Chocolate Chip Banana Cake with Chocolate Frosting
This Chocolate Chip Banana Cake with Chocolate Frosting is quick, simple, and delicious. The cake is moist, the frosting is fudgy, and together they create an amazing mouthful.
There’s something so satisfying about a quick and easy, only-one-bowl required cake recipe that’s also incredibly delicious. This Chocolate Chip Banana Cake with Chocolate Frosting is exactly all of those things. The banana cake is soft, tender, and speckled with mini chocolate chips. It also tastes like it was made exactly for the tangy, rich chocolate cream cheese frosting (my favorite part).
This is great for using up any overripe bananas you might have laying around, which always seems to happen! You’ll be surprised by how quickly this comes together. No need to cut up and fill cake layers or frost the sides or even pull out a piping bag. I bake the cake in an 8” x 8” square pan and load up the icing on the top then spread it just to the sides and corners. I love big rustic waves of the chocolate cream cheese frosting. You can definitely go more detailed with decorating but I love the simplicity of this cake, which also makes it unsuspecting when you take that first bite… and immediately want 10 more. It’s that good!
Ingredients for Chocolate Chip Banana Cake
Check your fridge and pantry, grab the ingredients you need and let’s get to it!
For the Cake
- Overripe Bananas
- Butter
- Sugar
- Sour Cream
- Vanilla Extract
- Eggs
- All-purpose Flour
- Baking Powder
- Baking Soda
- Salt
- Mini Chocolate Chips
For the frosting
- Cream Cheese
- Butter
- Powdered Sugar
- Cocoa Powder
- Vanilla Extract
How to Make Banana Cake with Chocolate Frosting
The steps are so easy that you can whip this up in no time. Perfect for a last minute get-together or maybe just something to satisfy your sweet tooth in a hurry.
- Mash the bananas. I like to do this with a fork but it can also be done with an electric mixer.
- Add the wet ingredients. This is my favorite part of the whole process – no creaming butter or stand mixer is necessary. Throw in all the wet ingredients to the bowl of mashed bananas and whisk it up. Could not be simpler. Just make sure your butter is cooled enough so it doesn’t cook the eggs.
- Add the dry ingredients. No need to sift these – just throw them in and mix it up. Then fold in the chocolate chips. I like to use mini chocolate chips here but any variety will work!
- Bake and cool the cake. You want to be sure to bake the cake until the center springs back to the touch. Cool completely before frosting
- Make the frosting. You can whip this up while the cake bakes or cools. Wash the bowl you mixed up the cake batter in for a truly “one-bowl” recipe. The frosting comes together very quickly so make sure not to overmix it.
- Frost, cut, and eat. I like to put a nice thick layer of the frosting on top and swirl it around in no particular pattern. Waves of creamy chocolate goodness. Cut it up into squares and devour!
Tips for the Best Chocolate Chip Banana Cake
- Use overripe bananas. Bananas with brown/black spots will be best because they’ll add the right amount of sweetness. Give your bananas a couple more days if they aren’t ripe yet or you can ripen them up in the oven. Bake at 300° F until the peels turn black and voila, you’ll have ripe bananas!
- Use room temperature ingredients. This is important for the ingredients from the fridge – the sour cream and eggs in the cake as well as the cream cheese and butter in the frosting. Room temp ingredients make a difference!
- Don’t skip the Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting. The chocolate chip banana cake is delicious on its own but I fully believe this chocolate cream cheese was meant to be spread thick and high on this cake. You will thank me for this… and then eat the frosting by the spoonful.
You are going to go bananas for how quick, simple, and tasty this cake is. Happy Chocolate Chip Banana Cake making!
Chocolate Chip Banana Cake with Chocolate Frosting
Ingredients
Chocolate Chip Banana Cake:
- 2 overripe bananas
- 10 Tablespoons (140g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- ¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (120g) sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 1½ cups (200g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (100g) mini chocolate chips
Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 8 oz (1 block or 227g) cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (1 stick or 113g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3 cups (340g) powdered sugar
- ½ cup (43g) cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Chocolate Chip Banana Cake: Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8” x 8” square pan with cooking spray. Line with parchment paper to create a sling, with an overhang on all four sides.
- In a large mixing bowl, add bananas and mash with a fork until only a few lumps remain.
- Whisk in melted butter, sugar, sour cream, and vanilla. Add eggs and mix until fully combined.
- Add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix until just combined.
- Fold in the mini chocolate chips.
- Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the center of the cake springs back to the touch (or a toothpick comes out clean).
- Allow the cake to cool completely before frosting.
- Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting: Combine the cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer until well combined and smooth with no lumps remaining. Add the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and vanilla and mix just until fully combined.
- Spread the chocolate cream cheese frosting on the top of the cooled cake, using a tapered spatula and pushing the frosting just to the edges and corners.
- Slice the cake up and enjoy!
So moist and yummy! I made two this week; one for a meal for a friend from church and the other for us. Quick and easy! Hardest part was waiting for the cake to cool so I could frost and eat it!
I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed this and even made it twice! 🥰