Moist banana cake topped with sweet, tangy cream cheese frosting. Perfect for summer gatherings.
As a little girl I remember getting excited when bananas were too ripe to eat. It meant mom would make banana bars with very ripe bananas.
These moist and delicious banana bars were our family go-to dessert in the summer. This recipe is baked in a half sized baking sheet (that’s usually the standard size most homes have), which is a great size for a crowd.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Moist cake, topped with sweet, tangy cream cheese frosting
- Bakes in just 15 minutes
- Perfect summertime dessert
- No need to throw away your very ripe bananas
Ingredients You’ll Need
For the Cake:
- Unsalted butter: room temperature; take out of refrigerator 30 minutes before
- Granulated sugar
- Eggs: room temperature; allows eggs to emulsify with other ingredients
- Sour cream: room temperature; this adds moisture to the cake
- Vanilla extract
- Bananas: very ripe, the browner the better
- All-purpose flour
- Baking soda
- Salt
For the Frosting:
- Cream cheese: softened for easy mixing
- Unsalted butter
- Sour cream
- Vanilla
- Powdered sugar: measured then sifted to create a smooth texture
Tip: You can freeze ripe bananas to save them for when you’re craving a banana dessert. Just defrost them before baking. They do get slimy and liquidy.
How to Make Banana Bars
- Wet Ingredients: Beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time until fully combined. Add vanilla and sour cream and mix until combined. In a small bowl, mash bananas with a potato masher or fork. Add bananas to wet ingredients and mix.
- Dry Ingredients: Add flour, salt and baking soda to wet ingredients.
- Bake: Bake at 375° F for 15 minutes in a well greased baking sheet. The cake looks white, so check by inserting a toothpick at around 13 minutes. The cake is done when a few moist crumbs are on the toothpick. While the cake is baking, make the frosting. Beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add sour cream and vanilla and mix until smooth. Slowly mix in powdered sugar, increasing mixing speed as the powdered sugar gets mixed in.
Tips for the Best Results
- Mash bananas well to avoid lumps in cake
- Don’t overmix the dough
- Check the cake at 13 minutes as it stays pretty light
- Cool cake completely before frosting
Helpful Tools
- Mixing bowl: I love and use this mixing bowl set with lids.
- Measuring cups and spoons: I use and love this set of measuring cups and spoons.
- Rimmed baking sheet: I love these Nordic Ware baking sheets.
- Hand mixer: I love my Kitchen Aid hand mixer.
- Silicone spatula: I’m still looking for one that I love, so if you have one you love let me know in the comments.
- Kitchen scale: This kitchen scale has great reviews.
More Recipes You’ll Love
- Moist and Delicious Chocolate Mousse Cake
- Copycat Cheesecake Factory Godiva Cheesecake
- Easy Lemon White Chip Cookies
These Moist and Delicious Banana Bars are the perfect summer BBQ dessert. The moist banana cake topped with sweet cream cheese frosting is the perfect combination.
If you try them, I’d love to hear what you think!
Leave a comment below or tag me so I can see your bakes!
Moist and Delicious Banana Bars
Moist banana cake topped with sweet, tangy cream cheese frosting. Perfect for summer gatherings.
Equipment
- Hand mixer
- Mixing bowls
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Kitchen scale
- Silicone spatula
- Rimmed baking sheet (13x18x1)
Ingredients
Cake:
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 ½ cups (288 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup (180 g) sour cream, room temperature
- 4-5 very ripe bananas
- 2 ¼ cups (270 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
Frosting:
- 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- ⅓ cup (75.6 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3 tablespoons (45 g) sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups (360 g) powdered sugar, measured then sifted
Instructions
For the Cake
- Preheat oven to 375° F. Spray a half sized rimmed baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add sour cream and vanilla and mix until well combined.
- In another mixing bowl, mash bananas until no large lumps remain. Add to batter and beat until well combined.
- Add flour, salt, and baking soda and fold until combined. Make sure no flour is visible, but do not overmix.
- Pour batter into prepared baking sheet and bake for 13-15 minutes. Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick; cake is done when a few moist crumbs are on the toothpick.
For the Frosting
- In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add sour cream and vanilla and mix until smooth.
- Add sifted powdered sugar and slowly mix until smooth.
- Frost cake when cake is completely cooled.
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Notes
- These banana bars feed a crowd.
- Serves 20-25, depending on how you cut the bars.
- Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container.
