Banana Sheet Cake with cream cheese frosting, made in a quarter sheet pan!

banana-sheet-cake-recipe

This recipe is sponsored by Rodelle, makers of my favorite vanilla products, baking extracts and cocoa powders!

Banana bread is great, don’t get me wrong, but there are times when I want to put my brown bananas to use in a slightly more upscale way. Enter banana sheet cake with cream cheese frosting! Many apologies to my small batch banana chocolate muffins, by the way.

You guys love my sheet cakes! I use a quarter sheet cake pan, because all I share on this site is smaller-scale recipes for 2-4 people. I use this exact quarter sheet pan, and I love it. Quarter sheet cakes make about 12 slices of cake instead of a 24+ slices. with a regular sheet cake.

banana-sheet-cake

My pumpkin sheet cake is feeling the love this year, even people who don’t love pumpkin are declaring it the best pumpkin dessert ever. If you didn’t know, I have a Texas Chocolate Quarter Sheet Cake also on the site. If you’re looking for the Texas White Sheet Cake version, it’s in my latest cookbook, Sweet and Simple: Dessert for Two.

This banana sheet cake uses 2 large bananas to make 1 cup of smushed bananas. I have a lot of recipes here that use only 1 banana, but I’m actually kind of proud that this one uses 2 whole bananas! It bumps up the banana flavor super high, and it makes for the moistest cake ever.

banana-sheet-cake

Flavorings for banana sheet cake:

I use Rodelle’s vanilla bean paste when making this banana sheet cake, because I love the marshmallow-like flavor of vanilla bean paste.

Also, I add a dash of freshly grated nutmeg–maybe a scant half-teaspoon, because I think bananas and nutmeg go together really well, but feel free to skip it. Please use whatever spice your Mom uses when she makes banana bread. Sometimes cinnamon is used in banana bread, sometimes not–it’s your call. 

A lot of the best banana bread recipes rely on sour cream to make a tender loaf, but since we’re making a sheet cake, I use buttermilk. Real deal well-shaken buttermilk. Don’t worry–you can buy it in smaller containers these days, and leftover buttermilk is great in a small batch of cornbread muffins or mashed potatoes. You’re making my cornbread to prep for my Southern Cornbread Dressing, right?

banana-cake

It’s difficult to chose a suitable frosting for banana sheet cake, because the options are limitless. The chocolate frosting from the Chocolate Quarter Sheet Cake would be excellent, and I imagine that substitute a few scoops of peanut butter for the butter would be insanely delicious. The simple brown butter frosting from the pumpkin sheet cake would be amazing, too.

In the end, I chose a small batch cream cheese frosting, because I have been wanting to share one with you for a while. Plus, you can use this cream cheese frosting on any of the cakes, too!

best-banana-cake

Yield: 12 small slices

Banana Sheet Cake

Banana Sheet Cake
Banana sheet cake made in a quarter sheet pan, topped with cream cheese frosting.
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 18 minutes
Total Time 38 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 1 large egg white (yolk removed)
  • 1 cup mashed banana
  • 2 teaspoons Rodelle vanilla bean paste
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

For the cream cheese frosting:

  • 5 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 teaspoon Rodelle vanilla bean paste
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • splash of heavy cream (or buttermilk)
  • 1 sliced banana, for garnish

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 and spray a quarter sheet pan (9" x 13" x 1") with cooking spray.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar and salt.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the melted butter, buttermilk, egg white, mashed banana, vanilla bean paste, baking soda and nutmeg. Mix very well.
  4. Pour the banana mixture into the bowl with the flour, and stir until everything is combined.
  5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 18-19 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. The cake will also start pulling away from the edges of the pan.
  6. While the cake cools, make the frosting: beat together the cream cheese, butter and Rodelle vanilla bean paste. Slowly add the powdered sugar while mixing and add a splash of milk if it seems too dry.
  7. Spread the frosting over the cooled cake and top with sliced bananas.

Notes

This recipe uses an egg white only. To browse recipes that use the remaining egg yolk, check my recipe index.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

12

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 311 Total Fat: 11g Saturated Fat: 7g Trans Fat: 0g Unsaturated Fat: 4g Cholesterol: 45mg Sodium: 138mg Carbohydrates: 51g Fiber: 1g Sugar: 40g Protein: 3g
© Christina Lane
Cuisine: American / Category: Small Cake Recipes from Scratch
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