Spiced Banana Cake with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

This old fashioned spiced banana cake recipe with brown butter cream cheese frosting is my favorite snacking cake! If you like banana spice bread, you'll love this easy banana spice cake to use up your overripe bananas!

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Once you've made this spiced banana cake, check out my Chocolate Beignets, my M&M Rice Krispie Treats, and my Bananas Foster Pancakes!

Spiced Banana Cake Recipe

When you have some bananas you need to use up, the advice is usually a classic banana bread -- which is a great option! My 4 Ingredient Banana Bread and my Pineapple Banana Bread are so delicious! But if you also have the fixings for this tangy, nutty brown butter cream cheese frosting, it would be a shame to miss the opportunity for a rich, moist banana cake!

And with the best banana cake recipe that's so easy, you're just a few whisks away from a delicious dessert worthy of any celebration. Or it's perfect as just a sweet treat at home! And just look at that brown butter cream cheese frosting!

Jump to:

• Spiced Banana Cake Recipe
• Ingredients
• Equipment
• Banana Spice Bundt Cake
• Banana Spice Cake with Box Mix
• Overripe Bananas for Banana Cake
• Related Recipes
• Storage
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

Ingredients

To put together this banana cake, just preheat your oven to 350 degrees, grease and line your 8-inch round cake pan, and gather your ingredients. The full list of ingredients is in the recipe card below, but here's what you'll need:

• brown sugar: the best way to give the cake a richer, warmer sweetness than white sugar, and gives it a denser texture. I like to use light brown sugar here, but dark brown sugar works in this recipe too.
• eggs: they should be at room temperature -- just take them out of the fridge 30-60 minutes before you start.
• pure vanilla extract: this is the vanilla I use, but any good quality pure vanilla should work. Or better yet, check out my post on how to make vanilla extract at home with just 2 ingredients!
• mashed bananas: should equal about ¾ cup. Your bananas should be very over-ripe, the darker the better.
• vegetable oil: using oil instead of butter is a great way to give the cake batter richness but keep it from drying out. Any neutral-flavored vegetable oil that you prefer should work.
• buttermilk: Perfect for adding a bit more tanginess and making a tender cake. This should also be room temperature. I prefer whole milk buttermilk, but low-fat is fine also. If you don't have buttermilk, here's a handy method to make it at home!
• flour: I always measure out my flour by weight to be sure the amount is accurate, but if you don't have a kitchen scale, you'll need to fluff or sift the flour and then spoon it into your measuring cup. BUT you should definitely consider getting a kitchen scale! They're inexpensive and I use mine every day! Check out some of my other essential kitchen tools here.
• cinnamon & nutmeg - these warm spices are perfect for giving this old fashioned spiced banana cake recipe amazing flavor and a hint of spice! And if you love these spices, you'll definitely want to try my Chai Spice Bundt Cake and my Cinnamon Roll Apple Pies! And one of my newer favorites, my Cake Mix Apple Cobbler!
• baking powder - gives the cake a nice lift!
• salt - brings out all those great flavors.

And from there, this banana cake couldn't be easier to whip up! Then it's time for the best thing about this easy spiced banana cake: the brown butter cream cheese frosting. You know me -- anything made with browned butter is impossible for me to resist! This brown butter cream cheese frosting is so easy to throw together, and it's perfect to dollop on top of this banana cake!

Equipment

You won't need any special equipment for this easy banana cake, but it will help to have an electric mixer to whip up the brown butter cream cheese frosting. You'll also want to have a wire rack to let this fluffy cake cool!

You'll also want an 8-inch cake pan to bake the cake, and mixing bowls to mix up the batter.

Banana Spice Bundt Cake

One of my favorite things is making single-layer cakes like this one, or like my Orange Rosemary Olive Oil Cake or my Earl Grey Lavender Cake with Honey-Lemon Glaze. You eliminate so many issues like evening out the batter in each pan, making sure each layer bakes evenly, stacking the layers neatly with the frosting, and doubling or tripling your homemade cream cheese frosting recipe to accommodate the sides and top of the cake.

That being said, you can also make this cake in a Bundt pan like my Rum Pound Cake with Brown Butter Glaze. You'll want to decrease the oven temperature to 325 and adjust the bake time to bake it for 45 to 65 minutes. Let me know in the comments if you try this -- I think this delicious cake would be beautiful as a spiced banana bundt cake! And see my post with all my favorite Bundt cakes and pound cakes!

Banana Spice Cake with Box Mix

You can whip up this banana spice cake with a box mix too! Just replace the brown sugar and dry ingredients (flour, spices, and salt) with half of a spice cake mix (about 8 ounces of mix). Then mix the batter up as usual! That way, you can make this spiced banana cake even easier!

Overripe Bananas for Banana Cake

For any good banana cake recipe, you need overripe bananas -- that is, the ripest bananas you can find, with lots of brown spots and bruising. The more brownness on your banana, the sweeter they'll be when you add them to the recipe, and your cake will have a richer banana flavor. And pro-tip: if you have bananas that aren't quite at that point yet, there are a few shortcuts to get them to ripen in just minutes!

Once you have your bananas ready to go, you're ready to make this delicious banana cake! And don't forget to enjoy it with coffee, or pumpkin cream cold brew!

Related Recipes

Storage

Store leftovers of this delicious banana spice cake in an airtight container in the fridge -- because of the cream cheese frosting, you won't want to let it sit out at room temperature for more than 2 hours.

📖 Recipe

Last Updated on March 28, 2026 by Chenée Lewis