Honestly, this is the best Banana Cake recipe I’ve ever tasted (and I know a lot about banana desserts). It’s a moist banana cake with cream cheese frosting in each layer and outside, and the entire layer cake is garnished with vanilla wafers. It’s the perfect homemade banana dessert!

The Best Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe Ever

If you’ve been around here a while, you know the chokehold my mom’s banana bread recipe has on me and my life.

It’s the recipe I absolutely refer to as “the best” (without any shame), because I actually know in my heart that I’ve never had a better piece of classic banana bread. Never.

So, what if you took the humble banana bread recipe and turned it into a gorgeous banana layer cake with cream cheese frosting and crumbled vanilla wafers (because bananas and vanilla wafers belong together)?

The answer is what you might expect out of my mouth: life changing. If you love banana desserts, this moist banana cake is filled with cream cheese frosting, vanilla wafer crumbs, and topped with even more cream cheese frosting.

What I’m Loving About Cream Cheese Banana Cake:

Moist: I know how we feel about that word, but we’re going to have to get over it when it comes to cake. It’s what cakes should be, because no one should subject themselves to a dry cake. This easy banana cake recipe gets its moisture from the bananas, buttermilk, and sour cream.
Flavor: A lot of banana cakes and banana bread recipes lack banana flavor, in my opinion. This has 3-4 bananas in the cake batter, which yields such a rich banana flavor.
- Pro tip: the riper your bananas are, the more flavorful they will be in your cake.
Vanilla Wafers: It’s such a simple ingredient, but it adds an extra layer of flavor (think banana cream pie with vanilla wafers when it comes to flavor) and it adds a nice little bit of crunchy texture.

Ingredients:

The layered banana cake ingredients are mostly pantry staples, and they are incredibly simple ingredients that together yield a perfect banana cake in flavor and texture.

Unsalted butter: we use unsalted butter because you get to control the salt content in your banana cake, and that is important.
Sour Cream: I love sour cream in cake recipes, because it yields such a nice cake texture—fluffy and tender.
Granulated Sugar
Brown Sugar
Eggs
All Purpose Flour
Baking Soda, Baking Powder, Salt
Buttermilk
Vanilla Extract
4 medium bananas: or 3 large bananas
Cream Cheese: Use Philadelphia cream cheese because it has the best flavor and texture. It’s my favorite brand, and I truly feel like other cream cheese brands lack something.
Powdered Sugar
Half & Half
Vanilla Wafers: my preferred vanilla wafer cookie is nilla wafers. I think they have the best vanilla cookie flavor.

How to make this banana cake from scratch:

This is a brief overview of how to make banana cake from scratch. There is a printable version with more details in the recipe card below.

Step 1: In the bowl of a standing mixer or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream the unsalted butter until it is light and fluffy. Next, add in the sour cream and beat until combined.
Step 2: Add in both the granulated sugar and brown sugar to the butter, and using your mixer, cream until well combined.
Step 3: Add in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Step 4: In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together.
Step 5: Alternately, add in the dry ingredients and buttermilk to the butter mixture, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. (I do the dry ingredients in thirds with the buttermilk in between.) Mix until combined.
Step 6: Mash the bananas in a separate bowl with a fork or potato masher. I like to keep a little texture with the bananas so I don’t mash completely smooth.
Step 7: Add vanilla to the bananas and mix, then add the bananas to the cake batter.
Step 8: divide the cake batter evenly between three prepared cake pans and tap lightly on the counter to release any air bubbles. Bake until lightly golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean.
Step 9: Once the cakes have cooled, make the cream cheese frosting by beating cream cheese and butter together until light and fluffy. Add in powdered sugar, salt, vanilla, and half & half.
Step 10: Spread about 1/2 cup of cream cheese frosting on the first layer, spreading towards the edges in an even layer. Sprinkle vanilla wafer crumbs on top. Place the second layer on top and press slightly (it’s okay if some of the frosting spills out the sides—we actually want that a bit. It makes frosting the sides of the cake easier). Add 1/2 cup of frosting and repeat the steps above. Add the third layer on top and use the remaining frosting to cover the top and edges of the cake. Sprinkle with vanilla wafers.

Storage tips and make ahead tips for this banana layer cake:

Fridge: due to the cream cheese frosting, store any leftovers in the fridge. You can eat the cake cold, if desired, but the cake will be dense. I usually pull the cake out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature before consuming leftovers.

Make Ahead Tips:

Is it possible to make banana cake ahead of time?

Option 1: You can make the cake, frost the cake, and then store it in the fridge until ready to serve.

I’d suggest letting the cake come close to room temperature (if not completely at room temperature) before serving, as this method makes a more light and fluffy banana cake. However, you can serve it cold.

Option 2: Make the cake the day before and allow it to cool to room temperature. Wrap each layer tightly with plastic wrap and store at room temperature. Right before serving, make the cream cheese frosting and assemble the cake.
Option 3: Make the cake (following the instructions for option 2) the day before and make the cream cheese frosting. Store the frosting in an airtight container in the fridge. About 1 hour before assembling the cake, pull the frosting out of the fridge and let it soften (otherwise it’ll be too hard to frost on the cake). Then frost and serve.

Other favorite banana recipes to make after this banana layer cake recipe:

Final Baking Tips for this easy banana layer cake:

Cream Cheese Frosting: make sure both the butter and cream cheese are at room temperature, otherwise the frosting will not be smooth.
Cake Pan Size: you can use three 9” circular pans or three 8” circular pans. If you use 8” pans, the cake will be slightly smaller, but slightly taller (and you will need to add an extra 2-3 minutes to the overall bake time).
Vanilla Wafers: you can omit this ingredient and use toasted nuts instead (I love a pecan banana cake or a banana cake with walnuts). Toasted nuts bring out the flavor of the nut and is a must! You can also use toasted coconut.