Back at it again with another baking recipe from the Weeknight Baking Cookbook by Michelle Lopez of Hummingbird High! Banana bread has always been my kryptonite. It always seems to come out super gummy and too moist. So, I’ve been a little afraid to try new banana bread recipes.
On my instagram explore page I always see this banana chocolate chip cake with nutella frosting from a bakery in New York and thought it would be the perfect way for me to dabble in bananas without being afraid that I’d mess it up! So, when I got this cookbook and saw this recipe I knew I had to try it.
You can definitely frost this cake, but I made it just as a snack cake, and the chocolate chips make it sweet enough to eat by itself. It has the texture of a yellow cake with the flavor of banana bread! Next time I make this, I’ll definitely frost it (maybe even as a layer cake?)— nutella would pair so well.
Banana Chocolate Chip Sheet Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups (8 oz) cake flour
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg large, room temperature
- 1/2 cup buttermilk room temperature
- 2 tbsp canola oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 8 oz very ripe peeled bananas (~2-3 medium bananas)
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉ with a rack in the center of the oven. Prepare sheet pan with cooking spray and parchment paper. Spray parchment too!
- In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together.
- In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment (or a hand mixer), combine butter and sugar and beat on medium-high until light, fluffy, and doubled in volume (2-3mins). Scrape sides with rubber spatula as needed.
- Reduce mixer to low and add the egg, then increase speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy (1-2min).
- With mixer on low, slowly pour in buttermilk, oil, and vanilla and increase speed to medium high and beat until the batter is almost white and doubled in volume (~5min).
- Reduce mixer to low and add bananas a handful at a time and beat until broken into pieces and evenly distributed throughout the batter.
- Add dry ingredients gradually and beat until just combined. Scrape bottom and sides of bowl and mix on low for an additional 30 seconds.
- Add 3/4 of the chocolate chips and mix for ~30 seconds to evenly distribute them throughout the batter.
- Pour batter into pan. Sprinkle the top with the remaining chocolate chips. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out with a few crumbs attached.
- Add frosting if you’d like, but I ate it plain!
As a note, I keep my ripe bananas peel-on in the freezer. To use in recipes, I defrost them in the fridge overnight (in a container in case they leak!). To use, cut or rip the stem tip off to create a hole and simply squeeze the banana guts out!