6tablespoonsunsalted buttercold and sliced into tablespoons (6 slices)
1/3cupchopped walnuts or pecansOPTIONAL
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9-inch round pan.
Making the Coffee Cake
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
Create a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the oil, eggs, vanilla and mashed banana; stir until smooth.
Whisk together the cinnamon and sugar to make the swirl.
Pour half of the banana cake batter into the pan and sprinkle with the cinnamon swirl filling. Top filling with remaining batter.
Making the Streusel
Whisk together the dry ingredients. Using a pastry cutter or two knives, cut cold butter pieces into the dry mixture until small pea sized clumps form. NOTE: if adding nuts, stir them in after the butter has been cut into the streusel ingredients.
Using clean hands squeeze the ingredients together to incorporate any dry ingredients on the bottom of the bowl.
Using a fork cut the clumps into crumbles. Spoon the crumbles evenly over the banana cake batter.
Bake cake for 45 to 55 minutes or until a knife is inserted into the center and comes out clean. Cool to room temperature (especially important if making the coffee cake gluten-free) before slicing. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Video
Notes
Batter ThicknessDepending on the ripeness of the bananas and the type of flour being used, the batter can be thick. If so it will be more ‘spreadable’ than pourable into the pan.Follow the directions and use this PRO TIP for spreading the batter: lightly spray a spatula or your fingertips with non-stick cooking spray. This will allow easily spreading the batter in the pan without it sticking.Banana FlavorThe ripeness of the bananas will determine the amount of banana flavor. If bananas are not ripe the flavor will be very faint (but the coffee cake still tastes great!)Pan SizeI recommend using a deeper 9-inch round cake pan or springform pan (suggested depth: 2-inches or more).If using a pan that is less than 2-inches in depth, use 2/3’s of the streusel. Optional: place a baking sheet on an oven rack below the coffee cake to catch any streusel that may fall off during baking.Pan Color and Baking TimeIf baking in a black baking pan check the temperature earlier. Dark pans speed up the baking time.How to Prevent Browning of the StreuselCheck the coffee cake at 30 minutes and 40 minutes. If the streusel is beginning to brown, a piece of foil can be placed on top (shiny side up, not facing the coffee cake) for the duration of the baking.
Streusel Shortcut
Reduce the butter amount to 4 tablespoons (instead of 6 tablespoons) and melt it.
Add all the streusel ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix together with a fork or pastry cutter.