Banana Bundt Cake
on Jul 20, 2019, Updated May 13, 2024
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This easy banana bundt cake is moist and flavorful with a soft, buttery crumb. It’s topped with cream cheese icing – and you can add chopped walnuts or chocolate chips to the cake batter for even more flavor. It just might be your new favorite banana cake. 
The Best Banana Bundt Cake
Lately, I’ve been trying to get more use my bundt pan more. I’m so happy I made this decision – because this banana bundt cake is the best banana cake I’ve ever tried. It’s everything you could want in a banana cake:
- Big banana flavor
- A hint of brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla
- Moist and tender with a soft crumb – aka not a dry crumb insight
- While it’s dense and a little springy like you’d expect of banana bread – it isn’t heavy.
Banana Bundt Cake Recipe
Ok – here’s the breakdown of what to do:
- Whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. We want even distribution of the baking soda in the batter so that the cake rises better – that’s why this step is key.
- In a (very) large bowl – beat the butter, white sugar and brown sugar until fluffy – this will take probably 3-5 minutes. Then beat in the vanilla extract and eggs.
- Mix in the mashed bananas. We’re using 1 1/2 cups mashed bananas, which means you’ll need 3-4 medium-sized brown bananas.
- Then mix in about 1/2 of the flour mixture, followed by the sour cream. Then mix in the rest of the flour mixture, followed by the milk. We alternate between additions of the dry ingredients and wet ingredients to ensure the batter is evenly mixed and to prevent overmixing. This provides a much better cake crumb. We’re also using both sour cream and milk because I find the combination provides the best cake texture that’s moist and soft.
The batter will be thick and the bake time is long. This is normal – so don’t fret. It will bake in your preheated oven for 60-70 minutes at 350F, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean or with a few damp crumbs and the top feels slightly firm & springy to the touch (ie your fingers shouldn’t sink way in when you press them gently on the cake.
*Note – this recipe makes a lot of batter. So you will need a large 12-cup bundt pan (typically 10 x 3 1/2 inches). I found that with a 10 cup bundt pan you run the risk of it overflowing.
Variations of this Bundt Cake
- Frost the entire cake with cream cheese frosting – this recipe here will be enough to frost the entire cake.
- Add in 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips – stir them in after making the batter.
- Add in 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts or pecans.
- Frost with chocolate frosting or chocolate cream cheese frosting instead – I like to use chocolate frosting when I make a chocolate chip banana bundt cake.
- Skip the frosting and dust with powdered sugar for a banana cake that’s perfect for breakfast or brunch.
For more delicious banana recipes, be sure to try:
- Banana Bread Muffins
- Banana Chocolate Chip Bread
- Banana Bread Waffles
- Banana Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Banana Bundt Cake
This easy banana bundt cake is moist and flavorful with a soft, buttery crumb. It's topped with cream cheese icing - and you can add chopped walnuts or chocolate chips to the cake batter for even more flavor. It just might be your new favorite banana cake.Â
Ingredients
Banana Bundt Cake
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 1 3/4 cups mashed bananas*
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
Cream Cheese Icing
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 4 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 3 tablespoons chopped walnuts, optional
Instructions
Banana Bundt Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350F degrees.
- Grease and flour a 12-cup bundt pan.** Be sure that all the creases and indentations are well covered.
- In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
- In a large bowl beat the butter, white sugar and brown sugar until fluffy.
- Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract.
- Mix in the mashed bananas.
- With the mixer on low speed, mix in about 1/2 of the flour mixture. Then mix in the sour cream.
- Turn off the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Then mix in the rest of the flour mixture, followed by the milk. *The batter will be thick.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared bundt pan and smooth the top.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 55-65 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean or the top feels slightly springy to the touch.
- Cool for 15-30 minutes, then gently insert the bundt pan onto a plate to release the cake. Do not insert the cake immediately, or it will be too hot. Waiting too long to insert the cake can make it more difficult to get out of the pan.
Cream Cheese Icing
- Beat the butter until soft, then mix in the cream cheese.
- Starting with the mixer on low speed, mix in the powdered sugar.
- Then mix in the milk. If needed, beat in a little extra powdered sugar or milk until the desired sweetness and thickness is reached.
- Drizzle (or pipe) the cream cheese frosting over the fully cooled bundt cake. You could use a spoon to do this (if you've made the icing quite thin), a piping bag with a round tip (this is what I did), or a ziploc bag with the corner cut off.
- Optionally, sprinkle a few chopped walnuts on top.
Notes
*You will likely need 3-4 medium to large brown bananas. If your bananas aren't brown, place the bananas on a cookie sheet (peel on) and bake in the oven preheated to 350F degrees for 10-15 minutes or until the peel is brown.
**A 10-cup capacity bundt pan is likely too small for all of the batter. A 12-cup bundt pan typically measures 12 inches across. Even if your pan is non-stick, you will still need to grease and flour the pan. Typically, more intricate bundt pans are harder to get the cake to release cleanly from.Â
Make-ahead Tip: Bake the cake the day before, and cool fully. Cover with aluminum foil or plastic wrap. Then frost the day you plan to serve. Unfrosted cake can be frozen. Cool fully, then wrap the cake tightly in plastic wrap. Place in a freezer container, and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge and bring to room temperature before serving.
Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 day, or in the fridge for up to 4 days. Bring to room temperature before serving.Â
Nutrition
Calories: 544kcal, Carbohydrates: 72g, Protein: 7g, Fat: 27g, Saturated Fat: 15g, Cholesterol: 100mg, Sodium: 349mg, Potassium: 242mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 44g, Vitamin A: 835IU, Vitamin C: 3.1mg, Calcium: 64mg, Iron: 1.9mg
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