Banana Chocolate Chip Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting

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It's almost Christmas!!!  The most wonderful time of the year, filled with family, friends, delicious food, and cheery music.  Wasn't that a wonderfully cliché sentence?  Yes, but we hope it's true.  I am fortunate enough to say that it is for me.  I love all my family, I love Christmas music (I can't always vouch for it all being "good" music, but it lifts your spirit and you can mindlessly sing along while wearing a Santa hat and elf socks without anyone thinking twice), and we have an abundance of delicious food.  So much food. 

What is one to do when they have been indundated with rich holiday food?  Take a break?  No fun.  Stand by the vegetable tray all night?  Nah, I hear the conversation can get a little heated with those peppers.  Chew gum?  No, you need a compromise.  Something that will satisfy, but not put you over like your great-aunt's cousin-once-removed on your dad's side triple chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream, ganache, whipped cream, sprinkles, drizzled with caramel and bonbons on top.  Something more like a fruit based cake.  Banana.  With chocolate chips, because it is Christmas, and peanut butter because that makes the whole thing.  The bow on top of the present.  The icing on the cake...so very literally. Plus protein. It’s basically a health food, you guys.

This post may contain affiliate links. If you buy something using these links, Jennyblogs may receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you. This helps to support Jennyblogs. For further information see the privacy policy. Grazie!

Recipe adapted from Handle the Heat

Banana Chocolate Chip Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting

Makes 12-16 servings

Ingredients:

For the Banana Chocolate Chip Cake

  • 2 1/2 cups / 300g all-purpose flour

  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder

  • 3/4 baking soda

  • 1 tsp cinnamon

  • 1/2 tsp salt

  • 3/4 cup / 168g oil

  • 3/4 cup / 150g sugar

  • 1/2 cup / 100g brown sugar

  • 2 eggs

  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

  • 1/2 cup / 123g plain yogurt or sour cream

  • 4 overripe bananas, mashed, to get roughly 1 1/3 cups / 400g mashed banana

  • 1 cup / 170g mini chocolate chips

For the Peanut Butter Frosting

  • 1 cup / 226g unsalted butter (2 sticks, 8 oz), room temperature

  • 1 cup / 260g creamy peanut butter

  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

  • pinch of salt

  • 2 - 2 1/2 cups / 250-313g powdered sugar

Directions:

Oven preheated to 350°F / 177°C.  Grease and flour two 8 or 9in / 20 or 23cm round cake pans.

Make the Banana Chocolate Chip Cake

  1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.  Set aside.

  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together oil and sugars.  Add vanilla and eggs; beat well.

  3. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the egg mixture.  Mix in yogurt.  Add another third of flour mixture.  Add bananas.  Add final third of flour mixture.  Fold in chocolate chips.

  4. Pour and divide batter evenly between the two prepared pans. 

  5. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.   Allow to cool for about 10 minutes in the pans before flipping out onto cooling racks to cool completely. 

Make the Peanut Butter Frosting

  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter and peanut butter together until light and fluffy.  Add vanilla and salt.  Add 2 cups of powdered sugar; add more as needed until frosting is thick enough to spread. 

Assembly

  1. Center one cake layer upside down on a cake stand or plate.  Frost this layer within 1/4 inch of edge of cake. 

  2. Place second layer on top, and frost cake with remaining frosting.  Sprinkle with additional chocolate chips, if desired. 

Jenny's Notes:

  • I prefer to use organic yogurt instead of sour cream in recipes simply because it's healthier.  I don’t always have plain yogurt on hand, so in those cases I use vanilla yogurt and reduce the sugar in the recipe by 1/3-1/2 cup, depending on the amount of yogurt called for.  Feel free to use whatever you have on hand! 

Banana, cake, banana chocolate chip, chocolate chip cake, peanut butter, peanut butter frosting, banana cake, ripe banana recipe
Dessert, Cake
American
Yield: 12-16
Author:
Banana Chocolate Chip Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting

Banana Chocolate Chip Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting

A tender banana cake speckled with chocolate chips topped with a creamy peanut butter frosting.
Prep time: 1 hourCook time: 40 MTotal time: 1 H & 40 M

Ingredients:

For the Banana Chocolate Chip Cake
  • 2 1/2 cups / 300g all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 3/4 baking soda
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3/4 cup / 168g oil
  • 3/4 cup / 150g sugar
  • 1/2 cup / 100g brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup / 123g plain yogurt or sour cream
  • 4 overripe bananas, mashed, to get roughly 1 1/3 cups / 400g mashed banana
  • 1 cup / 170g mini chocolate chips
For the Peanut Butter Frosting
  • 1 cup / 226g unsalted butter (2 sticks, 8 oz), room temperature
  • 1 cup / 260g creamy peanut butter
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • pinch of salt
  • 2 - 2 1/2 cups / 250-313g powdered sugar

Instructions:

Make the Banana Chocolate Chip Cake
  1. Oven preheated to 350°F / 177°C. Grease and flour two 8 or 9in / 20 or 23cm round cake pans.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
  3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together oil and sugars. Add vanilla and eggs; beat well.
  4. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the egg mixture. Mix in yogurt. Add another third of flour mixture. Add bananas. Add final third of flour mixture. Fold in chocolate chips.
  5. Pour and divide batter evenly between the two prepared pans.
  6. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes in the pans before flipping out onto cooling racks to cool completely.
Make the Peanut Butter Frosting
  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter and peanut butter together until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and salt. Add 2 cups of powdered sugar; add more as needed until frosting is thick enough to spread.
Assembly
  1. Center one cake layer upside down on a cake stand or plate. Frost this layer within 1/4 inch of edge of cake.
  2. Place second layer on top, and frost cake with remaining frosting. Sprinkle with additional chocolate chips, if desired.

Notes:

I prefer to use organic yogurt instead of sour cream in recipes simply because it's healthier. I don’t always have plain yogurt on hand, so in those cases I use vanilla yogurt and reduce the sugar in the recipe by 1/3-1/2 cup, depending on the amount of yogurt called for. Feel free to use whatever you have on hand!

Calories

785.39

Fat (grams)

45.52

Sat. Fat (grams)

15.55

Carbs (grams)

88.21

Fiber (grams)

3.37

Net carbs

84.84

Sugar (grams)

59.78

Protein (grams)

10.55

Sodium (milligrams)

386.82

Cholesterol (grams)

75.36
Nutritional information is approximate. Based on 12 servings using the full 2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar for the frosting.
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @jenevamorris on instagram and hashtag it #jennyblogs
Created using The Recipes Generator
More Bakes:
Banana Chocolate Chip Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting
Blackberry Banana Bread with Cinnamon Streusel
Banana Cupcakes with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Blackberry Banana Bread with Cinnamon Streusel

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Wild blackberries abound in Italy. 

Ok, that's a bit general, I have not been everywhere in Italy, but I can safely say that they are abundant in Florence and Cinque Terre.  I'm all for anything free and tasty, so I will always stop and pick a few when they are in reach. 

Most evenings I like to go for a "passeggiata," or stroll, usually along the Fiume (river) Arno, and there are lots of vines that grow down towards the river.  A fence conveniently kept me from clambering down and picking any, getting torn up by the thorns, and possibly dying in the pursuit, but that didn't stop a little nonna one evening from trying her best to reach through the fence and grab a few tasty morsels.  I admired her greatly. 

Along the hiking trails of Cinque Terre there was also a plethora, and they were perfectly placed along the trail for me to grab handfuls here and there, energy bursts for the 2 hour (solid uphill, both ways) trek!  Especially helpful since I had already eaten my packed lunch before we even started hiking...

Then there was that one time when a friend, who loves to do triathlon and ride his bike for millions of miles, said he had passed a huge group of blueberry bushes while riding up in the rolling hills of Tuscany.  So a group of us drove up to the spot, prepared with bags, open mouths, and welcoming stomachs.  A couple of us headed to the nearest loaded bush, and although my first thought was "those are strange looking blueberries", it didn't occur to me to stop and figure out what they were before picking or eating any.  They had been told to me as blueberries, therefore they must be.  So the first thing I do? Pop one in my mouth.  It was the single most sour/bitter thing I have ever had in my mouth.  And I like sour things, I like straight lemon juice and lemons.  But this had a pit and I was expecting a sweet blueberry.  I swiftly spit it out and we didn't pick or eat anymore.  For awhile after we were convinced it was nightshade, OH NO, and I thought I might die.  Not really, it wasn't.  But don't eat something in nature if you don't know what it is.  JENNY.  I'm looking at you.  

Another evening I took a different route for my passeggiata and passed tons of blackberry bushes.  They lined the road for quite a ways, and so I went back several times with friends to pick a couple bagfuls.  I gained a few battle scars from the prickers, some "ciao bella's" from people passing on the road probably wondering what is that weird girl doing climbing on the road guard half hidden/hanging from thorns in bushes, but most importantly, free berries.  And what do you do when you have too many blackberries to eat?  You bake with them, of course.  Delicious and tender banana bread with little bites of blackberries dispersed throughout topped with a sweet cinnamon streusel.  

*All photos in this post are credited to my friend, Bailey Shoemaker Guthrey. She’s a visual design natural, you can check out her site baileyshoemakerdesign.com for any of your graphic design needs!

This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase using these links, Jennyblogs may receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you. This helps to support Jennyblogs. For further information see the privacy policy. Grazie!

A recipe by Jenny

Blackberry Banana Bread with Cinnamon Streusel

Ingredients:

For the Blackberry Banana Bread

  • 2 cups / 240g all-purpose flour

  • 1 tsp baking soda

  • 3/4 tsp salt

  • 3/4 cup / 150g sugar

  • 1/2 cup / 112g oil

  • 2 eggs

  • 2-3 large bananas, mashed, about 300g

  • 1 tsp vanilla

  • 1 1/4 cups / 181g blackberries

  For the Cinnamon Streusel

  • 3/4 cup / 90g all-purpose flour

  • 1/3 cup / 67g sugar

  • 1 tsp cinnamon

  • 3 Tbsp / 42g cold butter

Directions:

Oven 350°F / 177°C.  1 greased 9x5in / 23x13cm loaf pan.

Make the Blackberry Banana Bread

  1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.

  2. In another large bowl, beat together sugar, oil, eggs, banana, and vanilla.  Add dry ingredients and stir until just combined.  Gently fold in blackberries. 

  3. Pour into prepared pan.

Make the Cinnamon Streusel

  1. In a medium bowl whisk together flour, sugar, and cinnamon.  Using a pastry cutter, a fork, or my preferred method, clean hands, add butter and mix until crumbles form, like coarse pebbles. 

  2. Sprinkle evenly over batter in pan and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until toothpick comes out almost clean.  

  3. Allow to cool in pan at least 10 minutes before removing to cool completely.

Jenny's Notes:

  • Feel free to substitute any type of berry for the blackberries!  Blueberries and raspberries are also delicious.   

  • This is a great recipe to use up sourdough discard. Use up to 100g and add in with the wet ingredients, proceed as instructed.

  • Bananas are always a bit of guess work to measure because recipes will give measurements without having any idea how big or small your bananas are. If you see a recipe with a measurement of 300g, like the one above, and that ended up being 2 + 7/16 of a banana, what are you going to do with the remaining 9/16 of that mushy banana? No worries, using a little more or less banana than called for shouldn’t yield anything other than delicious bread.  The more banana the more moist it will be, and also a touch heavier. Go too far and it will start becoming gummy.

Blackberry Banana Bread with Cinnamon Streusel
Yield 8-10
Author
Prep time
25 Min
Cook time
40 Min
Total time
1 H & 5 M

Blackberry Banana Bread with Cinnamon Streusel

Moist banana bread with little explosions of blackberries throughout and a sweet cinnamon streusel on top.

Ingredients

For the Blackberry Banana Bread
For the Cinnamon Streusel

Instructions

Make the Blackberry Banana Bread
  1. Oven 350°F / 177°C. 1 greased 9x5in / 23x13cm loaf pan.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.
  3. In another large bowl, beat together sugar, oil, eggs, banana, and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Gently fold in blackberries.
  4. Pour into prepared pan.
Make the Cinnamon Streusel
  1. In a medium bowl whisk together flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Using a pastry cutter, a fork, or my preferred method, clean hands, add butter and mix until crumbles form, like coarse pebbles.
  2. Sprinkle evenly over batter in pan and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until toothpick comes out almost clean.
  3. Allow to cool in pan at least 10 minutes before removing to cool completely.

Notes

Feel free to substitute any type of berry for the blackberries! Blueberries and raspberries are also delicious.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

474.54

Fat

20.00 g

Sat. Fat

4.11 g

Carbs

68.73 g

Fiber

2.39 g

Net carbs

66.34 g

Sugar

32.50 g

Protein

6.35 g

Sodium

428.44 mg

Cholesterol

57.79 mg

Nutritional information is approximate. Based on 8 servings.

banana bread, blackberry banana bread, cinnamon streusal, wild blackberries, blackberries in Italy, quick bread
Breads, breakfast
American
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @jennyblogsandbakes on instagram and hashtag it #jennyblogs
Don't waste your mushy bananas, instead make these:
Banana Chocolate Chip Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting
Blackberry Banana Bread with Cinnamon Streusel
Banana Cupcakes with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Banana Cupcakes with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

/

And Reeses's Cups. 

Banana cupcakes! Your friendly neighborhood cupcake made soft and moist with the humble browned bananas that otherwise would’ve been thrown away. A delicious dessert that avoids waste, I love it. Not to mention, these throw in chopped Reese’s cups to make them that much more delicious.

What kind of frosting do you put on banana cupcakes? That’s a great question that I present to you with an answer: CHOCOLATE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING.

Cream cheese frosting is the staple frosting for pumpkin cake, carrot cake, spice cake, and red velvet cake. I’m starting to think it should be for banana cake, too.

(Warning, rabbit trail: I really think people like red velvet cake for the cream cheese frosting.  After all, red velvet cake is more of a barely chocolate cake with a bottle of red food coloring.  The original recipe wasn't originally artificially colored.  The color came from a natural reaction between some of the ingredients, but somewhere along the line someone decided to add a bottle of poison [aka Red Dye #40] to make it more red.  Boo.  So you will probably never see a red velvet recipe on this blog, unless it's colored with beets or something.  I'm so sorry, but red velvet is overrated. #unpopularopinion.  But cream cheese frosting is not!  It's wonderful and tangy and creamy and delicious.  And if you add chocolate to it?  Ohhhh.)

Chocolate cream cheese frosting is new to my repertoire.  If it's not a part of yours, then might I suggest you make this now and let the soft tang of the cream cheese awaken your taste buds while the smoothness of the chocolate soothes them over?  And it goes really well on these Banana Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes.  Nom nom nom.

This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase using these links, Jennyblogs may receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you. This helps to support Jennyblogs. For further information see the privacy policy. Grazie!

Banana Cupcakes

Ingredients:

For the Banana Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes

  • 1 cup / 120g all-purpose flour

  • 1/2 tsp baking powder

  • 1/2 tsp baking soda

  • 1/4 tsp salt

  • 1/4 cup + 2 / 84g Tbsp oil

  • scant 1/2 cup / 80g sugar

  • 1/4 cup / 61g vanilla yogurt

  • 1 1/2 tsp / 8g vanilla extract

  • 2 eggs

  • 2 medium ripe bananas, peeled and well mashed

  • 6 Reese's Cups, chopped small (about 1 cup)

For the Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

  • 1/2 cup / 113g unsalted butter (1 stick), room temperature

  • 1 8 oz / 225g package cream cheese, room temperature

  • 1/4 cup / 25g unsweetened cocoa powder

  • 3 oz / 90g semi-sweet chocolate, melted and cooled

  • 1 tsp / 5g vanilla extract

  • 3 cups / 360g powdered sugar

  • 1 -2 Tbsp / 15-30g milk

Directions:

Make the cupcakes

  1. Oven preheated to 350°F / 177°C.  Grease a 12 cup muffin tin or line with cupcake liners

  2. In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. 

  3. In the bowl of a stand mixer mix together oil and sugar.  Add yogurt and vanilla.  Beat in eggs one at a time.  Slowly incorporate dry mixture into the wet mixture until thoroughly combined.  Stir in mashed bananas and Reese's. 

  4. Using a measuring cup or ice cream scoop, fill each cupcake about 3/4 full.  Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until tops or lightly golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 

  5. Allow cupcakes to cool for about 5 minutes in the pan, then remove onto a wire rack to cool completely. 

Make the frosting

  1. While the cupcakes are cooling, beat cream cheese and butter together in the bowl of a stand mixer until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.

  2. Add cocoa powder slowly so as not to create a cocoa powder cloud.  Then stir in cooled chocolate and vanilla until combined.  Slowly beat in powdered sugar.  Add in enough milk, 1-2 Tbsp, to make a spreadable or pipe-able frosting. 

  3. Frost cooled cupcakes and top with more chopped Reese's, if desired. 

Jenny's Notes:

  • Banana cupcakes are very moist by nature, so be sure they get their full baking time.  Normally I would recommend taking cupcakes out of the oven when there are still small crumbs clinging to the toothpick, but not with banana cupcakes.  You want to make sure the toothpick is clean. 

  • I would recommend chopping the Reese's for the cupcakes small.  Too big and they will sink, too fine and they will get lost in the cupcake. 

  • You can easily substitute plain yogurt or sour cream for the vanilla yogurt in the cupcake recipe, just add a level 1/2 cup of sugar instead of the scant 1/2 cup.  (Scant in the baking world means "just less than" the designated amount.)

cupcakes, banana muffins, banana cupcakes, banana peanut butter cup cupcakes, Reese's, chocolate cream cheese frosting
dessert
American
Yield: 12
Author:
Banana Cupcakes with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Banana Cupcakes with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Classic, moist banana cupcakes with chunks of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups topped with chocolate cream cheese frosting
Prep time: 50 MinCook time: 20 MinTotal time: 1 H & 10 M

Ingredients

For the Banana Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes
For the Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Instructions

Make the cupcakes
  1. Oven preheated to 350°F / 177°C. Grease a 12 cup muffin tin or line with cupcake liners
  2. In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
  3. In the bowl of a stand mixer mix together oil and sugar. Add yogurt and vanilla. Beat in eggs one at a time. Slowly incorporate dry mixture into the wet mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in mashed bananas and Reese's.
  4. Using a measuring cup or ice cream scoop, fill each cupcake about 3/4 full. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until tops or lightly golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
  5. Allow cupcakes to cool for about 5 minutes in the pan, then remove onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Make the frosting
  1. While the cupcakes are cooling, beat cream cheese and butter together in the bowl of a stand mixer until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
  2. Add cocoa powder slowly so as not to create a cocoa powder cloud. Then stir in cooled chocolate and vanilla until combined. Slowly beat in powdered sugar. Add in enough milk, 1-2 Tbsp, to make a spreadable or pipe-able frosting.
  3. Frost cooled cupcakes and top with more chopped Reese's, if desired.

Notes

  • Banana cupcakes are very moist by nature, so be sure they get their full baking time.  Normally I would recommend taking cupcakes out of the oven when there are still small crumbs clinging to the toothpick, but not with banana cupcakes.  You want to make sure the toothpick is clean. 
  • I would recommend chopping the Reese's for the cupcakes small.  Too big and they will sink, too fine and they will get lost in the cupcake. 
  • You can easily substitute plain yogurt or sour cream for the vanilla yogurt in the cupcake recipe, just add a level 1/2 cup of sugar instead of the scant 1/2 cup.  (Scant in the baking world means "just less than" the designated amount.)


Nutrition Facts

Calories

486.88

Fat

25.42 g

Sat. Fat

11.97 g

Carbs

62.19 g

Fiber

2.33 g

Net carbs

59.85 g

Sugar

48.38 g

Protein

5.41 g

Sodium

228.69 mg

Cholesterol

68.13 mg

Nutritional Information is approximate. Based on 1 cupcake.

Did you make this recipe?
Tag @jennyblogsandbakes on instagram and hashtag it # jennyblogs
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