Banana Chocolate Chip Cake with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

Banana Chocolate Chip Cake is an incredibly moist sheet cake with tons of banana flavor on the inside and a delicious Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting on the outside. Loaded with mashed bananas, buttermilk and mini chocolate chips the secret to this simple recipe is cooling it in the freezer.

No holiday on the calendar has reinvented itself more than Valentine’s Day. From its pagan beginnings as a fertility festival (complete with animal sacrifice and bed partners being randomly drawn like Powerball numbers) to the Roman emperor who chose Cupid’s special day to behead not one, but two men named Valentine, February 14^th didn’t exactly exude romance its early years.

Fast forward a few centuries and the sordid traditions of love lotteries and executions were replaced with poetry and paper cards. No one knows exactly why the world went from one extreme to the other, but I have a hunch. Never mind that it’s based on alternate facts and questionable research, the reason my friends, is cake. That’s right, Shakespearean-era people didn’t fall in love with love, they fell in love with a frosted dessert. It’s obvious because I too have found myself more likely rhyme words and doodle hearts after eating cake.

My love for cake runs deep and true. It’s the type of love that should be shouted from the rooftop. Only the roof over my head is moldy and slippery (thank you Florida humidity) so if I crawled atop my house to proclaim that my heart belongs to cake I’d fall and bust my butt. In the interest of personal safety, I’ll shout it from the pages of this blog instead: I, Heather Wolf, am hopelessly devoted to Banana Chocolate Chip Cake with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting. That’s a mouthful, but oh what a delicious mouthful it is! Packed with mashed bananas and mini chocolate chips you’ll swoon over the combination of incredibly moist cake and peanut butter frosting like you’ve been hit by a chubby cherub’s arrow.

Before sharing the recipe for Banana Chocolate Chip Cake, here are a few baking tips to help you out:

Cake Ingredient Tips

How many bananas do you need for a banana cake? Three large bananas is perfect for this recipe. Be sure to use overripe bananas that are so brown and covered with bruises that they look like Mike Tyson punched them.

Always use the spoon and level method to measure flour. Scooping from the bag overpacks flour into the measuring cup which steals moisture from the cake.

If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make a sour milk substitution by stirring 1 1/2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice into 1 1/2 cups of whole milk and letting it set for 5 minutes before adding to batter.

Toss mini chocolate chips with a tablespoon of flour before adding to batter to prevent them from sinking while baking.

Cake Preparation Tips

Cool cake in the freezer (yes, in the freezer!) for 45 minutes immediately after removing from the oven. Once cake has cooled completely, top with peanut butter cream cheese frosting.

Banana cake can be made 2 days in advance. Cover the cooled, unfrosted cake in plastic wrap then store in the refrigerator until ready to frost and serve.

How to Store Banana Chocolate Chip Cake

Cover and store frosted cake in the refrigerator up to 5 days.

Can you freeze Banana Cake? Yes, banana cake can be frozen up to 3 months frosted or unfrosted. For best results, double wrap cake, first in plastic wrap then in aluminum foil, before placing in an airtight container in the freezer.

I hope you enjoy this Banana Chocolate Chip Cake recipe! Please leave a rating and review below when you try it yourself. And, while you’re at it, sign up for my weekly Recipe Newsletter so you never miss a tempting recipe.

Finally, if you like baking with bananas then you’ll love this recipe for Nutella Banana Bread. Loaded with mashed bananas, this homemade bread is swirled with chocolate hazelnut spread for a sweet start to your day. 

Banana Chocolate Chip Cake with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

Heather Wolf

Banana Chocolate Chip Cake is an incredibly moist sheet cake with tons of banana flavor on the inside and a delicious peanut butter cream cheese frosting on the outside. Loaded with mashed bananas, buttermilk and mini chocolate chips the secret to this simple recipe is cooling it in the freezer.

5 from 8 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Freeze 45 minutes mins

Total Time 2 hours hrs

Course Cakes and Cupcakes

Cuisine American

Servings 12

Ingredients

  

Banana Chocolate Chip Cake

• 3 cups all-purpose flour unbleached
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp sea salt fine
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 3 large eggs room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups overripe bananas, mashed (appx 3 bananas)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract pure
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk room temperature
• 1 cup mini chocolate chips
• 1 tbsp all-purpose flour unbleached

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature
• 2/3 cup creamy peanut butter *not all nautal
• 8 ounces full fat cream cheese softened to room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract pure
• 1/8 tsp sea salt fine
• 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar packed

Instructions

 

Banana Chocolate Chip Cake

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9 x 13 baking pan with nonstick baking spray. Set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
• In a separate bowl, use and electric mixer to beat butter and both sugars until creamy smooth – approximately 3 minutes.
• Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed.
• Beat in mashed bananas and vanilla extract.
• Reduce mixer speed to low. Alternate between adding 1/2 cup of buttermilk and 1 cup of flour mixture in 3 separate batches, beating after each addition until just combined. Avoid overmixing.
• Coat mini chocolate chips with 1 tablespoon of flour then gently stir them into the cake batter with a spoon until evenly distributed.
• Pour batter into your greased 9×13 pan then smooth the top with a spatula.
• Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
• Remove cake from the oven and place in the freezer for 45 minutes to cool before frosting with peanut butter cream cheese.

  Note: if you do not have room in the freezer, place cake in the refrigerator until cooled completely.

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

• Beat butter and peanut butter with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy.
• Add cream cheese and continue beating until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed.
• Beat in vanilla.
• Reduce mixer speed to low then add salt and powdered sugar. Beat until combined then increase mixer speed to high and beat until fluffy – approximately 2 minutes.
• Slather frosting on cooled cake then slice and serve. For pristine slices, wipe the knife blade clean with hot water after each cut.
• Cover and store frosted cake in the refrigerator up to 5 days.

Keyword banana, cake, chocolate chip, cream cheese, frosting, peanut butter