Fluffy Banana Coffee Cake with Cinnamon Sugar

By Elizabeth Waterson // Apr 24, 2012 (Updated Jan 19, 2026) // 1 Comment

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This banana coffee cake is a moist, tender cake layered with cinnamon sugar and topped with a golden crumb that's perfect alongside your morning coffee or afternoon tea. Made with ripe bananas and basic pantry ingredients, it's easy to whip up and delivers comforting banana flavor with a touch of warm spice. The soft crumb and sweet cinnamon swirl make every slice feel cozy and indulgent without fuss. Serve it warm or at room temperature for a crowd-pleasing treat any time of day.

plate full of slices of banana coffee cake on a pink plate on top of a white linen. — Soft banana cake with a swirl of cinnamon sugar — look at that golden top!

A few weeks ago I was developing my apple crumb cake recipe, we fell in love, I love baked apples. Then I moved on to my brown butter banana bread recipe, which is fantastic too. I was left craving a coffee crumb cake and banana bread so I developed this recipe. It is based on my sour cream coffee cake recipe that my family adores.

It truly is as if banana bread and coffee cake had a baby. We could not stop slicing into this one, you know when you slice a straight line off, and keep doing that thinking no one will notice then half the pan is gone? Yup, that is what happened with this recipe!

up close of a slice of banana coffee cake on a white plate with a fork on a light brown surface.

Simple Ingredients for a Moist Banana Coffee Cake

Ripe bananas: The heart of this cake - they add natural sweetness, moisture, and banana flavor.
Flour + leavening: Create a tender, soft crumb that holds the cake together.
Butter & oil: Keeps the cake moist and rich without heaviness.
Eggs & sugar: Provide structure and sweetness while helping the cake rise evenly.
Cinnamon sugar swirl: Adds sweet warmth and lovely texture contrast.

ingredients for banana coffee cake on a sheet pan on a light brown surface.

For ingredient quantities please reference the recipe card below. On the recipe card there is a button for US or M (Metric) measurements.

Swirls, Bananas & Cinnamon - Here's How

cinnamon sugar in a bowl and dry ingredients for crumble in a larger glass bowl on a light brown surface with a white linen. — Stir together the brown sugar and cinnamon until fully combined, set aside.

melted butter mixed into crumble mixture in a glass bowl on a light brown surface with a white linen. — Whisk together the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon then pour in melted butter and mix until thick clumps are formed.

dry ingredients whisked together in glass bowl and butter and sugars added to a metal bowl on a light brown surface with a white linen. — Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Then cream together butter and sugars.

oil and vanilla aded to creamed butter and sugars then eggs added in a metal bowl on a light brown surface with a white linen. — Mix in the oil and vanilla until fully combined. Then stir in the eggs.

mashed bananas added to cake batter mixed until smooth on a light brown surface with a white linen. — Mix in the mashed bananas, the mixture may look curdled.

flour added to wet ingredients then sour cream added in a metal bowl on a light brown surface with a white linen. — Alternate adding the dry ingredients then the wet ingredients, mixing well in between.

banana coffee cake batter in a metal bowl and poured into a metal pan on a light brown surface with a white linen. — Add half of the cake batter to the pan.

cinnamon sugar poured on top of banana coffee cake batter with coffee cake batter added on top on a light brown surface with a white linen. — Sprinkle all of the cinnamon swirl mixture on top in an even layer then add the remaining cake batter on top.

banana coffee cake before and after baking on a light brown surface with a white linen. — Top with crumb and bake.

Behind-the-Scenes Baking Notes

After baking many cakes (60+ cake recipes) I have learned a thing or two when it comes to baking up a successful cake.

Weigh your ingredients. This will help ensure accuracy. I know its a pain but in testing I found that you'll need about 2 medium bananas, weigh the banana to ensure you have enough but not too much.
Make sure to use room-temperature ingredients. This will help all of the ingredients blend more evenly, to create a better cake crumb. I have tried making cakes with cold ingredients and they just dont blend into each other nicely.
Use ripe bananas. Unripe bananas do not have as much natural sweetness.
Don't over-mix. When mixing the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients do not over mix, over mixing can develop the gluten causing a tougher cake.
Don't overbake the cake. Use a knife inserted into the center of the cake to look for any wet batter, moist crumbs are okay.
Store any leftovers in an airtight container to keep the cake fresh and moist.

banana coffee cake on a pink plate on top of a white linen with bananas in the background.

★★★★★ Please let me know if you make this recipe by leaving a star rating and comment below!

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Recipe Card