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This fabulous One-Bowl No-Mixer Banana Cake comes together in minutes. The creamy vanilla bean icing is a perfect pairing and the candied walnuts are... let's just say, the crowning glory!
It seems that almost everyone loves a good banana cake. This dreamy One-Bowl No-Mixer Banana Cake is really good! It's super moist, just sweet enough and has a delicious tender crumb. Add the creamy vanilla bean icing and a handful (maybe two) of crunchy candied walnuts and you've now taken it to nirvana status!
One-bowl, no-mixer cakes
I love cake - but not just any cake. It has to be really good cake. Otherwise, to me, it's just not worth the calories. I used to think that you had to pull out a mixer and go through a lot of steps (and a lot of dishes) to make a really good cake. But because so many of you (our wonderful Café followers) are busy people with very full lives I decided to try to simplify the process of making a cake, a really good cake.
The first attempt at this was my French Grandmother's Lemon Yogurt Cake back in 2015, a recipe that's super popular in France and has a delightful history. You can read more about that in this post but it's the easiest cake recipe ever and you can have it put together almost as quickly as you can say "French Grandmother's Lemon Yogurt Cake". Check out the video below and you'll see just what I mean:
The French Grandmother's cake seemed to go viral and, to this day, it's one of our readers' most beloved recipes. I love this cake too and the simplicity made me want to create more really good cake recipes that didn't require a lot of time and that didn't dirty a lot of dishes.
If you've been following the Café for any amount of time, you may have made one or more of these fun, easy cakes. I call them one-bowl, no-mixer cakes. They all can be mixed up in minutes with a bowl, a spatula and a whisk. You can discover more of these one-bowl recipes in our Café archives.
Tips and Tricks
As you can tell by the name, this One-Bowl No-Mixer Banana Cake belongs to this special collection of cake recipes, it's really good and really easy! I thought this might be a good place to share a few tips on making this type of no-fuss, no-fail cake:
- If the recipe calls for butter, make sure it's really soft so it will quickly and easily blend with all the other ingredients. That can be easier said than done, especially in cold, winter seasons. I have a few little tricks that I use to soften butter perfectly:
- Bring a cup of water to a boil in the microwave. Let it boil for a minute or two. Place a plate with unwrapped, cold butter into the microwave with the steaming water. Close the microwave and allow butter to soften. This will take 20-30 minutes.
- You can also turn your oven on for 1 minute then turn it off but leave the oven light on. This is also a great place to soften butter. It's warm but not too warm. Usually, within 15-20 minutes the cold butter will be perfectly softened.
- A way to soften butter quickly is to put cold butter in the microwave on 10% power. Microwave for 1 minute and then check to see if it's soft. If not, continue to microwave on low power (10%) for 15-second increments until nice and soft.
- Most cake recipes call for combining the dry ingredients (usually flour, baking powder or soda and salt) in a separate bowl and then adding them to the wet ingredients (butter, eggs, milk, etc.). I got a little unconventional when I started making one-bowl, no-mixer cakes and veered away from this step. I simply sprinkle the leavening agent and salt, evenly over the wet ingredients and give it a stir, then add the flour and stir again. Works like a charm!
- Use a good whisk for mixing the butter, sugar and eggs together. It's important to get this mixture smooth and a bit fluffy and a whisk works well for this. A good whisk is not expensive and will become a good friend to you in the kitchen. I really like the comfortable feel of this KitchenAid whisk. It's strong, durable and comes with a lifetime warranty!
- Another simple but super helpful kitchen tool when making one-bowl, no-mixer cakes is a sturdy silicone spatula. These are great for folding in dry ingredients as well as for cleanly scraping your batter into a cake pan. I really like spatulas with a strong wooden handle like these Nordic Ware Spatulas.
- I like to use a mixing bowl with a handle when making my one-bowl, no-mixer cakes. These Pyrex bowls are my little kitchen workhorses. I use the large one for mixing cake and cookie batters and the smaller ones for measuring. They're safe to use in the oven, microwave, fridge, freezer & dishwasher!
If you have any aspiring baker friends or family, the kitchen tools listed above would make a wonderful gift! And, who knows, you might be one of the beneficiaries!
An amazing combination!
I thought that a simple vanilla bean buttercream and some candied walnuts would be nice on this banana cake, but when Scott and I took the first bite, it was more than nice. It was heavenly! As I mentioned in the introduction, the creamy, buttery vanilla bean icing is a perfect pairing and the sweet, crunchy candied walnuts are definitely, the crowning glory!
I also served it to two of our grandchildren last night and they ate up every crumb and their plates both looked like they had licked them clean. They declared in unison that this One-Bowl No-Mixer Banana Cake was definitely "blog-worthy"! Wish you and I could pour a glass of cold milk or fix a cup of tea and sit together enjoying a piece of this delicious cake. I'm pretty sure all that would be left would be clean plates when we finished!
Café Tips for making this One-Bowl No-Mixer Banana Cake
- You want nice, ripe bananas for this cake. Green or yellow bananas won't work. Bananas with lots of sugar spots or even bananas that have turned completely brown on the outside are great. Some stores actually sell their ripe bananas for a reduced price. You might have to check with someone in the produce department as they're usually tucked away in a corner or bin somewhere.
- As stated above, make sure your butter is nice and soft for this cake. See tips above for softening butter.
- This recipe calls for vanilla bean paste. Vanilla bean paste is a thick paste that contains a blend of the scraped-out vanilla pod seeds and vanilla extract. You can find vanilla bean paste at some stores like Whole Foods and Trader Joes or online. If you don't have vanilla bean paste and don't want to try to find it, just use an equal amount of regular vanilla extract. It will still be delicious!
- The vanilla buttercream recipe is enough to frost the top and the sides of this cake. If you want less icing, just make a half batch and frost only the top of the cake.
- I call this a one-bowl, no-mixer cake but the icing does require a bowl of its own. I simply wash out the bowl I use for the cake while it's in the oven and use the same bowl for the icing.
- The candied walnuts are optional. This cake will be wonderful without them if you're short on time. But if you have a few extra minutes, wow, these shiny, sweet, crunchy nuts add a fabulous final touch, the crème de la crème!
- If you choose to make candied walnuts, you will have more than you need for this cake, but they are WONDERFUL for snacking, on salads, on ice cream... You won't be sorry you made them (unless you're dieting!).
If you enjoyed this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review! It's so helpful to other readers to hear other's results and ideas for variations.
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One-Bowl No-Mixer Banana Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
- ¾ cups ripe mashed banana, about 2 medium-size bananas
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 6 tablespoons very soft butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoons baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups flour
- ¾ cup buttermilk
For the icing:
- ½ cup very soft butter
- 2 tablespoons half and half or cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste, (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
- 2¼-2 ½ cups powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
For the candied walnuts (optional):
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ cup water
- 1 tablespoon corn syrup
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup roughly chopped walnuts, not too small
Instructions
For the cake:
- Preheat oven to 300°F.
- Spray an 8-inch round cake pan (with at least 2-inch tall sides) with baking spray. (If your 8-inch pan is less than 2-inches, use a 9-inch round pan.)
- In a small bowl, mix mashed banana with the lemon juice; set aside.
- In a medium-size bowl, stir butter until smooth. Add sugar and stir until well combined (mixture will be thick). Add the egg and egg yolk and vanilla. Stir until well combined and smooth.
- Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the top of the butter mixture and stir to combine. Add ½ cup of the flour. Stir just until the flour is incorporated. Add approximately half of the buttermilk and stir until combined.
- Repeat adding another ½ cup of the flour and then the remaining buttermilk, stirring until blended after each addition. Add the final ½ cup flour and stir until the flour has disappeared.
- Add the mashed bananas and stir until well combined.
- Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (Cover the top with foil during the last 5-10 minutes if getting too brown.)
- Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely.
For the icing:
- Stir the soft butter until smooth and creamy
- Add the half and half (or cream), the vanilla bean paste, 2¼ cups of the powdered sugar and the salt. Stir with a whisk until smooth and creamy. If the icing is too thin, add a bit more powdered sugar (up to another ¼ cup). If it's too thick, thin it with a little bit more half and half.
- When the cake is completely cooled scrape the icing from the bowl onto the center of the cake. Spread over the top (and down the sides, if desired) with an offset spatula. You want a thick, but spreadable icing.
- Sprinkle with the candied walnuts (optional).
For the candied walnuts:
- Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Spray the parchment paper, two forks and a slotted spoon with cooking spray to coat. Set aside.
- Combine sugar, water, corn syrup and salt in a medium heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat and bring to a boil. Swirl the pot a bit in the beginning to dissolve the sugar.
- When the mixture is bubbling, add the walnuts and stir to coat the nuts. Continue to cook, stirring frequently for 3-5 minutes or until the sugar solution starts to turn golden. Now keep an eye on it and stir continuously until the mixture is a deep golden color.
- Remove pan from the heat and, working quickly, use the slotted spoon to transfer large spoonfuls of nuts to the prepared pan. Use the two forks to separate the walnuts as much as possible. Allow the nuts to cool on the pan.
Notes
Nutrition
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Wonderful cake, nuts, and frosting. Because of a shoulder issue, I did use hand mixer on light beat and it came out fabulously. I did have to bake it additional 15 minutes because pick in center not clean, but as lifting from sides. Did use the foil suggestion and residual heat did it. Always your recipes are simple and superb. Thank you to you and yours!
Hi JJnAZ, Thanks for the excellent review and for sharing your experience with making this recipe! It's great to hear how well this cake turned out for you - we so appreciate you taking the time to let us know how much you enjoyed it, along with other Café recipes!
So delicious! I had leftover cream cheese frosting from another recipe that I topped this cake with. 😊
Awesome! Thanks, Valerie!
This may be one of the best cakes I've ever eaten, but it's *definitely* the best banana cake I've ever eaten. Absolutely mind-blowingly delicious. I made a couple of changes to please my daughter who has loved the flavor of banana and coffee together ever since I let the toddler version of her, some 50 years ago, dunk her banana wafer cookie in my cup of espresso. So in her honor, I dissolved a tablespoon of Medaglia D'Oro espresso powder in the icing's half and half, and then I sprinkled chopped chocolate covered espresso beans and chopped toasted walnuts on top of the cake instead of adding the candied walnuts. My daughter thanks you. My neighbors thank you. And I thank you - again and again - for another stellar recipe!
I love it! You are amazing, John! I wish I could have had a piece of that cake!!
My family loves this cake. Thank you
Hi Sin, you're welcome! So happy everyone has enjoyed this recipe! Thanks for letting us know.
I have tried to fold dry ingredients with wet ingredients using a ladle. But only after using spatula the folding method was soo easy. So that, the cake turned out well.
Could I double the recipe and make a 2 layer cake or would it be too heavy for layers? Thank you.
Hi Candace, that should work fine!
Can I use an 8x8 ceramic baking pan? I don’t have a round cake pan.
Thanks much ,
Kathy
Yes, that will work fine, Kathy. Enjoy!
Loved the flavor but the cake took about 70 minutes to bake. It was still liquidy at 47 minutes. My oven temperature is accurate . I did all the ingredients as designed so I’m not quite sure what might’ve happened.
I’m really sorry you had difficulty with this recipe. I really hate wasting good ingredients.
It’s difficult to say what went wrong without having been right there in the kitchen with you.
So many other readers have given this recipe rave reviews.
Hi there just to follow up I love the recipe! it was the most delicious cake that I’ve made so far 🙂 nothing wrong just was trying to figure out timing wise. I’m going try it again
Great, Julie!
My son loves banana cake. He especially loved this one. It was easy to make and delicious. Thank you for sharing it.
Awesome! Thanks for letting us know, Kendolyn!
I found this recipe to be incredibly helpful since I am a college student and don't have a mixer. Everything is very well explained! Just made the cake and it tastes lovely but it didn't rise very well. My cake is quite flat which doesn't look so pretty. Do you have any recommendations on what to do? Could adding extra baking soda or baking powder help?
Kind regards!
Hi Laura, I wouldn't add extra baking soda or powder. The flatness of your cake could be older leavening agents, the size of your pan or not stirring the batter sufficiently. It's hard for me to say without having been right there in the kitchen with you.
Hi Chris, thank you very much for the reply! I am not a native English speaker so when the recipe said 'stir' I did do this with a spatula and not with a whisk, could that have been the issue?
Kind regards and thanks again for the recipe, my family absolutely loved it!
You're welcome, Laura! It could be the spatua didn't mix things well enough. A whisk does work very well for this recipe. 💕💕
This cake was super moist and delicious
Thanks so much, Judi. I'm so happy you enjoyed it!
Hi sorry to ask but what size cup is this I’m in the U.K.! Maybe I can go by weight thanks
Hi Jacqui, if you go to the recipe and look above the word "Instructions" there's a button to convert the recipe from US Customary to Metric. Hope that helps!
Thank you for the banana cake recipe- didn’t have enough soft bananas for bread so this was perfect. I have a question about the oven temp at 300. Why is it lower than the typical cake temp of 350? (Full disclosure; I just auto set mine to 350 without reading the recipe!—-eeek.)
Good question, Maureen. The "slow" bake in this particular recipe is what helps make the cake so moist.
The ingredients call for 2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar. The recipe says to use 2 1/4 cups. What is the remaining 1/4 cup for ?
Thanks !
Cake is in the oven as I type this.
Hi Kathleen,
The recipe calls for 2-2½ cups of powdered sugar. Add 2¼ cups and then if you need more (to thicken the icing a bit more) add a little more. I'm sorry if that was confusing. I will clarify that in the recipe.
Thank you for your response. The cake was so delicious ! The nuts and frosting were such a complement to the cake. (The nuts almost didn’t make it because we kept eating them) I’ll certainly be making it again.
Thanks for sharing your results, Kathleen!
I made this cake sans the nuts bc pickings are still slim at the moment but it was fantastic anyway! Paired it with a cinnamon honey buttercream icing and my family loved it!
It took about an hour to cook the center completely but I used the foil trick you suggested and it worked perfectly.
Thanks, Jen! 💕
It came out great in the end. I'm not sure how to show a pic though. I used my usual lemon cream cheese icing though. Guess I'll link it here? Someone on another site just asked if she can be my granddaughter so guess it looks pretty good lol.
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/9f/20/ba/9f20ba5853463cf06dacfd927a3bbfed.jpg
Thanks for sharing your results, Sue. It looks wonderful!
I'm cooking this right now and it said 300F which is 150C. That can't be right I think. Cakes I've made before are around 180C. It's taking forever. Tasted nice raw though lol.
Hi Sue, this cake is baked at 300. It's a bit unusual but the slow bake makes it really moist.
This cake looks perfect and I love recipes I can whip up without busting out my mixer 🙂 Those candied nuts are a great way to top it off!
Thanks, Jennifer. I feel like I've gotten really lazy with these no-mixer cakes!
Oh, yeah!! This is a winner!! And the perfect size for me and my girlfriends! It's like banana bread on steroids 🙂
Haha! I think that might be a perfect description! Thanks, Liz!
Thank you, Chris!!!
I cannot see where in the recipe the 1tsp of vanilla listed in the cake ingredients goes in.
Love this no mixer one bowl banana cake!!! ❤️
Thank you so much!
Thanks, Gayle - it's in there now!
Could you do candied pecans instead?
Hi Penny, yes! Candied pecans would be wonderful!