Banana Coconut Coffee Cake

A soft, sweet banana cake with a thick layer of tropical, toasted coconut streusel makes the perfect pair for your morning cup of coffee.

I’m back from Sicily and we’re jumping right back into our regularly scheduled baking content. I don’t know about you, but when I come home from a long trip, no matter how wonderful the food was, I crave comfort. I want to take a shower in my own bathroom, wear pajamas, eat a big bowl of pasta, and bake something cozy. I’m looking for low-effort comfort, and it often arrives in the form of cake. Simple cake to be exact.

I always have between 5-7 bananas shoved in my freezer and I’m reminded of their existence every time I open the freezer door and one or two fly out, barely missing my toes. While it’s nice to always ripe bananas on hand for when the baking urge strikes, it’s very difficult to think of anything to do with them besides make banana bread. For the last few months, my freezer banana count has been steadily increasing as I worked on recipes that would meet the banana baked good quota: simple, sweet, cozy. In walks this cake. It’s everything that you’re looking for in a banana cake: super moist, dense, and just sweet enough that it can double as both dessert and breakfast.

banana coconut coffee cake

This recipe is a riff of one of my very favorite recipes, my sweet potato and rye coffee cake. We subbed the sweet potatoes with bananas, of course. Got rid of the rye flour, and replaced the buttermilk with full-fat canned coconut milk. The streusel topping got a little facelift with the addition of toasted coconut.

It’s a simple creaming method cake and can be mixed up in just a few minutes. A quick tip: room temperature is really best for the ingredients in this case. Because of the high liquid content and the temperature characteristics of melted butter and coconut milk, this batter has a tendency to curdle easily. If that happens, just add in a bit of the dry ingredients to help bind everything together and it should smooth right out. Happy baking!

Yield one 9x13" cake

Author Anna Ramiz

Prep time

30 Min

Cook time

45 Min

Total time

1 H & 15 M

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Banana Coconut Coffee Cake

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A soft, sweet banana cake perfect for your morning cup of coffee topped with a thick layer of tropical coconut streusel.

IngredientsUSMetric

for the crumble

• 1/2 cup (65 g) all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup (75 g) rolled oats
• 1/2 cup (100 g) brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 cup coconut flakes
• 1/2 cup (113 g) unsalted butter, softened

for the cake

• 2 1/4 cup (290 g) all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
• 3/4 cup (170 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup (100 g) brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 150 g mashed banana, from about 2 large bananas
• 3/4 cup full fat coconut milk
• 1/4 cup brewed espresso, cooled

for the glaze

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup (55 g) full fat coconut milk
• 1/8 tsp vanilla powder, or sub a splash of vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt

Instructions

to make the crumble

1. Whisk together flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and coconut flakes in a medium sized bowl until combined.
2. Add the butter and work together using your fingers until butter is completely mixed in and no dry spots remain. Place in the refrigerator to chill while you make the cake.

to make the cake

1. Line a 9x13” baking dish with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 350° F.
2. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cardamom. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine softened butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, making sure to scrape down the sides and ensure all of the butter chunks have been mixed in.
4. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the mashed banana and vanilla extract. Mix on medium-low speed for 1-2 minutes more, until everything is well-combined.
5. Combine coconut milk and espresso in a measuring cup.
6. With the mixer on low speed, add 1/3 of the dry ingredients, followed by half of the coconut milk/espresso mixture. When the liquid has been mixed in, add another 1/3 of the dry ingredients, followed by the remaining 1/2 of liquid, and then the remaining 1/3 of dry ingredients. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then mix for one more minute. Remove the bowl from the mixer and use a rubber spatular to gently fold the batter a few more times, ensuring that it is smooth and homogenous and everything is well-combined.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish and use an offset spatula to smooth it into an even layer. Remove crumbs from the refrigerator and sprinkle it in a thick even layer over the top of the cake.
8. Bake for 40-45 minutes, rotating halfway through the baking time, until a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the the center of the cake. Let cool completely in the pan while you make the glaze.

to make the glaze

1. Combine ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until smooth, adding more powdered sugar or coconut milk to thicken or loosen the glaze until you reach your desired consistency.
2. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cake before serving.

Similar Recipes

Sweet Potato and Rye Coffee Cake

Coconut Matcha Sheet Cake

Banana Tahini Breakfast Cake

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Coconut Matcha Sheet Cake

Does anyone else love a good sheet cake? I have vivid memories of making thick, rectangular cakes in college, piling on a bunch of fudge frosting for a friend’s birthday or other cake-demanding celebration and eating the leftover cake straight from the pan with a fork afterwards. To me, that’s the best part of cake. I’ve been playing with flavor combinations that might warrant sheet cake attention and knew that I wanted the cake base to be something thick and fluffy. The temperature in Central Florida has also been hanging out in the 90s for the last month (insert gif of a face dripping with sweat), but since travel (even to the island-themed cocktail bar down the street) is currently forbidden, I was looking for away to satisfy my tropical, tiki-vibe desires. I’ve always loved the combination of coconut and matcha. Coconut desserts can be overly sweet at times, but I think it pairs well with the grassy matcha flavor. And it’s a green-swirled cake and today is Earth Day. Voila! A sheet cake is born.

This cake is made using the reverse creaming method. The reverse creaming method is often used in what are called high-ratio cakes, where the ratio of sugar to flour and eggs to fat are high. Essentially, the dry ingredients, including sugar, are creamed with the fat to create a coarse, bread-crumb like texture, then eggs and liquid are added gradually, making the batter more like, well, cake batter. If you don’t have matcha, or don’t like matcha, feel free to use this as simply a coconut cake base (although the matcha is way more fun).

For the topping, I wanted something light and airy, closer to whipped cream than frosting so I whipped cold coconut cream with a little heavy cream and some powdered sugar. To whip coconut cream, it must be completely cold, so make sure to stick the can in the fridge overnight so it’s sufficiently chilled.

Coconut Matcha Sheet Cake

Yield: 1 9x13” cake

Ingredients:

3 cups (360 g) cake flour

1 1/2 cup (350 g) granulated sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 sticks (226 g) unsalted butter, softened

80 g coconut oil

3 eggs, at room temperature

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp coconut extract, optional

1 can (400 g) full-fat coconut milk

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut 

1 T matcha powder

for the frosting

1 can (400 g) coconut cream, chilled overnight

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/3 cup powdered sugar, sifted 

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Procedure: 

1. Preheat oven to 350° F and lightly grease a 9x13” baking dish or cake pan. Set aside. 

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine cake flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir to combine. 

3. In a large measuring cup, whisk together eggs, coconut milk, vanilla, and coconut extract (if using). Set aside 

4. Add room temperature butter and coconut oil to dry ingredients mix on medium speed until batter is coarse and resembles the texture of bread crumbs. 

5. With the mixer on low speed, slowly stream in wet ingredients, mixing only until everything is homogenous and combined. Remove bowl from the mixer and fold with a rubber spatula to ensure no dry spots remain. 

6. Pour about 1/3 of the batter into a small bowl and add the tablespoon of matcha powder. Stir to combine. Fold shredded coconut into the batter remaining in the large mixing bowl. 

7. Pour coconut batter into the prepared pan. Dollop matcha batter on top and use the back of a knife to marble. 

8. Bake for 30-40 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time, until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean. Cool completely. 

to make the coconut whipped cream

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine cold coconut cream and heavy cream. Whip on medium speed until thickened to soft peaks. 

2. Add vanilla extract and powdered sugar and continue to whip until the cream reaches medium peaks. Keep in refrigerator until ready to frost the cake. 

3. To frost: Scoop and spread coconut whipped cream over the entire surface of the cake. Dust with matcha powder and top with toasted coconut if desired. 

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