The Yummiest Banana Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake

As many of you know, I'm a huge fan of getting kids busy in the kitchen. The more they practice, the better they get -- both at making things and cleaning up. Over the years Laurel has practiced a ton and is a devoted from-scratch baker, and also makes a killer spinach souffle, among other things. She recently made my favorite coffee cake and after posting the below photo on Instagram and Facebook, several people asked me for the recipe. Here it is! 

This recipe -- adapted and annotated from Real Simple -- is a great recipe for kids to work on because aside from the crumbly filling, it's basically a dump in one bowl recipe. Older kids can measure out ingredients and little ones can help dump and mix. If your kid is familiar wth following recipes and baking, they can execute from start to finish.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (I am definitely pro walnut, but if you need to be mindful of a nut allergy, I'd sub in more chocolate chips!)
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (split)
  • 1 3/4 cups sugar (split)
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 ripe bananas (perfect use for ripe bananas that you've stashed in your freezer...just thaw in cold water or in a dish, or defrost in the microwave)
  • 1 (8-ounce) container sour cream
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda

Directions

  1. Heat oven to 350°F. Butter a 12-cup Bundt pan (you can use cooking spray but I prefer butter for taste).
  2. Combine chocolate chips, walnuts, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1/4 cup sugar in a small bowl. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer at medium-high speed to beat the butter with the remaining 1 1/2 cups of sugar until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to slow, add the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon and all the other remaining ingredients. Combine until just mixed (do not overbeat).
  4. Sprinkle a bit of the chocolate-nut sugar on the bottom of the pan. Alternate dropping in spoonfuls of batter then sprinkling with chocolate-nut sugar mixture, ending with a thin sprinkling of chocolate-nut sugar on top.
  5. Bake cake for 40 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack. Place a plate face down on the top of the bundt pan and flip the coffee cake out of the pan (I use the plate is to catch the loose sugar so it doesn't spray all over the counter). Then flip cake back over onto a serving plate (so the rounded part of the cake is on the bottom and the crusty side is up).

Photo credit: Christine Koh

Home, Food + DrinkChristine Koh1 Comment