Banana Coffee Cake

Name: Banana Coffee Cake with Graham Cracker Streusel
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 50 min
Ingredients: ¾ cups graham cracker crumbs; 1/3 cup light brown sugar (packed); 6 oz honey roasted almonds (chopped); 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon; 1/3 cup unsalted butter (melted); 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour; 1 teaspoon baking powder; ¾ teaspoon baking soda; ½ teaspoon sea salt; ½ cup unsalted butter (room temperature); ¾ cup granulated sugar; 1 large egg (room temperature); 3 medium overripe bananas; 3 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt; 4 tablespoons brown sugar; 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

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Irresistibly moist and flavorful banana coffee cake with the crunchiest graham cracker streusel made with honey-roasted almonds. You won’t be able to stop at just one slice of this coffee cake!

banana coffee cake on plate next to almonds

Why you'll love it

This banana coffee cake is packed with flavor in every bite. It is a cross between your favorite banana bread and a sumptuous coffee cake. The graham cracker streusel takes it over the top by adding so much more depth and dimension to the flavors.

It is perfect for banana bread lovers because it is absolutely packed with banana flavor, which also helps keep it delightfully moist and flavorful.

The mix of graham crackers and honey roasted almonds means there's so much more flavor and texture. than your traditional coffee cake.

It bakes up fairly quickly, so you have something to snack on and enjoy without too much fuss or waiting.

Key ingredients

There really aren't a whole ton that goes into this moist banana crumb cake, but each ingredient plays a big part in adding the right flavor and texture. A few ingredients, in particular, are very important to review.

Graham cracker - Instead of flour, graham cracker crumbs are used in the streusel. It adds so much flavor that complements the bananas so well. You can use regular, honey, or cinnamon graham crackers. They all work equally well here.
Almonds - Honey roasted almonds add sweetness and crunch to the streusel, but you can use roasted unsalted almonds. Pecans also work really well here.
Sugar - It is important to use brown sugar in this recipe. I prefer light brown sugar, but dark brown sugar can also work well in this recipe, too. If you don't have any available, it is very easy to make homemade brown sugar.
Banana - Using over ripe bananas makes a huge difference here in terms of flavor and even texture. If you don't have any, you can take underripe or just ripe bananas and roast them. That will break down the sugars and make them perfect for baking.
Yogurt - The yogurt shouldn't add any sweetness, so plain yogurt would work best. If you don't have yogurt, sour cream also works.

Expert tips

A banana coffee cake is fairly simple to make, even with components you don't usually find in a traditional coffee cake. These are some of my top tips to make sure you get the best results every time.

Measure your flour correctly. The best thing to do is to give the flour a quick fluff, and then spoon the flour into the measuring cup. Sweep off the excess with a flat edge. If you scoop up flour, especially without giving it a quick fluff, you can end up accidentally end up adding as much as an extra ¼ cup of extra flour which will leave you with a dense cake.
Ingredient temperature matters. All your ingredients should be room temperature otherwise they won't come together right and leave you with a texture that isn't appealing. You can quickly soften butter with a few different tricks, and leave your egg in a glass of warm water for a few minutes.
Use ripe bananas. It bears repeating, but you need very ripe bananas that has more brown spots than yellow. If you don’t have overripe bananas, you can also roast your bananas in a preheated 350F oven for about 14 minutes, turning halfway through. You can also freeze your bananas completely, then let them thaw completely. This only works if you plan this out ahead of time. Personally, roasting bananas is my favorite method because it gives so much flavor to the banana.
Don't over mix. It is so important to make sure you just barely combine your wet and dry ingredients together. It is okay to have a few lumps in your batter. By mixing just until incorporated, you ensure your crumb cake is soft and irresistibly tender. Over mixing will leave you with a tough, chewy cake
Be careful with your layers. You want to put half the batter into the pan, then evenly sprinkle the swirl mixture. Carefully top with large dollops of the remaining batter, then spread the batter carefully, so you don't end up mixing the swirl into the batter. Top with the streusel and press gently to make sure it adheres.

Recipe FAQs

Can I use a regular streusel?

Absolutely! You can use a regular buttery streusel topping with this banana coffee cake, and it will still be just as delicious.

Can I make this recipe gluten-free or dairy-free?

I never tested the recipe this way, but you can use a gluten-free baking mix and dairy-free alternatives.

close up slice of banana coffee cake on plate with fork445

Try this cinnamon roll coffee cake or this raspberry chocolate coffee cake. You may also love this pumpkin coffee cake. This chocolate chip banana bread and brown butter banana bread are amazing.