Banana Chocolate Chip Snack Cake for the home table
This Banana Chocolate Chip Snack Cake recipe is a tender and flavorful treat that is jam-packed full of banana flavor and chocolate chips! Paired with a creamy chocolate cream cheese frosting, it's a great little cake to make for a small dinner party, family night, or date night!
This method, originally published on May 10, 2019, has been updated with new images, and updated content, and includes weighted measurements.
Let's Talk Banana Chocolate Chip Snack Cake!
This is an especially flavorful banana chocolate chip snack cake that is baked in an 8-inch square baking pan and paired with a smooth chocolate cream cheese frosting.
Its moistness and flavor come from—you guessed it—the bananas!
Of course, you also get a rich chocolatey taste from the semi-sweet chocolate chips and the chocolate cream cheese frosting. For a little extra chocolate, you can sprinkle some crispearls over the top! Jimmies or sprinkles are fun to add too!
This truly is an easy recipe that comes together quickly and bakes in under 30 minutes. The frosting, equally as tasty and not sickeningly sweet, whips up in less than 15 minutes. It's a great little cake recipe to try when you have family over, a small party, or a fun little after-dinner dessert treat!
If you enjoy this method, then check out my other banana chocolate dessert—Tender Banana Cake!
How it comes together
For this frosting recipe, it's best to use either your hand mixer or stand mixer.
Beat the butter and cream cheese. Both ingredients should be softened to room temperature too. Beating them a good 2-3 minutes is recommended to get the smooth and creamy texture.
Add the remaining ingredients. I highly recommend mixing them all together on a low speed to start. For the best results, the powdered sugar should be sifted before adding. If it's not sifted, you can end up with lumps in your frosting.
At first, you might think this frosting will not come together, but it does, I promise. It's thick to start, but after 3-4 minutes with the hand mixer or stand mixer, it will become much softer and easier to spread.
Once softened, Try mixing this once more on a medium-high speed for another 2-3 minutes.
Essential Baking Tools
Banana Snack Cake FAQs
What size cake pan should Use?This method is best made in a 8-inch square baking pan. A 9-inch square baking pan would make the snack cake too thin.
What are the recommended bake times for this banana snack cake?25-30 minutes at 350ºF. Try checking the snack cake beginning at 25 minutes, and if an inserted toothpick comes out clean, you can take the cake out. If there is still a little cake batter on the inserted toothpick, place it back into the oven and check it again in 1-2 minutes.
Why must I coat the chocolate chips in flour before adding them to the batter?Coating them in flour helps prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the cake during baking. If you forget, however, it is truly not the end of the world. I've forgotten to do this a few times myself, and the chocolate chips don't all go to the bottom!
Can I make this banana chocolate chip snack cake in advance?Yes! It can be made 2-3 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator double-wrapped in plastic wrap. Alternatively, you can keep it for up to 1 month in the refrigerator double-wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and placed in a large freezer bag. With either option, make sure your cake has cooled completely.
Can I make this chocolate cream cheese frosting in advance?Yes, genuinely. This frosting can be made 2-3 days in advance and kept in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator. Let it come to room temperature for 30 minutes before using. Also, it's a good idea to bring it back to life with 1-2 using your hand mixer. Usually, just a good 1-2 minutes will do the trick.
What are those chocolate balls used on top of this cake?They are milk chocolate crispearls from Callebaut. Basically it's crispy cereal dipped in milk chocolate. I genuinely love them!
- Yield 8 servings
- Prep 15 minutes
- Cook 30 minutes
- Total 45 minutes
- Calories 546
Ingredients
banana chocolate chip snack cake
- 3/4 cup All-Purpose Flour
- 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/4 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 2/3 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips, lightly coated in flour
- 4 tbsp Unsalted Butter, room temperature
- 2 Medium-size Bananas, well-ripened
- 2/3 cup Light Brown Sugar, lightly packed
- 1/4 cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 Large Egg, room temperature
chocolate cream cheese frosting
- 1/4 cup Unsalted Butter, room temperature
- 4 oz Cream Cheese, room temperature
- 1/4 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 2 cup Powdered Sugar, sifted
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/8 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
Tools
- 8 inch Square Baking Pan
- Stand Mixer, or hand mixer
- Mixing Bowls
- Baking Spray
- Spatulas
- Whisks
Method
banana chocolate chip snack cake
- Adjust the oven rack to the second level position (just above center) and heat the oven to 350ºF.
- Generously spray an 8 inch square cake pan with a flour-based baking spray. Hold to the side.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add in the semi-sweet chocolate chips to coat. Hold to the side.
- Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the unsalted butter and mushed bananas together on medium-high speed until well-combined. Add in the light brown sugar, granulated sugar, vanilla extract, and egg, mixing together until fully incorporated.
- Fold in the whisked dry ingredients and chocolate chips until just combined. The batter will be thinner in consistency with flecks of the bananas in it. Pour the cake batter into the prepared 8 inch cake pan.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350ºF or until an inserted toothpick into the center of the snack cake comes out clean.
- Allow the cake to cool completely before frosting.
chocolate cream cheese frosting
- Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the unsalted butter and cream cheese together on medium-high speed for 2-3 minutes until the mixture is smooth and creamy. There should be no lumps.
- Add in the unsweetened cocoa powder, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and heavy cream, beating together on low speed until well blended. The frosting will be thick at first.
- Once mixed together, switch the mixer speed to medium-high blending together until the frosting softens (about 2-3 minutes). It will be much easier to spread after this.
- If the frosting is still too thick for your liking, you can add a teaspoon of heavy cream until the desired consistency is achieved.
- Frost the cooled snack cake, top with crispearls (optional), and enjoy!
Baker notes
This method is best made in a 8 inch square baking pan. A 9 inch square baking pan would make the snack cake too thin.
The recommended bake times for this method are 25-30 minutes at 350ºF. Try checking the snack cake beginning at 25 minutes and if an inserted toothpick comes out clean, you can take the cake out. If there is still little cake batter on the inserted toothpick, place it back into the oven and check it again in a 1-2 minutes.
Coating the chocolate chips in flour helps prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the cake during baking. If you forget, however, it is truly not the end of the world. I've forgotten to do this a few times myself and the chocolate chips don't all go to the bottom!
This banana chocolate chip snack cake can be made 2-3 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator double wrapped in plastic wrap. Alternatively, you can keep it for up to 1 month in the refrigerator double wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and placed in a large freezer bag. With either option, make sure your cake has cooled completely.
This frosting can be made 2-3 days in advance and kept in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator. Let it come to room temperature 30 minutes before using. Also, it's a good idea to bring it back to life with 1-2 using your hand mixer. Usually just a good 1-2 minutes will do the trick.
The milk chocolate balls used as garnish are milk chocolate crispearls from Callebaut. Basically it's crispy cereal dipped in milk chocolate. I genuinely love them!
