd Pleaser

For our daughter’s first birthday, I wanted to make a cake that incorporated some of her favorite things. And this peanut butter banana cake was born! The cake was baked in two 9” round pans then cut into smaller 4” rounds to form a smash cake. The recipe is intentionally straight forward, but you could easily add chocolate chips or incorporate other nuts to add interest.

Recipe

Peanut Butter Banana Cake

Yields 6 - 8 Servings

Ingredients

Banana Cake:

1 1/2 cups very ripe mashed bananas (about 4 medium bananas)
3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups brown sugar (see our recipe for easy homemade brown sugar)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3 eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Peanut Butter Frosting:

4 cups confectioners sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup creamy (no sugar added) peanut butter, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons whole milk

Method

Banana Cake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 9” round pans.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and sea salt. Set aside.

In a separate bowl with a stand or hand mixer, beat softened butter on high until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add brown sugar. Cream butter and sugar on high until light and fluffy, about 2 - 3 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla extract. Beat until well combined. Add mashed bananas and beat again until well combined. Set aside.

To a separate bowl, add wet and dry ingredients in thirds, stirring until just incorporated. Do not over mix.

Evenly divide dough into two prepared pans. Bake on the middle rack for 30 - 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to cooling rack and let cool completely before frosting.

Peanut Butter Frosting:

With a stand or hand mixer, beat together butter and peanut butter until creamy. Add confectioners sugar, vanilla extract and milk. Continue to beat on high until light, fluffy and soft peaks form.