After making my Creamy Jammy Coffee Cakes and then Creamy Pumpkin Streusel Coffee Cakes, I decided to experiment with banana bread as the base. I have been faithfully using this banana bread recipe for decades, but switched things up in 100 Morning Treats with a new recipe that doesn’t require a stand mixer. I use that new recipe here, with great results.
These little banana streusel cakes bake up moist and flavorful, and pair beautifully with the cream cheese and pecan streusel.
I use 4 inch [5 cm] springform pans to make these mini cakes, so they bake up with perfect edges, and release easily. They’re the perfect individual serving.
You can also this recipe in a 9×13 inch pan if you’d like, it works great just as written. However, I’m always up for a more substantial cream cheese layer as you see in the photo below this paragraph. So for the filling I used 12 oz [340 g] cream cheese and 1/3 cup [65 g] granulated sugar, along with the 1 large egg. You’ll see the full notes for baking in this size of pan in the recipe card.
How to Know When Your Mini Cakes are Done Baking
The only tricky part about these cakes is knowing when they are done; the cream cheese layer stays wet throughout baking. Stick a wooden skewer into the cakes all the way to the banana bread base to check on the cake layer – if there is still wet banana batter on the skewer, it will need to bake longer.
Banana Bread Coffee Cake with Cream Cheese Filling
Ingredients
Streusel
- 3/4 cup [180 g] toasted pecans
- 3/4 cup [107 g] all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup [65 g] granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup [65 g] light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 5 tablespoons [70 g] unsalted butter, melted
Banana Bread Cake
- 1/2 cup [100 g] granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup [100 g] brown sugar
- 1/3 cup [80 g] buttermilk, at room temperature
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 4 tablespoons [57 g] unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1/4 cup [60 g] vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon fine salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup [227 g] mashed very ripe bananas (about 3 bananas)
- 1 1/2 cups [213 g] all-purpose flour
Cream Cheese Filling
- 8 oz [227 g] cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup [50 g] granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
Equipment
Instructions
For the streusel
- In the bowl of a food processor, combine the pecans, flour, granulated and brown sugars, cinnamon, and salt. Pulse a few times until combined and the pecans are broken down, 5 or 6 pulses. Pour the melted butter over the top and pulse again until the butter is incorporated, 3 or 4 more pulses.
For the cake
- Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 350F [180C]. Grease eight 4 in [10 cm] springform pans or cake pans, and line the bottom with parchment (if using 4 inch cake pans, or if you'd like to make it in a 9×13 pan, see note). Place the pans on a large sheet pan.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the granulated and brown sugars, buttermilk, eggs, melted butter, oil, vanilla, salt, and baking soda. Add the bananas and whisk again to combine. Add the flour and mix until incorporated. If needed, whisk the batter to get rid of any flour lumps; about 20 seconds.
- Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans (see note), using an offset spatula or the back of a spoon to smooth the top.
For the filling
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, beat together the cream cheese and granulated sugar on low speed until smooth and creamy. Add the egg and mix until incorporated, scraping down the sides as needed.
- Divide the cream cheese mixture among the pans and smooth the tops with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon, getting as close to the edges as you can (the cream cheese filling will not want to spread beautifully, but it's okay if it gets into the banana batter somewhat.) Sprinkle an equal amount of streusel over each cake top.
- Place the cakes on the sheet pan into the oven and bake the cakes until a wooden skewer or toothpick inserted into the center comes out with no banana cake crumbs (see note), 25 to 35 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let the cakes cool until barely warm or at room temperature.
- Remove the cakes from their pans and serve. Alternately, the cakes can be covered in plastic wrap after cooling and stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Warm just slightly before serving.
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