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Banana Bread Snack Cake

Banana bread snack cake with a perfectly moist, dense crumb baked in an 8x8 pan, then finished with a brown butter cream cheese frosting. Expect golden edges, a clean-toothpick center, and a frosting swoop over the top.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings: 16 servings
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Calories: 330
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Cake
  • 2 bananas ripe, mashed
  • 0.5 cup butter melted
  • 0.75 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs large
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 0.5 tsp baking soda
  • 0.5 tsp cinnamon
  • 0.25 tsp salt
For the brown butter frosting
  • 0.25 cup butter browned
  • 1.5 cup powdered sugar
  • 2 tbsp heavy cream
  • 0.5 tsp vanilla extract

Equipment

  • 1 sheet pan
  • 1 saucepan

Method
 

Bake the banana snack cake
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease an 8x8 square pan so the cake releases cleanly.
  2. Whisk melted butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla into mashed bananas until smooth, with no streaks of egg visible.
  3. Fold in all-purpose flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt until just combined, stopping as soon as the dry flour disappears.
  4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 25–30 minutes at 350°F until golden and a toothpick comes out clean.
Make the brown butter frosting
  1. Brown butter in a saucepan until golden and nutty, swirling so the milk solids toast evenly.
  2. Cool the browned butter for 5 minutes, then whisk in powdered sugar, heavy cream, and vanilla until smooth and spreadable.
Frost and slice
  1. Frost the completely cooled cake with the brown butter frosting and slice into squares to serve.

Notes

Pro tip: mash the bananas thoroughly so the cake stays dense and moist without lumps. Store the frosted cake covered in the fridge up to 4 days; freeze unfrosted slices up to 2 months, thaw overnight in the fridge and frost after thawing. For a lighter option, use half the sugar by swapping in light brown sugar and reduce the powdered sugar by 1/3 to keep the frosting balance.