Banana–Chocolate Chip Snack Cake
By America's Test KitchenPublished on April 18, 2017
Time
1½ hours, plus 2 hours cooling
Yield
Serves 8
Ingredients
Before You Begin
Ripe bananas contain nearly three times as much sugar as unripened bananas. Don’t use anything less than speckled bananas in this recipe, or your cake will be bland. If you like, serve this cake frosted with Cream Cheese Frosting. Be sure to let the cake cool completely before frosting. We developed this recipe in a light-colored cake pan; if you are using a dark-colored cake pan, decrease the oven temperature to 325 degrees and bake the cake for 50 to 55 minutes.
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 8-inch square baking pan. Whisk flour, salt, and baking soda together in bowl.
- Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, beat butter and sugar on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until combined. Add bananas and vanilla and beat until incorporated.
- Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with milk in 2 additions, scraping down bowl as needed. Using rubber spatula, stir in ½ cup chocolate chips. Transfer batter to prepared pan and smooth top with rubber spatula. Sprinkle remaining ½ cup chocolate chips evenly over top. Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking.
- Let cake cool completely in pan on wire rack. Serve. (Cooled cake can be wrapped in plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for up to 2 days.)
Time
1½ hours, plus 2 hours coolingYield
Serves 8Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
Unlike dense, moist banana bread, banana snack cake has a fluffy, tender crumb. To create this light structure, we beat softened butter with sugar, which incorporated air into the batter. We then added eggs, one at a time, and alternated adding the dry and wet ingredients. Ripe bananas, which have nearly three times as much sugar as unripe bananas, gave this cake complex banana flavor; just two or three (depending on the size) provided great fruit flavor. Chocolate chips and a cream cheese frosting were welcome additions and kept this cake simple enough to make whenever the need to snack strikes—no special occasion required.
Before You Begin
Ripe bananas contain nearly three times as much sugar as unripened bananas. Don’t use anything less than speckled bananas in this recipe, or your cake will be bland. If you like, serve this cake frosted with Cream Cheese Frosting. Be sure to let the cake cool completely before frosting. We developed this recipe in a light-colored cake pan; if you are using a dark-colored cake pan, decrease the oven temperature to 325 degrees and bake the cake for 50 to 55 minutes.
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 8-inch square baking pan. Whisk flour, salt, and baking soda together in bowl.
- Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, beat butter and sugar on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until combined. Add bananas and vanilla and beat until incorporated.
- Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with milk in 2 additions, scraping down bowl as needed. Using rubber spatula, stir in ½ cup chocolate chips. Transfer batter to prepared pan and smooth top with rubber spatula. Sprinkle remaining ½ cup chocolate chips evenly over top. Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking.
- Let cake cool completely in pan on wire rack. Serve. (Cooled cake can be wrapped in plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for up to 2 days.)
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