An easy banana and chocolate chip sheet cake, covered with rich, decadent, melted Nutella icing. You’d never guess this delicious Banana Nutella Cake is so easy to make!
This year is all about the layer cake on Bunsen Burner Bakery, but that doesn’t mean we can’t throw sheet cakes a little love, too!
Whether you call them sheet cakes or snack cakes, they’re just so easy, which makes them the perfect choice when you don’t want a big fuss.
Mix together some ingredients, pour them into a pan, and bake. No fancy layers, no smoothing frosting – it’s a piece of cake. Literally and figuratively.
Plus, sheet cakes are so easy to transport! No worrying about layers sliding everywhere or making sure your cake carrier is wide enough to fit your cake board. (Spoiler alert: mine is not, and I never, ever remember this until I try to put the lid on my cake carrier.)
You can easily make this banana cake, cover your sheet pan with foil, and bring it wherever you’re headed!
This cake also doesn’t use typical American-style buttercream – it uses a crazy easy melted Nutella glaze. That’s right – melted Nutella.
And since it’s full of bananas, and bananas are a fruit… we could probably call this a breakfast cake. Right? Right.
Bananas are one of my favorite ingredients to bake with — they keep everything so moist and tender!
But while bananas are common in breads, they’re not a super expected cake flavor – which makes this banana nutella cake stand out a little.
The ripened bananas add extra moisture and just the right about of banana flavor. Buttermilk provides the perfect slight tang, and a handful of miniature chocolate chips adds just a little crunch and a bite of chocolate.
You’ll want to use bananas that are just slightly on the side of over-ripened. Not all yellow bananas, but also not bananas that are so ripened they’re brown and mushy. Why is this important? It’s time for my favorite subject… kitchen chemistry!
Kitchen Chemistry
The ripeness of a banana changes the pH of the batter, which is essential in terms of leavening and whether to use baking soda or baking powder. A slightly-green banana has a pH around 4.6, while an overripe banana has a pH of over 6.5.
Because this recipe uses both buttermilk (acidic) and bananas that are ripe but not super over-ripe (slightly acidic), we’ll use baking soda in addition to baking powder in this recipe.
But what really makes this banana cake shine is the frosting! Skip the overly sweet American-style buttercream frosting and try this melted butter Nutella glaze.
It’s even easier than buttercream: instead of whipping the butter, we’ll melt it!
Pour the warm, gooey Nutella icing all over the surface of the hot banana cake. Since the cake is still warm, the frosting should spread pretty well on its own, but help nudge it along a little all the way to the edges.
I’m not sure what kind of magic happens when you pour the warm frosting on a hot cake, but the end result is slightly crackly, soft, melt-in-your-mouth icing that ensures this banana nutella cake is anything but boring!
Yes! I almost always bake with ripened bananas that I then freeze (out of the peel). If your banana releases a lot of extra liquid, drain out the excess before adding the thawed banana to the cake — but a banana that isn’t too overly ripe shouldn’t release much extra liquid.
Yes! For a peanut butter banana snack cake, do a direct 1:1 substitution of peanut butter for the Nutella in the icing.
Any 9×13-inch pan will work, but I love to use a rectangular springform pan, like this one. Taking the sides off the cake pan makes cutting and serving the cake so easy.
The cake can be stored at room temperature for up to 4 days. For longer storage, it can be refrigerated for up to a week, or frozen for 3 months.
An easy banana and chocolate chip sheet cake, covered with rich, decadent, melted nutella icing. You’ll never guess something so delicious is so easy!
Cake will keep for up to 4 days covered at room temperature. Baked and frosted cake can be frozen for up to 3 months; thaw in the refrigerator and serve at room temperature.
A Bunsen Burner Bakery Original Protocol
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This Banana Nutella Cake recipe was originally published on 05/20/2014 and republished with new photos and helpful tips on 02/26/2021.